Japanese Fiction
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When Pico Iyer decided to go to Kyoto and live in a monastery, he did so to learn about Zen Buddhism from the inside, to get to know Kyoto, one of the loveliest old cities in the world, and to find out something about Japanese culture today -- not the world of businessmen and production lines, but the traditional world of changing seasons and the silence of temples, of the images woven through literature, of the lunar Japan that still lives on behind the rising sun of geopolitical power.All this he did. And then he met Sachiko.Vivacious, attractive, thoroughly educated, speaking English enthusiastically if eccentrically, the wife of a Japanese "salaryman" who seldom left the office before 10 P.M., Sachiko was as conversant with tea ceremony and classical Japanese literature as with rock music, Goethe, and Vivaldi. With the lightness of touch that made Video Night in Kathmandu so captivating, Pico Iyer fashions from their relationship a marvelously ironic yet heartfelt book that is at once a portrait of cross-cultural infatuation -- and misunderstanding -- and a delightfully fresh way of seeing both the old Japan and the very new.
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Yasunari Kawabata, Edward G. Seidensticker |
Vintage
The Master of Go
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Goodreads rating: 3.82
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Go is a game of strategy in which two players attempt to surround each other's black or white stones. Simple in its fundamentals, infinitely complex in its execution, Go is an essential expression of the Japanese spirit. And in his fictional chronicle of a match played between a revered and heretofore invincible Master and a younger and more modern challenger, Yasunari Kawabata captured the moment in which the immutable traditions of imperial Japan met the onslaught of the twentieth century.
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In a suburb on the outskirts of Tokyo, four teenage girls drift through a hot smoggy August and tedious summer school classes. There's dependable Toshi; brainy Terauchi; Yuzan, grief-stricken and confused; and Kirarin, whose late nights and reckless behaviour remain a secret from those around her.Then Toshi's next-door neighbour is found brutally murdered and the girls suspect Worm, the neighbour's son and a high school misfit. But when he disappears (taking Toshi's bike and cell phone with him) the four girls become irresistibly drawn into a treacherous vortex of brutality and seduction which rises from within themselves as well as the world around them.
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Two prostitutes are murdered in Tokyo.Twenty years previously both women were educated at the same elite school for young ladies, and had seemingly promising futures ahead of them.But in a world of dark desire and vicious ambition, for both women, prostitution meant power. Grotesque is a masterful and haunting thriller, a chilling exploration of women's secret lives in modern day Japan.
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Sigrid Rausing
|
Granta
Magazine
Granta 148: Summer Fiction
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Goodreads rating: 3.84
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If you appreciate a melange of literary talent, "Granta 148: Summer Fiction" is a treat for your intellect. It offers a unique literary journey with contributions from acclaimed authors like Haruki Murakami and newcomers alike. Plus, its compelling poetry and a thought-provoking photo essay elevate it beyond mere storytelling, making it a must-read for anyone seeking the pulse of modern literary brilliance.
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In a future where reality has been augmented and biology itself has been hacked, the world's food supply is genetically modified, superior, and vulnerable. When gene mapper Hayashida discovers that his custom rice plant has experienced a dysgenic collapse, he suspects sabotage. Hayashida travels Asia to find himself in Ho Chi Minh City with hired-gun hacker Kitamura at his side—and in mortal danger—as he pushes ever nearer to the heart of the mystery.
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Imagine you're sifting through the familiar layers of everyday life when you stumble upon a doorway to the mystical—this is what diving into "Killing Commendatore" feels like. Murakami weaves the ordinary with the supernatural in such a way that you'll find yourself questioning the fabric of reality. It's perfect for those longing to lose themselves in a narrative that blurs the lines between the tangible and the imagined.
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Yasunari Kawabata, J. Martin Holman, Lane Dunlop |
Farrar,
Straus
And
Giroux
Palm-Of-The-Hand Stories
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Goodreads rating: 3.91
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Recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968, the novelist Yasunari Kawabata felt the essence of his art was to be found not in his longer works but in a series of short stories--which he called "Palm-of-the-Hand Stories"--written over the span of his career. In them we find loneliness, love, and the passage of time, demonstrating the range and complexity of a true master of short fiction.
