Title: Botchan
Author: Natsume Soseki
Translator: Matt Treyvaud
About the Book: Fiction, Japanese, Comedy, Awesomeness.
My rating: 10/10.
I've just mentioned Soseki being one of the few Japanese authors in my bibliography that I could read. Well, this book is definitely one of my favorites - for two reasons.
1. It's awesome.
2. The translation by Matt Treyvaud is more than awesome. (the link is at the bottom of this post)
The story in itself is fast-paced, funny, full of intrigue. The main character is a teacher who stumbles into a small town school to teach maths and falls into the world of students who prank, teachers who intrigue and people who just plainly need nicknames which he offers freely.
The title, Botchan, means 'little master' and it's offered to the main character by his loving old maid, who is certain that he is something special and wonderful and a gift to the world. The reader might be less sure about that, since Botchan is quite flawed, but he happens to be delightfully flawed. There's a very human element to his story, while it still keeps a light-hearted tone.
"I have no idea why, but the old lady just adored me. It was a total mystery. My mother had gotten sick of me three days before she died, my father never knew what to do with me, and the whole town called me devil-boy, but Kiyo thought I was the greatest."
And thus the reckless boy who manages to get through college and then acquire a job continues to be seen through life: something that's not quite within the lines of what he's supposed to be, something a bit out of the usual. Reckless? Devil? Greatest? Non-compromising? Well, I was fond of him, I'll tell you that.
While my colleagues from the same literature class were wading their way through a rough Romanian translation, I found Treyvaud's version and loved it to pieces. It's fresh, it's readable, it sounds English, not English made to break in all the wrong places to imitate Japanese and it's wonderfully full of life. There's a free translation available online, but it doesn't hold a candle to Treyvaud's.
From the translator's introduction:
"I gave Botchan himself the voice of the Platonic Ideal of the Assistant English Teacher in Japan blowing off steam: profane and outraged, hilariously aggrieved. As part of that milieu myself, I decided that too much polish would probably work against what I wanted to do, so I decided to translate the whole book in a month. And finally, I did virtually all of the work while drunk."
And that, my friends, is what gives it its perfection in this English version.
You can get it here.
Showing posts with label japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label japan. Show all posts
Saturday, 19 November 2011
"I Am a Cat" - Natsume Soseki
Title: I am a Cat
Author: Natsume Soseki
About the Book: Fiction, Japanese, Comedy, The Narrator is a Cat (and how cool is that?)
My rating: 9/10.
There were a number of writers that I was required to read for my Japanese literature class for my undergraduate studies. Natsume Soseki was one whom I actually enjoyed. He combines Japanese finesse with just enough plot, just enough twists and turns that you end up enjoying yourself quite a lot (especially when you have a good translation).
"I Am a Cat" is a pretty self-describing title. The narrator, of course, is a cat. But not just any sort of cat. The Japanese for that phrase is "Wagahai ha neko de aru", which translates pompously. This isn't a cat. This is a Cat speaking to you, you poor, deluded mortal. You have no idea who you're dealing with.
The Cat is witty, cinical, observing the world around him - which contains such people as the professor whose house he lives in - with quite a bit of grandiloquence and irony. However, make no mistake. This isn't Disney and it isn't about the Cat, or any cat's view on the world. This is a satire of Japanese society, of humans and their follies and of people generally take themselves too seriously.
There is no particular plot to be followed, but there are a few happenings in the humans' lives that interconnect and reoccurring characters that have a bit of fun poked at them.
I'd give it a 10/10, but it does seem to rant a bit too much at times.
It can be bought here.
Author: Natsume Soseki
About the Book: Fiction, Japanese, Comedy, The Narrator is a Cat (and how cool is that?)
My rating: 9/10.
There were a number of writers that I was required to read for my Japanese literature class for my undergraduate studies. Natsume Soseki was one whom I actually enjoyed. He combines Japanese finesse with just enough plot, just enough twists and turns that you end up enjoying yourself quite a lot (especially when you have a good translation).
"I Am a Cat" is a pretty self-describing title. The narrator, of course, is a cat. But not just any sort of cat. The Japanese for that phrase is "Wagahai ha neko de aru", which translates pompously. This isn't a cat. This is a Cat speaking to you, you poor, deluded mortal. You have no idea who you're dealing with.
The Cat is witty, cinical, observing the world around him - which contains such people as the professor whose house he lives in - with quite a bit of grandiloquence and irony. However, make no mistake. This isn't Disney and it isn't about the Cat, or any cat's view on the world. This is a satire of Japanese society, of humans and their follies and of people generally take themselves too seriously.
There is no particular plot to be followed, but there are a few happenings in the humans' lives that interconnect and reoccurring characters that have a bit of fun poked at them.
I'd give it a 10/10, but it does seem to rant a bit too much at times.
It can be bought here.
Monday, 7 November 2011
"The Lake" - Banana Yoshimoto
Title: The Lake
Author: Banana Yoshimoto
About the Book: Japan, Art, Strangeness, Delicacy, Mysterious Past
My rating: 8.5/10.
As with many other books, your mileage may vary on this one. Even more so if you start reading in the wrong key. It starts out with a somewhat romance-like setting, which can be quite deceptive.
I went into it not expecting anything, so I had the chance to be quite pleasantly surprised. The writing style is light and delicate and strange. It feels airy and relaxed. I like listening to Chihiro's thoughts - still a bit of a child at heart, essentially uncertain of herself, but wonderfully accepting of other people and very relaxed.
