Good japanese writers?

[Kyriakos]

I have read only Tanizaki and Michima. Mostly Tanizaki, havent yet completed reading any book by Michima, but i read a few chapters from one :)

Tanizaki seems to be, at least in his early period, more westernised. Later on he takes on entirely japanese thematologies, and then i become alienated.

Do you have any others to suggest i should have a look at?

[sixsmith]

I'm currently reading Kawabata's Snow Country and, it must be said, finding it rather difficult. I just picked up a heap of Endo's novels and plan to start on The Girl Left Behind soon. Murakami seems to have many fans. I have read his Norweigan Wood and found it insufferably dull, though I am told it is not generally considered to number amongst his stronger works. Mishima is the Japanese author with whose work I am most familiar? Which of his novels have you started to read?

[Scheherazade]

What? Are you suggesting that Japanese writers are not as good as other writers? Maybe inferior to the American, Canadian or English ones?

Also, we need to decide what makes a writer Japanese...

Does anyone remember what Bloom say about Japanese writers?

:p

[_Shannon_]

Shusaku Endo


What? Are you suggesting that Japanese writers are not as good as other writers? Maybe inferior to the American, Canadian or English ones?

Also, we need to decide what makes a writer Japanese...

Does anyone remember what Bloom say about Japanese writers?

:p

:rofl:

[sixsmith]

Shusaku Endo

Shannon, do you have any thoughts as to which Endo novel one might read first?

[_Shannon_]

Well--I have a soft spot for Silence, but The Sea and Poison is pretty hardcore. And Scandal is also pretty awesome.

That was kind of not at all helpful, was it? I don't know if everyone will like him. His Catholic sensibilities really draw me in, the same way that many of Graham Greene's and Evelyn Waugh's novels do. It's a world view I can relate to; however in the case of Endo it's also underpinned by being Japanese. I find that very compelling and fascinating.

There was some talk for awhile about Martin Scorsese making Silence into a movie. I don't know if that's still in the pipeline or not.

[Phaedra's Love]

Murakami seems to have many fans. I have read his Norweigan Wood and found it insufferably dull, though I am told it is not generally considered to number amongst his stronger works.

Many would agree with you. Although I'm a big Murakami fan when I first read Norwegian Wood I wasn't impressed either.

The style of Norwegian Wood is definitely not what Murakami is known for. His ability to beautifully pull off magical realism and surrealism is the peak of his unique talent imho.

I recommend Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, both are absolutely amazing. Most Murakami fans' favourite is either one of the two. They are both comprehensive, so if you're looking for something shorter Sputnik Sweetheart is also brilliant (though not as surreal as the above two).

Give it a shot!

[victorianfan]

A Personal Matter by Kenzaburō Ōe

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/blog.php?b=10282

Novellas by Yoko Ogawa

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/blog.php?b=10369

Silence by Shusaku Endo

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/blog.php?b=10531

The Broken Commandment by Tōson Shimazaki

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/blog.php?b=10591

[JBI]

I personally have a penchant for the Pillow Book, but it seems this thread is headed toward discussing modernist-contemporary works, so I will just recommend Kokoro by Soseki. From what I understand that seems to be a defining novel of modernism.

One couldn't go wrong with also reading Soseki's essay My Individualism, which seems relevant for everyone especially now.

[Kyriakos]

I'm currently reading Kawabata's Snow Country and, it must be said, finding it rather difficult. I just picked up a heap of Endo's novels and plan to start on The Girl Left Behind soon. Murakami seems to have many fans. I have read his Norweigan Wood and found it insufferably dull, though I am told it is not generally considered to number amongst his stronger works. Mishima is the Japanese author with whose work I am most familiar? Which of his novels have you started to read?

I was reading The Sound of Waves. It seemed different than other things i have read, probably because it is more sentimental than what i ussually read, but i liked it. However at the time i was not in the mood to go through it :D

[JCamilo]

Kawabata, have been already mentioned is awesome. Akutugawa is also another great name, for short stories he is something else.

[TheFifthElement]

I blogged about this a while ago http://www.online-literature.com/forums/blog.php?b=10178

I'd second the recommendation of Kokoro, it is very good. Also 'A Dark Night's Passing' by Naoya Shiga and 'Black Rain' by Masuji Ibuse which is about the Hiroshima bombing. Stirring stuff.

sixsmith, I wasn't fond of Norwegian Wood either, though I love Murakami. If you ever fancy giving him another go try Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World which is my favourite of his novels. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle is also pretty excellent.

Snow Country can be hard going. I enjoyed Beauty and Sadness more.

[JBI]

I was reading The Sound of Waves. It seemed different than other things i have read, probably because it is more sentimental than what i ussually read, but i liked it. However at the time i was not in the mood to go through it :D

I don't know; I liked the style, but must admit that I have reservations about the plot - it seems so sentimental and tedious in places, especially in the end - which is fitting given that, from what I remember, it was a pot-boiler (not that that is necessarily a bad thing), so perhaps lacks the riskiness of more realized Mishima works.