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Haruki Murakami, Russell Banks, Denis Johnson |
Vintage
Books
Birthday Stories
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Goodreads rating: 3.56
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Imagine unwrapping life's complexity in a single day, each year. "Birthday Stories" is like opening a gift of perspectives, wrapped in the prose of literary titans. These snapshots, woven by brilliance, make for an intriguing read that dances between nostalgia, sorrow, celebration, and the inexorable march of time. If you relish short stories that encapsulate the essence of human experience, this birthday themed anthology curated by Haruki Murakami is a slice of literary cake you shouldn't miss.
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Satoko Izumo, Fuminori Nakamura, Stephen Coates |
Corsair
The Thief
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Goodreads rating: 3.52
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A literary crime masterpiece that follows a Japanese pickpocket lost to the machinations of fate. Bleak and oozing existential dread, The Thief is simply unforgettable. The Thief is a seasoned pickpocket. Anonymous in his tailored suit, he weaves in and out of Tokyo crowds, stealing wallets from strangers so smoothly sometimes he doesn’t even remember the snatch. Most people are just a blur to him, nameless faces from whom he chooses his victims. He has no family, no friends, no connections.... But he does have a past, which finally catches up with him when Ishikawa, his first partner, reappears in his life, and offers him a job he can’t refuse. It’s an easy job: tie up an old rich man, steal the contents of the safe. No one gets hurt. Only the day after the job does he learn that the old man was a prominent politician, and that he was brutally killed after the robbery. And now the Thief is caught in a tangle even he might not be able to escape.
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Shiga Naoya, Lane Dunlop |
Tuttle
Pub
Paper Door and Other Stories
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Goodreads rating: 3.77
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No modern Japanese writer was more idolized than Shiga Naoya. The Paper Door and Other Stories showcases the concise, delicate art of this writer who is often called "the god of the Japanese short story." Doyen of Japanese letters Donald Keene ranks some of Shiga's stories "among the most brilliant achievements in this genre by any twentieth-century Japanese writer." Shiga's unique style is concise and simple, with no unnecessary words. With the subtlest of gestures, he evokes the fullness of experience. Lane Dunlop's masterly translation of seventeen of Shiga's finest stories has provided English readers their first overview of the author's work. Now back in print, the book is augmented by Donald Keene's new preface contextualizing Shiga's awesome literary gifts. Dunlop has chosen stories that aptly represent Shiga's range and virtuosity. With selections spanning forty years, from the fable-like "The Little Girl and the Rapeseed Flower" to the psychologically complex "A Gray Moon," this collection delineates the development of Shiga's rare genius.
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Yukio Mishima
|
Vintage
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea (Vintage Summer)
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Goodreads rating: 3.86
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A band of savage thirteen-year-old boys reject the adult world as illusory, hypocritical, and sentimental. When the mother of one of them begins an affair with a ship's officer, he and his friends idealise the man at first; but it is not long before they conclude that he is in fact soft and romantic. They regard this disillusionment as an act of betrayal on his part - their retribution is deliberate and horrifying.Yukio Mishma was born into a samurai family and imbued with the code of complete control over mind and body, and loyalty to the Emperor - the same code that produced the austerity and self-sacrifice of Zen. He wrote countless short stories and thirty-three plays, in some of which he acted. Several films have been made from his novels, including The Sound of Waves; Enjo, which was based on The Temple of the Golden Pavilion; and The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea. Among his other works are the novels Confessions of a Mask and Thirst for Love and the short-story collections Death in Midsummer and Acts of Worship.
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Tetsuya Honda, Giles Murray |
Titan
Books
The Silent Dead
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Goodreads rating: 3.44
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When a body wrapped in a blue plastic tarp and tied up with twine is discovered near the bushes near a quiet suburban Tokyo neighborhood, Lt. Reiko Himekawa and her squad take the case. The victim was slaughtered brutally---his wounds are bizarre, and no one can figure out the "what" or the "why" of this crime.At age twenty-nine, Reiko Himekawa of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police's Homicide Division is young to have been made lieutenant, particularly because she lacks any kind of political or family connections. Despite barriers created by age, gender, and lack of connections, she is mentally tough, oblivious to danger, and has an impressive ability to solve crimes.Reiko makes a discovery that leads the police to uncover eleven other bodies, all wrapped in the same sort of plastic. Few of the bodies are identifiable, but the ones that are have no connection to each other. The only possible clue is a long shot lead to a website spoken only in whispers on the Internet, something on the dark web known as "Strawberry Night."But while she is hunting the killer, the killer is hunting her... and she may very well have been marked as the next victim.
