/lit/ - Literature

The only one I read that was worth a shit was Mishima, but I haven't read much. Murakami is trash, all of it.

この男です。

>>17367009
>Murakami is trash, all of it.
oh God I despise that fucking guy. the only thing I regret more than reading War and Peace is reading Kafka on the Shore, Hard Boiled Wonderland, and Norwegian Wood

>>17367013
>>17367023
I’m in a university class for modern Japanese literature right now and there is a Murakami book on the required reading list but no Mishima or Kawabata. Absolute clownworld

>>17367009
What book or short story should I read as an introduction to his works?

>>17367009
Kawabata is definitely a great writer, but personally I like Soseki's simple but elegant style more, as well as the degree of intimacy Tanizaki renders his characters with. Mishima and are Ōe are tied with Kawabata in quality I would say, just a rank below Soseki and Tanizaki .
>>17367013
>>17367023
>>17367029
You're all faggots for not appreciating the comfiness of a Murakami novel, I can understand not liking Kafka and a few of his other works but the faggot that dislikes Hard Boiled Wonderland is tasteless. Not saying he's the best, but he is not bad.

I've read at least one book by all the major Japanese writers.

Kawabata is like watching paint dry.
Mishima is cringe and his books are basically just manlet cope.
Dazai was mentally ill, and No Longer Human is proof that /lit/ has terrible taste in everything.
Oe needs to lighten the fuck up.
Soseki was basically just a Jap Dickens. Soulless.

Murakami wins by default, and that's only because he larps as a European writer.

Oh and Yasushi Inoue is also pretty good, Tun-Huang is a great read.

>>17367029
Which Murakami book?

>>17367095
I like Murakami more than the average guy but this is retarded, if Kawabata bores you that says more about your computer fried attention span than his prowess. Mishima can be cringe but the sentimentality in it is what makes him worthwhile. Your criticism of Oe isn't even criticism. Finally, there is no greater sign of pseudistry than disliking Dickens, Soseki is great. I also don't like Dazai but based on what I'm seeing in this post you clearly don't dislike him for good reasons.

>>17367111
A Wild Sheep Chase

>>17367120
I like him more than most so take this with a grain of salt but if you feel like his tropes will annoy you then you should stick to his short stories, as they sidestep that issue to a certain extent.

>>17367121
That one is alright, I think it's greatest quality is setting you up so you can enjoy Dance Dance Dance to as great a degree as you can.

>>17367095
>Murakami wins by default

Cringe conclusion.

>>17367126
Delete this post. I accidentally thought you were responding to me.

>>17367114
All of it is subjective yes, but Dazai is astoundingly bad. Anyone who thinks he has even a remote shred of talent is just straight up wrong.

>>17367137
I'm also someone who really disliked No Longer Human so I'm tempted to agree with you but even I can see some technical skill in that book if nothing else.

Akutagawa is amazing. I love how he mixes the traditional folklore with modern themes.
OP, which work from Kawabata have you read? Have you read Palm-of-the-Hand Stories?

>>17367054
snow country is the only thing I've read of his but I loved it, it's his most well known too so there's lots of writing on it

How are Kenzaburo Oe's short stories?

>>17367157
Is there only one English translation for it or do you have a recommended translator? Will grab a copy soon. Been reading Soseki and Dazai recently and want even more Japanese classic lit.

>>17367193
Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness is the only one isn't it? I think it's a good collection but it doesn't hold up to his novels.

>>17367070
What is the best beginner kawabata? I was thinking about copping thousand cranes or snow country.

>>17367224
I'm not the best person to ask as I haven't read a lot of his stuff as I'm guessing his bigger fans in the thread have, but I would start with Snow Country. If you think easing in with a short story collection is a good idea (at least that's what I tend to do), Palm-of-the-Hand Stories would be a good follow-up to Snow.Country.

>>17367009
Fuck japanese literature.
>watashi wa so sad
>i might kill myself
>but i have to fuck a relative, preferably my mother
>oh, a cat, let's kill it
Fuck those bugmen. Edogawa Ranpo is the best they have to offer.

