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 Quote:
Originally posted by enderzero:
Right now I am reading the 3rd in the series, Gaijin
Snap! Im reading the same at the moment and Im loving it, cant put it down. Y_P Ive read the Heike as well and it is good but you cant really compare the two, one is a translation of Japanese written by Japanese and the other written by a white dude for us whities. I havent read shogun but am looking forward to reading it and Tai-pan now too.

double bonus, I picked up the book for 3 bucks! Pat myself on the back
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Whoa if you are reading Gaijin before Tai-pan you must be kinda confused...well maybe not confused but it should really be read after. Shogun is the best but doesn't relate to the others much at all.

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Me too. Herbert Bix: Hirohito and the making of modern Japan. Pretty dense history but very interesting. Don't think I've ever read such a incredibly researched book before. Footnotes run to 96 pages and index 30. That's a book alone.

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Snobee, That was a pretty good book - I too liked all the research that went into it like you said. A boy called H is good too.

 

If its anything with japanese lit anything by the following authrors would probably be a good read: Murakami Haruki (one of my favs) or Ryo, Miyabe Miyuki, Yoshikawa, Abe, Mishima, Kawabata, Kazuo Ishiguro, Junichi Saga, bla, bla, bla.

 

Has anybody read anything by James Michner (spelling?) like Hawaii or Poland. Wow, those were great books but havent gotten anything else by him here in Japan.

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i dont get the big fuss about shogun. i've started it twice now and got about 50 pages in and didnt really care to continue. reading war of don emmanuels netherparts now. v enjoyable.

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On translated Japanese literature: Kenji Miyazawa's "Night of the Milky Way Railway" was entertaining. For a non-drug user Miyazawa's imagination is trippy.

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I watched the movie for Japanese at univ and damn was it weird. Typical Japanese stuff that is good but at the end you are left going whaaaaaa? Anyone seen princess mononoke? Kinda like that one wakaranai.gif

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Zwelgen,

 

Miyazaki Hayo is great!! Mononoke Hime, Raputa, Naoshika, Totoro, and Sen to Chihiro among others, are all great movies and can be very easy to understand if youre learning Japanese. Try something like Totoro! \:D

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I watched Hotaru no Haka the other day. That's very easy to understand. It starts with the hero saying "On August 31, 1945 I died" (or some such date). Can't get much plainer than that. You know then that it's going to be a reet cheerful story.

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Not that I couldnt understand it but when I got to the end me and my viewing buddy looked at each other and said "well thats not what I was expecting to happen". Just in mononoke hime how they chop off the head and all that gloopy stuff goes everywhere till they get the head back... just strange.

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Yuki's Passion...regarding Michener, you should try and find "The Drifters". That still rates as one of my all time faves.

 

And on Murakami, i read one of his books, and i know i'm going to stuff up the title here, but i think it was something like "South of the border, west of the sun"?????? To be honest i wasn't all that impressed....found it a bit hollow.

 

I think i recommended Irvine Welsch (sp?)'s Glue in another thread. More of a blokes book but one of those rare books that when you finish you don't feel like reading again for a while lest you spoil the memory.

 

The Shipping News for those of you who liked the movie is also a grwat read.

 

Unfortunately i don't seem to be doing much reading other than textbooks and word cards (how much do you hate them?) at the moment....sob.

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Non fiction. It's about a boy who was living in Kobe during the war, got shunted off to the country, and then came back. His family were doubtful about the war, but he did some military training. It's true, but it reads like a novel. It's very matter-of-fact which is what makes it so good. You might even be able to find an English version in your local library.

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  • 2 months later...

Daniel Quin 'Ishmael'

Augustin Berque 'Le Sauvage Et Lartifice'

 

I finally found those books!

This used bookstore is my favorite. I can meet books I'm looking for! \:\)

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