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Jing-Jing Lee
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Oneworld
Publications
How We Disappeared
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Goodreads rating: 4.2
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"How We Disappeared" is not just a book; it's a journey through the silent echoes of the past, where pain and resilience bleed into each other. If you were captivated by the depth and historical intricacies in "Pachinko," you'll find a similar heartfelt narrative here, one that weaves the struggle for identity amidst the brutal backdrop of war. Jing-Jing Lee offers a compelling story that honors the strength of the human spirit, making it a powerful read for anyone interested in the personal, often untold experiences of history.
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Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami |
Vintage
Books,
A
Division
Of
Random
House
Llc,
New
York
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
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Goodreads rating: 3.87
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If you've ever felt disconnected or sought closure from past relationships, Murakami's tale will likely resonate with you. This is not just a story, but a meditation on the perplexities of human connections, serving both as a mirror to your own experiences and as a window into the intricate Japanese culture that underpins the narrative. The sense of longing and the diligent pursuit of self-understanding might just echo your own journey.
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Aiko Ito, Graeme Wilson, Natsume Sōseki |
Tuttle
Publishing
I Am a Cat
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Goodreads rating: 3.67
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This book is a must-read for anyone fascinated by Japanese society and history. Through the eyes of a witty stray kitten, Soseki Natsume effortlessly skewers the upper-middle-class follies of the Meiji era. With acerbic wit and sardonic commentary, this classic novel offers a captivating and humorous perspective on societal absurdities. A delightful read for those seeking a satirical take on Japanese culture and a glimpse into the mind of one of Japan's greatest literary figures.
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Ioannis Mentzas, Wu Zhuoliu |
Columbia
University
Press
Orphan of Asia
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Goodreads rating: 3.74
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Born in Japanese-occupied Taiwan, raised in the scholarly traditions of ancient China by his grandfather but forced into the Japanese educational system, Hu Taiming, the protagonist of Orphan of Asia , ultimately finds himself estranged from all three cultures. Wu's autobiographical novel, completed in 1945, is widely regarded as a classic of modern Asian literature and a groundbreaking expression of the postwar Taiwanese national consciousness. Originally written in Japanese and now translated into English for the first time, Orphan of Asia offers a powerful depiction of the political, cultural, and psychological impact of colonialism.Orphan of Asia begins during Taiming's childhood in Taiwan, which has been annexed to Japan only recently. Taiming eventually makes his mark in the colonial Japanese educational system and graduates from a prestigious college. However, he finds that his Japanese education and his adoption of modern ways have alienated him from his family and native village. He becomes a teacher in the Japanese colonial system but soon realizes that there is something seriously wrong with the status quo. He quits his post but finds that, having repudiated his roots, he doesn't seem to belong anywhere.Thus begins Taiming's long journey for his rightful place. But neither in Japan, where he goes to study physics in the belief that technology represents the future, nor in mainland China, where he marries and has a daughter, does he ever come to feel at home or find his calling. Although he assiduously avoids politics, Taiming can't help being caught up in the conflicts that shaped modern East Asian history. He is accused of spying for both China and Japan after hostilities breakout between the two countries, and he witnesses the effects of Japanese imperial expansion, the horrors of war, and the sense of anger and powerlessness felt by those living under colonial rule.
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"Goodbye Tsugumi" is a brilliant choice if you're interested in exploring intricate family dynamics set against the backdrop of a small seaside town in Japan. Banana Yoshimoto's delicate style captures the depths of human ties, offering a poignant, bittersweet novel that delves into the essence of change and acceptance.
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"Kitchen" delves into the delicacy of human emotions, intertwining tales of love, grief, and identity against a modern Japanese backdrop. It speaks to the resilience of the human spirit through personal connections and the comfort found in everyday life. Its concise and heartfelt narrative has the unique ability to leave a lasting impact, resonating with anyone who's ever sought solace in the simplest of places.
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Philip Gabriel, Jay Rubin, Haruki Murakami |
Vintage
International
Blind Willow Sleeping Woman
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Goodreads rating: 3.84
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If you're drawn to the special brand of magic and realism that Murakami is renowned for, "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman" is a collection that shouldn't be missed. The stories here are like puzzles, with pieces of the human experience beautifully interwoven with the bizarre, whisking you on a journey through the surreal. Perfect for those moments when you crave an escape from the everyday into a world that's both familiar and wonderfully strange.