>>17367256
Ranpo is good but you're retarded and you've probably only read Dazai, Murakami, and Ranpo.

>>17367258
Haven't read Dazai. I go to bookstores and read the back covers.
>cats
>cats
>cats
>depressed guy
>depressed guy

>>17367276

>>17367276
sounds pretty based.

I Am a Cat is kino

No kobo abe love??? I havent read a ton of him but if his books are on par with dune gal and someone elses face he's up there.

>>17367462
Abe is a little underappreciated here I would say, he is pretty good at writing trance like scenes. Kangaroo Notebook and The Ruined Map are overlooked because of his two most popular novels but they are also pretty great.

Can someone tell me how similar Kawabata is to Mishima?

>>17367095

I've never witnessed such faggotry as you faggotty post, sir. Mishima is the greatest

For me it's Tanizaki

>>17368021
And I say this as a 6 foot 5 giant

>>17367095
You sound like a gaylord

for me its soseki

Banana Yoshimoto

>>17367095
>Oe needs to lighten the fuck up.
Read The Silent Cry

>>17367009
Ryunosuke Akutagawa's short stories are as close to perfection as a short story could get.

>>17367462
I tried reading The Face of Another but couldn’t get into it. Should I give this book and Kobo Abe a second chance?

>>17368048
Based Sosekichad, which of his works do you like the best. For me it's either I am a Cat, Botchan, or The Miner.

>>17368354
only read botchan and enjoyed it immensely, just ordered sanshiro. of course i am a cat and all of his other works are on my to read list. which work will you read next ?

>>17367029
you pay to read? are you fucking retarded?

>>17368354
Botchan is such a good book. I never wanted to read a book and see myself in it, it's really cringy to do so I thought. But I saw myself in Botchan so much, it was crazy. Easily made it my favorite book.

Any weebs here read any of the books NiSiOiSiN wrote?

>>17368429
Normally I would object, but he's paying to take a J-lit class without Mishima in it. Easily one of the most important figures in Japan post-war, not just in literature.

>>17368432
lord knows it is probably the only book i read in 2020 and it is the best book i read in a long time. anons recommend similar books to botchan

>>17368447
Sanshiro is pretty similar I think, also by Soseki. Murakami thought it was one of the most important novels in Japanese literature and it's one of the most compelling coming-of-age stories I've read.

If you want a much more intense and darker book I recommend A Personal Matter by Oe Kenzaburo. It's pretty great.

I don't know what kind of similar you're looking for, but both of these are about a young man at a critical moment in his life.

>>17368417
I have read Kokoro, I Am a Cat, Botchan, The Miner, and Sanshiro. I plan on reading Ten Nights of Dreams since I like short story collections.
>>17368432
I don't do it that often myself but I don't see the problem with self-inserting into a text. I kinda related to Uranari myself.
>>17368447
The Good Soldier Svejk reminds me of a lot of Soseki's work.

Friendly reminder that translations of japanese books are beyond atrocious and anyone in this ITT thread who hasn't read the original versions of the books you're talking about has no right to any opinion about these authors at all.

>>17368521
I should clarify what I mean about seeing oneself in a book. I think in modern media it's an overused concern, where everyone has to see themselves in books or movies. I understand the desire for representation, but I think the level of some Harry Potter fans is what I have in mind when I sayI think it's cringe. I read to expand my horizon and use it as a door, not a mirror. Botchan is probably the only book I've seen myself in a character, and that's because when I read it I was a teacher in Shikoku, about an hour from Matsuyama.

>>17368548
Owning a copy of the Golden Temple in Japanese doesn't prove you actually read it in Japanese. You're gonna have to give us more than that.

>>17368560
You're right, i just bought it in order larp on /lit/ with it.

