/lit/ - Literature

>>10463429
It's in two 500 page volumes, one of his longest. Japanese is more physically compact than English so I would expect the English version to clock in at over 1,000 unless serious editing is done.

>>10426372
>>10426692
Guy living in Japan who reads Japanese at a high level here. Currently reading Killing Commendatore, about 200 pages to go (It's like 1,000 pages).

I can tell you that you are not really missing much by reading Murakami only in translation, to be real honest. I don't get much of different feeling at all with the Japanese. It's still neat and enjoyable and I will never read a Japanese author in English at this point, but it's not a radically different experience, particularly as Memeakami is concerned.

That said there is a character in 'Commendatore' who speaks strangely and I am very intrigued to see how they will speak in the English version. The way of speaking can't really be translated smoothly into English. I'll definitely flip though the English one to check when it drops.

>>10428518
Mishima is quite difficult when it comes to description. The page will be littered with furigana and we're talking a grown up book. Actions and dialogue aren't too bad usually but descriptions holy shit.

>>10430296
I've been thinking about trying Russian for literary purposes. Not sure if I should though. I've heard Dutch is easy to learn for English speakers but I don't really have any reason to do it.

>>10435838
So you have good command of Japanese and can speak on this from a position of authority, correct?

>>10309027
>What are the main themes of the book?

Standard Murakami...Loss and Seeking. But I would say that this one has a heavy element of Conscious Renewal. In other Murakami books the MC usually loses and then seeks what was lost in a literal and/or figurative sense, and then maybe learns something about himself. In this the MC is actively looking to renew and find himself from the get go, and is not seeking what was lost in any literal sense, just using that current position as a catalyst for self change.

>How was the japanese reception (public and critics) to the book?

Well it sold really well as usual. Lines and all that usual stuff. I think the critical reaction was pretty standard, it's not as good as his best-- that Murakami has become stagnant and derivative. This book in particular was blasted by the far right in Japan because it brings up and acknowledges the Nanking Massacre, but that's a non point.