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Hisashi Inoue, Angus Turvill |
Anthem
Press
Tales from a Mountain Cave : Stories from Japan's Northeast
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Goodreads rating: 4.11
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About Hisashi Inoue: 'One of the towering figures of contemporary Japan' Nobel Prize-winning author, Kenzaburo Oe About Tales from a Mountain Cave:‘Wonderful. I was so taken in by each tale in this magnificent collection that I found myself gasping out loud.’ Haikugirl‘Surprising and funny. A real page-turner.’ The Journal‘A stunning collection.’ Nihon Distractions 'Colorful, charming, and highly entertaining.' Contemporary Japanese Literature. ‘The real power of this volume to do good in a region still striving to return to normality is its ability to enchant and intrigue — reminding us how much more there is to Tohoku than its recent, very public suffering. This deftly translated, entertaining, yet often poignant volume showcases the region’s rich cultural heritage. It feels like a promise that a community that has survived so much will survive this latest disaster.’ The Japan Times As a young man Inoue lived in Kamaishi, on the coast of North East Japan, an area that was to be devastated by the tsunami of 2011. This book reflects the author’s own experience of Kamaishi, its contemporary history, and the long traditions of story-telling in the region. Ebullient, funny, sad and kind, this is one of the first of Inoue’s books to be available in English. Tales from a Mountain Cave is a translation of Shinshaku Tono Monogatari.
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A woman goes into a bakery to buy a strawberry cream tart. The place is immaculate but there is no one serving so she waits. Another customer comes in. The woman tells the new arrival that she is buying her son a treat for his birthday. Every year she buys him his favourite cake; even though he died in an accident when he was six years old.From this beginning Yoko Ogawa weaves a dark and beautiful narrative that pulls together a seemingly disconnected cast of characters. In the tradition of classical Japanese poetic collections, the stories in Revenge are linked through recurring images and motifs, as each story follows on from the one before while simultaneously introducing new characters and themes. Filled with breathtaking images, Ogawa provides us with a slice of life that is resplendent in its chaos, enthralling in its passion and chilling in its cruelty.~from the back coverAfternoon at the bakery --Fruit juice --Old Mrs. J --The little dustman --Lab coats --Sewing for the heart --Welcome to the museum of torture --The man who sold braces --The last hour of the Bengal tiger --Tomatoes and the full moon --Poison plants
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Edward G. Seidensticker, Yukio Mishima |
Vintage
The Decay Of The Angel
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Goodreads rating: 4.13
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The dramatic climax of "The Sea of Fertility" tetraology takes place in the late 1960s. Honda, now an aged and wealthy man, discovers and adopts a sixteen-year-old orphan, Toru, as his heir, identifying him with the tragic protagonists of the three previous novels, each of whom died at the age of twenty. Honda raises and educates the boy, yet watches him, waiting.
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Ralph McCarthy, Ryū Murakami |
Bloomsbury
In the Miso Soup
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Goodreads rating: 3.62
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It's just before New Year. Frank, an overweight American tourist, has hired Kenji to take him on a guided tour of Tokyo's nightlife on three successive evenings. But Frank's behaviour is so strange that Kenji begins to entertain a horrible that his client may be in fact the killer currently terrorizing the city. Kenji is a likeable, if far from innocent guide, leading the reader through the inferno of violence and evil into which he apparently unwillingly descends - and from which only Jun, his sixteen-year-old girlfriend, can possibly save him. Kenji's intimate knowledge of Tokyo's sex industry, his thoughtful observations and wisecracks, his insights into the emptiness and hypocrisy of contemporary Japan, and his ultimate moral paralysis and complicity reveal a deeply distressed and rotten modern world that seems to have lost its way in search of pleasure and instant gratification.
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Shika MacKenzie, Ross MacKenzie, Sōji Shimada |
Pushkin
Vertigo
The Tokyo Zodiac Murders
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Goodreads rating: 3.88
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Japan, 1936. An old eccentric artist living with seven women has been found dead- in a room locked from the inside. His diaries reveal alchemy, astrology and a complicated plan to kill all seven women. Shortly afterwards, the plan is carried out: the women are found dismembered and buried across rural Japan.By 1979, these Tokyo Zodiac Murders have been obsessing a nation for decades, but not one of them has been solved. A mystery-obsessed illustrator and a talented astrologer set off around the country – and you follow, carrying the enigma of the Zodiac murderer through madness, missed leads and magic tricks. You have all the clues, but can you solve the mystery before they do?