>>17368552
>I think in modern media it's an overused concern, where everyone has to see themselves in books or movies
I would agree in this regard.
>I understand the desire for representation, but I think the level of some Harry Potter fans is what I have in mind when I sayI think it's cringe. I read to expand my horizon and use it as a door, not a mirror. Botchan is probably the only book I've seen myself in a character, and that's because when I read it I was a teacher in Shikoku, about an hour from Matsuyama.
Oh that's pretty cool, is Soseki part of the curriculum over there?

>>17368577
It's okay. I used to go to Chinatown and buy Pokemon cards in Japanese I couldn't read. It's cool to get your favorite book in the original language. It's the kind of thing Mizoguchi would like to see even.

>>17368548
I'm a fan of the plain-looking editions.

>>17368548
>>17368617
But 新潮社 also has other nice cover art.

>>17368590
Oh yeah, reading Soseki is like reading Dickens in the English speaking world, a right of passage. I remember my students having to read Sanshiro at least. I don't know about I am a Cat or Botchan. They're a big fan of using readers in national language classes unfortunately, so they don't always read the full books.

>>17368625
I've got that one as well.

>>17367009
Ihara Saikaku.

>>17368548
Isn't importing anything from nipland pretty expensive? How do you get your hands on japanese books?

>>17368693
Live in Japan

>>17368693
I just order from Amazon JP. It's not cheap, but not outrageous either if you order a bunch at once.
For me (EU), its 1300円 per shipment plus 750円 per kilo. So if i order like 10 文庫 books i end up paying about 15-20 euros of shipping.

>>17368640
Well I imagine it's still better than the American education system in regards to literature.

They have great stores for used books, (used) Japanese books are generally cheaper than English paperbacks.

I'm gonna keep posting Hiromi Kawakami ITT till you illiterate fucks read her for once. Strange Weather in Tokyo is the comfiest book ever and Manazuru is an underrated literary ghost story

>>17369403
Actually I've shilled her myself anon, are you the one who called her the queen of comfy literature? If so I think you introduced me to her work and I cannot thank you enough. I read The Nakano Thrift Shop, and I'm planning on reading Strange Weather in Tokyo and Record of a Night Too Brief.

The only really good stuff Murakami wrote are his short stories. Barn Burning especially. His novels are short stories that I stayed there welcome by several hundred pages.

>>17369422
I agree that his short stories are good but you don't even like The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle?

>>17369410
That may have been me but I don't remember using the term Queen lol. I'm glad you enjoyed her! I've read a Record of Night too Brief and it's probably my least favorite by her. It's just very standard dream literature, reads like someone interconnected their dream journal for the last year. Read Manazuru if you want something complex by her.

>>17369449
Ah I see, noted. How do you feel about Yōko Ogawa if you've read her btw anon? She's the only other Japanese woman I've read the works of and I think she's also really good.

>>17369434
I've only read After Dark and Kafka of his novels but both of them had this sense in just about every single scene of overstaying their welcome. Something that disappeared when I tried his short stories. I question if Murakami even likes writing novels or if he just staples a bunch of interconnected short stories together to make them because they sell better.

>>17369403
you know i cant resist comfy lit so it is going to my reading list

>>17369481
Typically even people who dislike his novels like The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, so I might suggest trying it out. Plus, Kafka is almost his least liked work on here (the most hated work of his being 1Q84).

>>17369471
Never heard of her I'll look her up. The only other japanese woman I've read is Sayaka Murata's Convenience Store Woman, which was a pretty solid read. 3/5

>>17369489
Bird Chronicle does seem a bit more grounded. I've been halfway interested in Norwegian Wood too for the same reason

>>17369511
The Housekeeper and the Professor is really good you should check it out.

>>17369550
I actually have heard of The Memory Police, it got big this past year. I'll go grab The Housekeeper soon

I love samuraishit so for me it's Eiji Yoshikawa

>>17368429
It’s part of my major. It was better than the other options for classes.

>>17369614
I surprisingly enjoyed Hagakure Book of the Samurai. I didn't find out till later that Mishima practically worshipped it, makes sense considering it's the first place I read that seppuku isn't supposed to kill you just with the stab to the stomach.