Nakajima, the man who she enters into a strange relationship with, is strange. I can't properly feel him throughout the book, which may be what the author was trying to do. He is closed off and just *there* as somebody who needs acceptance and not much else. He reminds me of a cactus, somehow. Low-maintenance, arid looks.
As secondary characters, Mino and Chii, siblings taken right out of the supernatural realm, are delightful. They have an air of magical realism about them - there's always the question whether they're for real or not, but they fit right in "The Lake"'s world without much fuss.
The ending, where the mystery that is hinted at from the very beginning, is unraveled, feels to me somewhat blunt and sketchy. It is dark, contrasting with the wonderful lightness of the rest of the book - this wouldn't be a problem. However, it's explained in Nakajima's words and his voice doesn't charm me as much as Chihiro's, feeling somewhat too dry and artificial. I like it, but I also don't. The story is interesting, but the style detracts from it.
Anyway, it's a book I'd definitely recommend. Now I want to find "Kitchen", the Banana Yoshimoto book I was looking for when I found this.
You can get it here.
Author: Banana Yoshimoto
About the Book: Japan, Art, Strangeness, Delicacy, Mysterious Past
My rating: 8.5/10.
As with many other books, your mileage may vary on this one. Even more so if you start reading in the wrong key. It starts out with a somewhat romance-like setting, which can be quite deceptive.
I went into it not expecting anything, so I had the chance to be quite pleasantly surprised. The writing style is light and delicate and strange. It feels airy and relaxed. I like listening to Chihiro's thoughts - still a bit of a child at heart, essentially uncertain of herself, but wonderfully accepting of other people and very relaxed.
Nakajima, the man who she enters into a strange relationship with, is strange. I can't properly feel him throughout the book, which may be what the author was trying to do. He is closed off and just *there* as somebody who needs acceptance and not much else. He reminds me of a cactus, somehow. Low-maintenance, arid looks.
As secondary characters, Mino and Chii, siblings taken right out of the supernatural realm, are delightful. They have an air of magical realism about them - there's always the question whether they're for real or not, but they fit right in "The Lake"'s world without much fuss.
The ending, where the mystery that is hinted at from the very beginning, is unraveled, feels to me somewhat blunt and sketchy. It is dark, contrasting with the wonderful lightness of the rest of the book - this wouldn't be a problem. However, it's explained in Nakajima's words and his voice doesn't charm me as much as Chihiro's, feeling somewhat too dry and artificial. I like it, but I also don't. The story is interesting, but the style detracts from it.
Anyway, it's a book I'd definitely recommend. Now I want to find "Kitchen", the Banana Yoshimoto book I was looking for when I found this.
You can get it here.
"Confessions of a Mask" - Yukio Mishima
Title: Confessions of a Mask
Author: Yukio Mishima
About the Book: Japan, Angst, Homosexuality, Perversions
My rating: 10/10.
I haven't read a Japanese book in awhile, but I picked this one up. I'm strangely glad I did. Mishima is a very strong author, uncompromising, thoughtful but without falling into the trap of over-thinking what he writes.
Kochan, the protagonist and narrator, is a strange, intellectual creature. He studies himself, turns himself on all sides, then shows the results to his audience, not asking for any reaction at all. He doesn't complain about his problems, nor is he proud about them. He seems to be alone, talking to himself from somewhere just outside of a society that he acts for in order to exist. Having the double misfortune of being both a homosexual and perverted - associating sex with violence and death - there's no chance of confessing to anyone but the silent reader.
This inner monologue, which is knife-sharp with honesty, explains how he came to be. As a child, he had strange reactions when seeing torn princes in fairy tales, Saint Sebastian pierced by arrows and other violent art. Then he switches his subject matter and remembers the women in his life - just two of them. The second of which he tried very much to be straight with, hoping that he would become so with the first kiss - and failing.
A very lonely book, very honest, suffering quietly and doing nothing to ask for help. It left me at the end with a feeling of emptiness, loneliness, of quiet resignation.
I loved it, even if I didn't expect to.
Odd.
You can find it here.
Author: Yukio Mishima
About the Book: Japan, Angst, Homosexuality, Perversions
My rating: 10/10.
I haven't read a Japanese book in awhile, but I picked this one up. I'm strangely glad I did. Mishima is a very strong author, uncompromising, thoughtful but without falling into the trap of over-thinking what he writes.
Kochan, the protagonist and narrator, is a strange, intellectual creature. He studies himself, turns himself on all sides, then shows the results to his audience, not asking for any reaction at all. He doesn't complain about his problems, nor is he proud about them. He seems to be alone, talking to himself from somewhere just outside of a society that he acts for in order to exist. Having the double misfortune of being both a homosexual and perverted - associating sex with violence and death - there's no chance of confessing to anyone but the silent reader.
This inner monologue, which is knife-sharp with honesty, explains how he came to be. As a child, he had strange reactions when seeing torn princes in fairy tales, Saint Sebastian pierced by arrows and other violent art. Then he switches his subject matter and remembers the women in his life - just two of them. The second of which he tried very much to be straight with, hoping that he would become so with the first kiss - and failing.
A very lonely book, very honest, suffering quietly and doing nothing to ask for help. It left me at the end with a feeling of emptiness, loneliness, of quiet resignation.
I loved it, even if I didn't expect to.
Odd.
You can find it here.
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