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Miyuki Miyabe, Alexander O. Smith |
Haikasoru
ICO: Castle in the Mist
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Goodreads rating: 3.66
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ICO: Castle in the Mist is a captivating blend of fantasy and adventure, with a unique premise that keeps the reader engaged from start to finish. Miyabe's writing style is immersive, and her characters are well-drawn and relatable. If you're a fan of high-stakes quests filled with surprising twists and turns, this is the book for you.
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Ted Goossen, Haruki Murakami, Suzanne Dean |
Harvill
Secker
The Strange Library
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Goodreads rating: 3.55
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If you're drawn to the surreal and unexpected, Murakami's "The Strange Library" might just be the unsettling yet mesmerizing adventure you didn't know you needed. The odd charm of this story, coupled with vivid illustrations, makes it a brief but unforgettable escape that stays with you long after you've turned the final page.
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Kobo Abe, the internationally acclaimed author of Woman in the Dunes, combines wildly imaginative fantasies and naturalistic prose to create narratives reminiscent of the work of Kafka and Beckett.In this eerie and evocative masterpiece, the nameless protagonist gives up his identity and the trappings of a normal life to live in a large cardboard box he wears over his head. Wandering the streets of Tokyo and scribbling madly on the interior walls of his box, he describes the world outside as he sees or perhaps imagines it, a tenuous reality that seems to include a mysterious rifleman determined to shoot him, a seductive young nurse, and a doctor who wants to become a box man himself. The Box Man is a marvel of sheer originality and a bizarrely fascinating fable about the very nature of identity.Translated from the Japanese by E. Dale Saunders.
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Shion Miura, Juliet Winters Carpenter |
Amazon
Crossing
The Great Passage
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Goodreads rating: 3.81
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"The Great Passage" would resonate with you if you find joy in the nuanced beauty of language and human connections. Shion Miura's storytelling weaves together the life of a passionate lexicographer and the charming intricacies of assembling a dictionary. It's a book that celebrates the perseverance and dedication to a craft while touching on the gentle sparks of love and unexpected friendships. It's an unexpectedly heartwarming tale for anyone who's ever been moved by the power of words.
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Jay Rubin, Natsume Sōseki, Haruki Murakami |
Aardvark
Bureau
The Miner
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Goodreads rating: 3.96
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The Miner is the most daringly experimental and least well known novel of the great Meiji novelist Natsume Soseki (1867-1916). Written in 1908, it is an absurdist novel about the indeterminate nature of human personality, which in many respects anticipates the work of Joyce and Beckett. Virtually devoid of plot and characterization, it unfolds entirely within the mind of the unnamed protagonist. Focusing on a young man whose love life has fallen to pieces, The Miner follows him as he flees from Tokyo, is picked up by a procurer of cheap labor for a copper mine, and then travels toward - and finally burrows into the depths of - the mine where he hopes to find oblivion. The young man reflects at length on nearly every thought and perception he experiences along the way, in terms of what the experience means to him at the time and in retrospect as a mature adult narrating the tale. The narrator concludes that there is no such thing as human character, and the many passages in which he ruminates on the nature of personality constitute the theoretical core of the book. The intellectual distancing carries over into the style of writing as well, and instead of a tragedy of alienation, we find here an absurdist - truly absurd and comical - allegory of descent into the psyche.
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Haruki Murakami
|
Vintage
Books
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
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Goodreads rating: 3.84
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Murakami fans will revel in "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman" as it weaves together the strange and the familiar in a tapestry of human emotion. If you appreciate stories that challenge reality and leave you pondering long after the last page, this collection will be a treasure trove. The dreamlike quality often found in Murakami's work is abundant here, enticing those who enjoy the blend of the everyday with the fantastical.
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Frank Chin, John Okada, Lawson Fusao Inada |
University
Of
Washington
Press
No-no Boy
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Goodreads rating: 3.93
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John Okada was born in Seattle, Washington in 1923. He attended the University of Washington and Columbia University. He served in the US Army in World War II, wrote one novel and died of a heart attack at the age of 47. John Okada died in obscurity believing that Asian America had rejected his work. In this work, Okada gives the perspective of a no-no boy, a Japanese-American man who would neither denounce his Japanese heritage nor fight for the U.S. Army during WWII. This novel takes place after the main character spent two years in a Japanese internment camp, and two years in prison after saying no when asked to join the U.S. Army. Okada's novel No-No Boy shows the internal and external struggles fought by Japanese-Americans in that time period, be they no-no boys or not.