>>17367009
Endo. Come on now.

>>17367029
Murakami is actually a good writer don’t listen to these pseuds.

>>17367054
If you are familiar with Kafkas Metamorphosis try out ‘Samsa in Love’

>>17369727
Murakami isn't even close to a "good writer."

>>17369748
Not him but he is, /lit/ shills Dazai and he's worse.

Naoya Shiga is the best nips have to offer. Everything else is dry and non relatable for westerner. Read A Dark Night's Passing anons, and see it for yourself :)

>>17369783
May I ask what other authors you've read to come to that conclusion?

>>17368548
>in this ITT thread
your opinion is worthless, you're retarded

>>17369820
>being this new
yikes

>>17369755
Is dazai a good read for somebody interested in addiction/mental illness literature?

You guys should read 限りなく透明に近いブルー, easily the best japanese book i've read, written by the superior Murakami, Ryū.

>>17369896
It's decent but overrated imo

>>17369896
Yes. Read his short story トカトントン.

Friendly reminder this zip has most worth-reading Japanese authors in English translation, with decent ebooks you won't find in libgen or anywhere else
>http://www.mediafire.com/file/efeuu6rrv8cdrjd/Japanese_lit_v10.zip/file
(I might update it someday since a few more books / authors have come to my attention since then)

>>17369783
He is pretty good but his short stories (also similar to A Dark Night's Passing) are fairly idiosyncratic.

>>17367070
People only hate Murakami because he is popular and women tend to like his books. I've only read a handful of his stuff, but he is an enjoyable read. Is it the highest of literature? No, but it's still good. He occupies a nice middle ground between high literature and YA. Great author for a person in their late teens to early twenties.

>>17370414
Woow, thanks bro

>>17368076
based!
Hell Screen is epic.

>>17370414
I wish there would be something like this for the originals.

>>17367009
The only Kawabata I’ve read is The Master Of Go. I liked it a lot.

>>17368065
based

>>17368721
Are there any other sites to get your hands on translations of obscure english books? I've wanted to buy some so as to be able to integrate japanese better into my daily life and get to read what I would be reading anyway.

>>17371104
Never read a translation when you could be reading the original. Thats just perverse.

>>17367070
I liked his story Barn Burning, connection between Faulkner and Burning.

>>17367095
pseudish, even for this board.

>>17368354

Good to see Soseki getting more love here, he's definitely the best of the Japanese imo (though I haven't read very much Tanizaki and I hear he's equally as good). What do you think of his later works? I'm a big fan of Kokoro, though The Gate is an underrated gem.

Taijun Takeda or Murakami

>>17371269
I never read Faulker's story but I love Murakami's. Whats the connection, I couldn't find one when I tried looking up a synopsis

I’ve read
>Oe
>murakami
>dazai
>Mishima
And the only one I thought was truly great was Mishima (temple of golden)

>>17369802
As a major in japanese literature, all of them :)

>>17371392
Google Flem Snopes. Murakami is garbage, by the way.

Hey guys, I just ran into>>17367095 out in the parking lot, and he was acting kind of strange. First he told me he was "longing for a booty bonging", and then he tried to stuff his hand way down in my pocket! Anyways, I'm not trying to start anything, I just want everyone to stay safe out there.

>>17368548
Seidensticker's translations are great, shut up retard

>>17368181
If you like kafka try the woman in the dunes. It's super kafkaesque and its just dope as fuck.

>>17367155
I'm gonna get palm of the hand stories. I loved snow country and thousand cranes, thats all i read by him

>>17370464
I agree, great entry point into a more serious relationship with literature.
>>17371269
I also enjoyed that one, though The Elephant Vanishing as a whole was good imo.
>>17371355
>though I haven't read very much Tanizaki and I hear he's equally as good
Funny that you say that since I would put Tanizaki at around Soseki's level, he's a real joy to read.
>What do you think of his later works?
The only later Soseki I've read is Kokoro, and from that I would say it seems he lost some of his wholesome defiance and romanticism in the face of sorrow later in life. At least in his writings.
>>17371398
Really, you liked Oe less than Mishima? I mean I'm glad you like Mishima but damn, he's a master of the craft.
>>17371651
Kek.