[ThousandthIsle]

I am barely familiar at all with Japanese writers, but recently read The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe, which I would absolutely recommend.

[Pecksie]

I second the suggestion of Kawabata. 'Snow country' is lyrical and very beautiful novel. Mishima's 'The sailor who fell from grace with the sea' is amazing too.

On the basis of what I've read of his work (admittedly not much), Murakami seems a bit overhyped to me, but I'm going to give him a second chance :)

[Kyriakos]

I am looking for short stories, i should have said :D

Moreover if they are old enough to exist as free etexts online, it would really help, since only the most famous japanese authors are translated in greek i think. :)

[TheFifthElement]

If you want short stories look for Akutagawa's Rashomon. It is very famous, very good and old enough to be e-text.

[MudFoot]

If you want short stories look for Akutagawa's Rashomon. It is very famous, very good and old enough to be e-text.

You don't talk about japanese literature without reading this... Complete classic!

One of the contemporary short story writers that was good for me was Natsuki Ikezawa, he got solid short story collection called Still Life... 4 stories in it though.

[dfloyd]

Try Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn. Hearn emigrated from Ireland (I think) to America in the 19th century. He settled in Cincinnati, then moved on to New Orleans. Around the turn of the century, he went to Japan where he went totaly native. He learned Japanese and married a Japanese woman. Hearn was always attracted by the bizarre so he published a book of short ghost stories which he researched from Japanese folktales. I understand that the title Kwaidan literally means ghost stories.

My copy of Kwaidan was printed in Tokyo during the 1930s under the auspices of the Limited Editions Club. It is bound in silk in the Japanes manner and is kept in a silk box with ivory clasps. It is a superb printing job for the 1930s, fully illustrated, with illustrations by a Japanese artist and having 50 color printings.The book is a total Japanese production being designed, illustrated, typeset and printed by Japanes craftsmen.

[Scheherazade]

My copy of Kwaidan was printed in Tokyo during the 1930s under the auspices of the Limited Editions Club. It is bound in silk in the Japanes manner and is kept in a silk box with ivory clasps. It is a superb printing job for the 1930s, fully illustrated, with illustrations by a Japanese artist and having 50 color printings.The book is a total Japanese production being designed, illustrated, typeset and printed by Japanes craftsmen.That must read much better than, say, ordinary paperbacks, no doubt.

:p

[Kyriakos]

Try Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn. Hearn emigrated from Ireland (I think) to America in the 19th century. He settled in Cincinnati, then moved on to New Orleans. Around the turn of the century, he went to Japan where he went totaly native. He learned Japanese and married a Japanese woman. Hearn was always attracted by the bizarre so he published a book of short ghost stories which he researched from Japanese folktales. I understand that the title Kwaidan literally means ghost stories.

My copy of Kwaidan was printed in Tokyo during the 1930s under the auspices of the Limited Editions Club. It is bound in silk in the Japanes manner and is kept in a silk box with ivory clasps. It is a superb printing job for the 1930s, fully illustrated, with illustrations by a Japanese artist and having 50 color printings.The book is a total Japanese production being designed, illustrated, typeset and printed by Japanes craftsmen.

Lefkadio Hearn was born in Lefkada (hense his being called Lefkadio) in Greece, not Ireland :) I have his book as well.

[dfloyd]

I had forgotten what his heritage was. However, he was of mixed parentage: His mother being Greek and his father Irish. From the age of two, he was raised in Ireland before emigrating to ther US at 19.

As far as finely printed and bound books being better to read than a paperback, this is a ludicrous statement. I am not pedantic about my book collection. I have compiled it over 40 years or so and reading superb editions give me great pleasure. An analogy is, if you could afford a Picasso oil, would you frame it out of an orange crate? I don't look down on people, especially students, who read paperbacks. Although I think it is obvious that a Picasso picture cut out of a magazine can't give the same feeling as an original oil.

The illustrations found in Fine editions do help in the understanding of a novel. Fritz Eichenberg's marvelous woodcuts for Dostoevsky's novels present a mood both somber and immediate. His portait of Raskolnikov at Lizaveta's door with an axe hidden behind his back his chilling.

[Astromaxis]

I don't know about novelists because I haven't read any Japanese writers properly, however, I was reading Kazuo Ichigiro's Nocturnes a short story collection a little bit. Also many Japanese people write manga and they are very good in that medium as well. Most anime is based on mangas that exist and many novels have also been adapted into anime as well. Many Japanese Writers are also illustrators and that is why they want to flesh out their stories via illustrations as well. One of the most unique mangas I have ever encountered in the anime form was Revolutionary Girl Utena by Chiho Saito: it's a classic that one can read/watch over and over again.