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Yasushi; Moy Inoue
|
Kodansha
International
Ltd
Chronicle of My Mother
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Goodreads rating: 3.59
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A famous Japanese novelist recounts the last fifteen years of his mother's life and the way her family adjusted to her increasing senility
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If you're drawn to novels that weave together distinct narratives across cultures and time, then "A Tale for the Time Being" is a book you shouldn't miss. Ruth Ozeki crafts a story that binds the loneliness of a Tokyo teenager with the curiosity of a novelist in British Columbia, creating a tapestry that feels both intimate and expansive. It's a thoughtful exploration of our shared humanity, striking a delicate balance between light-heartedness and the profound search for meaning.
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Jay Rubin, Haruki Murakami |
Vintage
Books
Norwegian Wood
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Goodreads rating: 4.01
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Toru, a quiet and preternaturally serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before. Toru begins to adapt to campus life and the loneliness and isolation he faces there, but Naoko finds the pressures and responsibilities of life unbearable. As she retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself reaching out to others and drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman. A magnificent blending of the music, the mood, and the ethos that was the sixties with the story of one college student's romantic coming of age, Norwegian Wood brilliantly recaptures a young man's first, hopeless, and heroic love.
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England, 1930s. Christopher Banks has become the country's most celebrated detective, his cases the talk of London society. Yet one unsolved crime has always haunted him: the mysterious disappearance of his parents, in old Shanghai, when he was a small boy. This book tells a remarkable story of memory, intrigue and the need to return.
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From the New York Times bestselling author—a gripping novel of late night encounters that’s “hypnotically eerie, sometimes even funny, but most of all … [a book] that keeps ratcheting up the suspense” ( The Washington Post Book World ).Nineteen-year-old Mari is waiting out the night in an anonymous Denny’s when she meets a young man who insists he knows her older sister, thus setting her on an odyssey through the sleeping city. In the space of a single night, the lives of a diverse cast of Tokyo residents—models, prostitutes, mobsters, and musicians—collide in a world suspended between fantasy and reality. Utterly enchanting and infused with surrealism, After Dark is a thrilling account of the magical hours separating midnight from dawn.
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"Pachinko" is a deep dive into the complexities of an immigrant family's life, blending intimate storytelling with historical context. It's not just a tale of survival, but also a portrayal of enduring cultural identity amidst discrimination and hardship. For those of you passionate about multi-generational epics and unflinching looks at the human spirit across decades, this book brings a heartfelt examination of identity, family, and the weight of history.
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Sayaka Murata, Ginny Tapley Takemori |
Granta
Books
Convenience Store Woman
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Goodreads rating: 3.67
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If you've ever felt pressure to conform, "Convenience Store Woman" might resonate deeply with you. Sayaka Murata presents Keiko's story with such peculiar charm that it turns the mundane setting of a convenience store into a backdrop for self-discovery and societal critique. It's a compact tale but one that's rich with commentary on the oddities of normalcy.
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Jay Rubin, Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami |
Knopf
1Q84 : A novel
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Goodreads rating: 3.94
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This book is a surreal journey through a parallel universe in 1984 Tokyo. With its intricate web of interconnected characters and captivating storytelling, it is a love story, a mystery, and a dystopia all rolled into one. Murakami's supernatural powers as a writer will make you question the boundaries of your own perception and leave you wondering about the nature of reality. Get ready to be entranced and mesmerized as you delve into the mesmerizing world of 1Q84.
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Kazuo Ishiguro
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Faber
And
Faber
Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall
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Goodreads rating: 3.51
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"Nocturnes" could be the companion for your reflective evenings. Ishiguro's skillful storytelling intertwines music and twilight to delve into the human spirit's complexities. The book's lyrical prose and poignant exploration of time's passage extend an invitation to the reader—a chance to witness lives at crossroads within serene and thoughtful vignettes.
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Ryder, a renowned pianist, arrives in a Central European city he cannot identify for a concert he cannot remember agreeing to give. But then as he traverses a landscape by turns eerie and comical - and always strangely malleable, as a dream might be - he comes steadily to realise he is facing the most crucial performance of his life.Ishiguro's extraordinary and original study of a man whose life has accelerated beyond his control was met on publication by consternation, vilification - and the highest praise.