>>17371404
I tried reading this a while back and got bored after like 3 pages. I guess I can give it another shot

>>17370464
>People only hate Murakami because he is popular and women tend to like his books.
I disagree. I've read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and the book is amazing until Cinnamon and Nutmeg appeared; both characters are nothing but tools so the protagonist can buy that house with the dry well.
>He occupies a nice middle ground between high literature and YA.
I will give you that.

>>17371957
A personal matter did not impress me

>>17372204
Try The Silent Cry if you haven't

How is Death by Water? The synopsis looks interesting.

>>17367462
For me, it is also Kobo Abe

>>17368065
Recs on starting point?

>>17367009
I don't know about best, but I liked some of the short stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. He's the guy who wrote Rashomon.

>>17372362
The movie is based on 藪の中, not 羅生門.
And the short story is indeed way better than the movie.

>>17372229
>buy oe book for 15 dollar
>don’t really like it
>”dude buy a less acclaimed book from the same guy for another 15 dollar”
Nty

>>17371957
wrt Tanizaki I've only read Some Prefer Nettles in all honesty - I enjoyed the style but it felt almost clipped? Like it was supposed to be building up to some more depth, but ended right in the middle of things. Do you have any recs of him other than that one? I've been curious about In Praise of Shadows for a while now, but haven't come across any discussion of any of his other fiction.

With regards to Soseki you're definitely right when it comes to his later work - there's a lot less defiance and more seeming resignation toward the world around him. He fell quite seriously ill just after writing The Gate I believe, and I think that likely tempered his style a lot.

>>17372351
Different Anon but her debut, Kitchen, is the best entry point for Yoshimoto

>>17372415
I'm not the anon you're replying.
The short story is the one with the samurai waiting near a portal until he sees a woman stealing hair from the dead bodies?

>>17372318
It's delightfully thick.

>>17371104
Don't.
Just don't.

>>17372540
But is it good? The synopsis makes it look like a Murakami book by someone who knows how to write and that is exactly what I want.

>>17372101
Japanese authors are really strong with short stories, because since Kojki, that was natural storytelling format for them.
Novels on the other side for them were quite difficult to write and master. Besides Soseki, who even though was greatly influenced by the west, in the end managed to develop that non translatable "kokoro" style. Others really struggled to form that and just went with the themes and style from the popular eu classics (basicly who can become biggest japanese Kafka). Shiga and nowdays Ikezawa, are the only ones imho who got it right. So yeah, try it and you will love it, and after that hate me for sure :)

>>17372533
No, it's the murder mystery with multiple unreliable narrators telling their versions of the events, all contradicting each other.
It's basically the plot of the Rashomon movie exluding the bunch of folks discussing and interpreting the stories, and also excluding the last story that Kurosawa invented himself.

>>17372568
That's not a bad description at all, so go for it.

>>17372500
You can download an epub my dude.
>>17372318
I've seen people say it overstays it's welcome but I haven't read it myself.
>>17372515
>wrt Tanizaki I've only read Some Prefer Nettles in all honesty - I enjoyed the style but it felt almost clipped? Like it was supposed to be building up to some more depth, but ended right in the middle of things. Do you have any recs of him other than that one? I've been curious about In Praise of Shadows for a while now, but haven't come across any discussion of any of his other fiction.
I would recommend something more subtle like The Key then.

Kenji Miyazawa

>>17372750
>I've seen people say it overstays it's welcome
I saw something similar about A Personal Matter.

>>17370414
this is amazing. It has everything by Lafcadio Hearn! I've been looking for one of the works in there by him for so long. "In Ghostly Japan"

>>17369644
Endo is very good indeed.

bump

>>17370414
:-) you are the best, anon. thank you!

>>17368021
>Mishima is the greatest

His one (1) take is that young people have sexual problems and are sociopaths.