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Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin |
Vintage
Books
Norwegian Wood
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This poignant coming-of-age novel, set against the backdrop of the 1960s in Tokyo, beautifully captures the complexities of love, loss, and the decisions that shape our futures. Through the eloquent prose of Haruki Murakami, the reader is transported to a world of youthful longing and uncertainty. Norwegian Wood is a nostalgic journey that will resonate with anyone seeking to understand the profound impact of first love and the true cost of choosing between two paths.
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$6.22
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Meet Hiro. She's tall, lanky and awkward—a twenty-something Japanese woman who has decamped to Vietnam from Tokyo to work as a language teacher. Meet Dung. She's shy, beautiful, and tough—a young Vietnamese woman studying Japanese, determined to create a better life for herself and her family. When Dung becomes one of Hiro's students, they are instantly drawn to each other. For both of them, it is their first time in love with another woman. But when Konno, an older Japanese businessman, befriends Hiro, Dung begins to grow unbearably jealous. What unfolds is a love triangle with very complicated, ultimately devastating, results. Set against the backdrop of a Vietnam on the economic rise, debut novelist Aska Mochizuki vividly brings to life the buzz of motorcycles and the tastes of Vietnamese coffee and spicy papaya salads; the confines of the Vietnamese family; the lingering effects of long wars; the rich who ride the economic wave and the poor who are left behind. Spinning Tropics is a lush and evocative story of an intoxicating love affair.
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Kazuo Ishiguro
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Faber
And
Faber
Limited
The Remains of the Day
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Goodreads rating: 4.14
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Imagine stepping into the polished shoes of Stevens, the quintessentially dedicated butler. Ishiguro's 'The Remains of the Day' offers a poignant look at what happens when loyalty clashes with personal convictions. As you dip into Stevens' memories, the elegance of the prose and the bittersweet nostalgia for a bygone era make this book a compelling portrait of a man's life and the choices that define it. It's a quietly powerful meditation on the human condition that's sure to resonate well after the final page.
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Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel |
Knopf
Doubleday
Publishing
Group
Sputnik Sweetheart
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Goodreads rating: 3.83
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Haruki Murakami, the internationally bestselling author of Norwegian Wood and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, plunges us into an urbane Japan of jazz bars, coffee shops, Jack Kerouac, and the Beatles to tell this story of a tangled triangle of uniquely unrequited loves.A college student, identified only as “K,” falls in love with his classmate, Sumire. But devotion to an untidy writerly life precludes her from any personal commitments–until she meets Miu, an older and much more sophisticated businesswoman. When Sumire disappears from an island off the coast of Greece, “K” is solicited to join the search party and finds himself drawn back into her world and beset by ominous, haunting visions. A love story combined with a detective story, Sputnik Sweetheart ultimately lingers in the mind as a profound meditation on human longing.
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If you're in the mood for something that nudges the boundaries of reality with a soft, insistent hand, "The Elephant Vanishes" might just be the book for you. Murakami's mastery of weaving the surreal with the everyday speaks to the part of us that suspects there's more to life than what meets the eye, making it a tantalizing read for anyone looking to be gently unmoored from the mundane.
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Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami |
Vintage
Kafka on the Shore
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Goodreads rating: 4.13
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Alternate cover edition here.Kafka on the Shore, a tour de force of metaphysical reality, is powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction and now is drawn toward Kafka for reasons that, like the most basic activities of daily life, he cannot fathom. Their odyssey, as mysterious to them as it is to us, is enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerizing events. Cats and people carry on conversations, a ghostlike pimp employs a Hegel-quoting prostitute, a forest harbors soldiers apparently unaged since World War II, and rainstorms of fish (and worse) fall from the sky. There is a brutal murder, with the identity of both victim and perpetrator a riddle—yet this, along with everything else, is eventually answered, just as the entwined destinies of Kafka and Nakata are gradually revealed, with one escaping his fate entirely and the other given a fresh start on his own.
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Haruki Murakami
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Random
House
/
Vintage
1Q84 - a novel
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Goodreads rating: 3.94
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The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo.A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled. As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector.A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s — 1Q84 is Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers.
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On an island the shape of a tear drop live two sisters. One is the Oracle, the other is damned.One is admired far and wide. The other must sacrifice her life to fulfil her destiny. But what will happen when she returns to the island for revenge?