Isn't it ironic that most of the best contemporary Japanese authors are female?

>>17367095
so incredibly based

>>17374540
Ōe and both Murakamis are still alive.

>>17372318
It's fucking terrible, don't read. It has this weird metafictional quality to it. It's about a writer who struggles with his disabled child and his attempt to write a book about when he saw his father drown as a kid. The writer is Kenzaburo Oe in all but name - he has even written books with the same titles and plots as Kenzaburo.

>Holy cow, Kogito, I've never seen you so concentrated!

This is a literal quote from the book. One of Kogito's disciples listens to him describe his father's drowning.

Do you remember in Silent Cry where the two brothers argue about what truly happened with their ancestors? Death By Water is Kogito arguing with himself about how his father drowned for 300 pages. Has Kenzaburo Oe lost his gift? Or is this story just untranslatable? His writing is admittedly very awkward in translation. Death by Water is just not good to read in English.

>>17374540
The first great Japanese author was too

>>17368076
This. He was even praised by Borges

Murakami's A wild sheep chase was really good but I think the best Japanese writer is Dazai followed by Mishima, Akutagawa and Abe. Kawabata is boring in English, if you can read Japanese his prose is beautiful tho

>>17375603
Oe is a bad writer who tries too hard to be dark anyway. You wanna read sad lit that's actually good you read Dazai.

>>17375728
>>17375708
Dazai is a bland hack and Oe is great.

>>17367095
shit taste

>>17367095
>posting vague criticisms for the sake of being contrarian
Lazy bait but looks like it worked, you've earned the (You)s

>>17375801
OH NO MY SON OH MY SON MY SON I WANNA KILL HIM REEEEEEEE - Oe

society”? The plural of human beings? Where was the substance of this thing called “society”? I had spent my whole life thinkng that society must certainly be something powerful, harsh and severe, but to hear Horiki talk made the words “Don’t you mean yourself?” come to the tip of my tongue. But I held the words back, reluctant to anger him.
‘Society won’t stand for it.’
‘It’s not society. You’re the one who won’t stand for it - right?’
‘If you do such a thing society will make you suffer for it’
‘It’s not society. It’s you, isn’t it?’
‘Before you know it, you’ll be ostracized by society.’
‘It’s not society. You’re going to do the ostracizing, aren’t you?’
Words, words of every kind went flitting through my head. “Know thy particular fearsomeness, thy knavery, cunning and witchcraft!” What I said, however, as I wiped the perspiration from my face with a handkerchief was merely, “You’ve put me in a cold sweat!” I smiled.
From then on, however, I came to hold, almost as a philosophical conviction, the belief: What is society but an individual? - Dazai


Now choose

>>17376277
Dazai is good at copying the aesthetic of suffering and nothing more

>>17376283
Not really, he actually understands suffering unlike Oe who literally just tries to be as transgressive as possible without caring for aesthetics.

>>17376305
Oe is explores the limits of the human experience while Dazai is trapped by his middling prose and bland perspective.

>>17376310
That's not true anon. Oe uses big words, that's not good prose. The first 4 or 5 chapters in A personal matter are genuinely beautiful but after that it falls apart. A silent cry is unreadable and I like the first short story in Teach us to outgrow our madness but everything else in that book sucks too. Dazai's writing is pretty, he can make words flow

>>17376321
>A silent cry is unreadable
>Dazai's writing is pretty, he can make words flow

>>17376338
You haven't made an argument yet anon, all you've done is call Dazai bland and Oe good. You haven't really made an argument as to why, unlike me.

>>17367095
i forgot to mention that i am a transwoman my pronouns are they/them

>>17376348
No I've told you that Dazai is bland because that's the whole of it, he sparks no emotions in the reader, his work isn't experienced so much as you just happen to have read words on a page. Oe's ability to capture snapshots in full detail is his strong suit, I cannot think of Dazai's.

>>17367095
poor bait. dazai is overrated on this board, however.

>>17368548
But anon, how am I supposed to read the original versions if I don't understand Japanese? I'd just be look at meaningless squiggles on paper, understanding nothing.

>>17376368
>Dazai is bland because that's the whole of it

>>17376391
I didn't end the sentence there anon.

>>17376394
>he's bad because I don't relate to him
>I discard the hundreds of quotable aphorisms and penetrating psychological insight because I can't relate

>>17376403
There's a difference between relating to an author's writing and it sparking any emotion in you at all.

>>17376410
Well, I like him. His writing sparks multifarious sadness inside me

>>17376418
And I'm saying I don't understand how that's possible when the angle he comes from is overdone and there are better examples of similar writers. I don't understand his value as a stand-alone artist.

>>17376431
Have you read all his works?

>>17374523

What do you mean "take". In what sense does literature have "takes". If you're trying to reduce a book to a "take" then I think you're approaching things wrong.

Mishima's main concerns are purity and beauty

>>17376435
Admittedly I've only read No Longer Human but I despised every second of it. I plan to read Run Melos and The Setting Sun since I've heard they're better but unless his style is drastically different I doubt I'll like it a lot.

>>17376446
Read Schoolgirl. That's his best work. If you don't like that one, you won't like Dazai. The setting sun's translation is really bad, read it in japanese, it's beautiful

kawabata always makes me sad af
really like mishima. he's my favorite
oe was kinda nice
some of murakami's works are fun

>>17376460
oh and my second favorite is soseki
never chuckled as much reading a book as when I read I am a cat

>>17376464
>oh and my second favorite is soseki
>never chuckled as much reading a book as when I read I am a cat
Based, Sosekichads will inherit the earth

>>17376471
meitei is one of the best characters I've ever read
such an absolute madman

>>17376474
>Waverhouse, my
aesthete friend, once found me thus breathing in pursuit of a naturally healthy stomach
and, rather unkindly, urged me, as a man, to terminate my labor-pangs.
From moment one he is a joy to read about.

>>17376483
Yikes, is that the english translation?
Thats horrifying.

>>17377035
I mean if you are going to say you should never read nay translated work then a good deal of literature is off limits. Not saying people shouldn't strive to learn multiple languages, just saying it's not possible to learn every language.

>>17368521
Ten Nights of Dreams is great.

>>17376450
Lol this is the only work I've read by Dazai because it was short and didn't seem to be about suicide. It was ok, I read it with the translation you say is bad I'm assuming. Totally passable but largely forgettable story. I read it in a day though which is rare for me, 3/5

>>17374540
best at being shit you mean.

>>17377533
Banana Yoshimoto, Hiromi Kawakami, and Yōko Ogawa are all great writers.

>>17376431
Man, that part in Remembering Zenzo where he's moved to stand up and speak from the heart but he's drunk and his pants fall down and all the other writers are like "fuggin Dazai, at it again" is literal kino.

>>17377555
If you had to rec one work from those 3, what would it be?

>>17377943
One from each or one for all of them? I'll answer as if you meant the former. Kitchen for Yoshimoto, The Housekeeper and the Professor for Ogawa, and Strange Weather in Tokyo for Kawakami.

>>17377964
Sweet! I havent read any japanese women writers, idk why

>>17376460
Read Akutagawa.

>>17377555
>>17377943
Banana and Ogawa make Dan Brown canonical writer. Atrocious.

>>17379146
Odd but they're good writers themselves so I don't really care

>>17372579
this post is underrated. Nice insight

>>17367009
It's Soseki for me

bump

I read a light novels
seems kinda pointless to divulge on a sex scene over and over and over
the succubus should have killed him, not that im into it at least then it would be over and my monkey brain would equate the edginess with profoundness

>>17382592
Nigga what?

>>17367256
>watashi wa so sad
> i might kill myself
>but i have to fuck a relative, preferably my mother
>oh, a cat, let's kill it

Substitute geeky cousin for mother and edit the stuff about cats because I like cats, and that’s me. Maybe I should read more Japanese lit.