Japanese Fiction

[disconnected]

hey guys i am looking for some nice Japanese fiction to read....any suggestions??

off the topic how are books by Vladimir Nabokov, not just Lolita

 

[Stewart]

hey guys i am looking for some nice Japanese fiction to read....any suggestions??

Not read them all, but some books spring to mind:

• The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea, Yukio Mishima
• Shipwrecks, Akira Yoshimura
• Rashomon and Other Stories, Ryunosuke Akutagawa
• I Am A Cat, Natsume Soseki
• The Lake, Yasunari Kawabata
• The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruku Murakami
• In The Miso Soup, Ryu Murakami
• The Diving Pool, Yoko Ogawa
• The Pillow Book, Sei Shonagan
• The Makioka Sisters, Jun'ichiro Tanizaki
• Silence, Shusako Endo
• A Personal Matter, Kenzaburo Oe

Need more? Why not have a look at the site of the Japanese Literature Publishing Project. They regularly pick the best of Japan and see that they get translated. So loads of smaller, lesser known works.

off the topic how are books by Vladimir Nabokov, not just Lolita

Do a search on Vladimir Nabokov: there's plenty of threads.

 

[arwen]

I like a great deal of Japanese authors. I'd recommend anything by Haruki Murakami, particularly 'Kafka on the Shore' or 'Dance Dance Dance'. I also think 'Kitchen' by Banana Yoshimoto is a great book of three short stories which are interlinked. 'Vibrator' by Mari Akasaka is another favourite of mine.

 

[angerball]

Anything by Haruki Murakami, as others have recommended. Also, if you like psychological thrillers, you can try Out and Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino.

 

[Colleen]

I think Yukio Mishima and Junichiro Tanizaki are my favourite Japanese authors.

I've had mixed results with Haruki Murakami but absolutely love Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and after the quake.

Stewart's list is a great place to start, I think, although I found In the Miso Soup so disturbing at points that I actually felt sick to my stomach!

 

[Stewart]

Stewart's list is a great place to start, I think, although I found In the Miso Soup so disturbing at points that I actually felt sick to my stomach!

You can add Hitomi Kanehara to the same vein as Ryu Murakami, say Snake & Earrings.

 

[impalpable]

I like a great deal of Japanese authors. I'd recommend anything by Haruki Murakami, particularly 'Kafka on the Shore' or 'Dance Dance Dance'. I also think 'Kitchen' by Banana Yoshimoto is a great book of three short stories which are interlinked. 'Vibrator' by Mari Akasaka is another favourite of mine.

I was coming in here to suggest Kitchen, it is a really great read and a fast one as well. You pretty much can't go wrong with her but Kitchen is the best place to start.

 

[Enya]

I'm on Japanese literature right nowI was a bit confused what to read next and a friend recommended Japanese authors; I had read a lot of Murakami, I strongly recommend him, especially Norwegian Wood
Now I'm reading Kawabata and I enjoy his book, planning to read Mishima.
I also recommend Ishiguro, I love his books,can he be considered Japanese if he wrote in English?Anyway, he's great.

 

[disconnected]

I'm on Japanese literature right nowI was a bit confused what to read next and a friend recommended Japanese authors; I had read a lot of Murakami, I strongly recommend him, especially Norwegian Wood
Now I'm reading Kawabata and I enjoy his book, planning to read Mishima.
I also recommend Ishiguro, I love his books,can he be considered Japanese if he wrote in English?Anyway, he's great.

lol im looking for english books but by Japanese authors? lol i dont know how to read Japanese as yet....:lol:

 

[disconnected]

omg i just read "In the Miso Soup" and damn am i surprised i have hurled my dinner yet!! it was gory!!! but really awesome to read!! thanks guys!

 

[romance otaku]

the karin (chibi vampire in the U.s.) novels are supposed to be good. there are about 9 of them in total, and then there is the karin manga. great books, but they are not for everone.they get a bit deep into the romance part of the book.

oh, yah, and the .hack//annother birth novels are great. there are 5 of then, and they had me reading cover to cover to cover to cover to....well, you get it. read the manga with it. and if you like all of those, you will probably like the .hack// A.I. buster novels. not as good as annother birth, but great thing to read if you want to know more about the.hack// universe

 

[NotTheDoctor]

lol im looking for english books but by Japanese authors? lol i dont know how to read Japanese as yet....:lol:

Enya's point was that Kazuo Ishiguro writes in English, as opposed to all the other writers mentioned, who write/wrote in Japanese and are/were translated into English.

BTW, I've been checking and as far as I can tell, Ishiguro is considered a (Japanese born) British novelist.

My "J-Lit" suggestions:

Coin Locker Babies - Murakami Ryu
The Tatto Murder Case - Takagi Akimitsu
All she was worth - Miyabe Miyuki
Monkey Brain Sushi: New Tastes in Japanese Ficiton

Ganbatte ne!

 

[arwen]

I was coming in here to suggest Kitchen, it is a really great read and a fast one as well. You pretty much can't go wrong with her but Kitchen is the best place to start.

Yeah, Banana is a great author, isn't she? I also love 'Lizard' and 'Goodbye Tsugumi'. I think she's very skilled at developing characters in her novels.

 

[lenny nero]

Anything by Edogawa Rampo. He wrote a lot of strange and surreal detective fiction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edogawa_Rampo

 

[DeathDealer]

I own all the English versions to these books, every one you have listed and I would reccommend each and every one of them.......

 

[Stewart]

I own all the English versions to these books, every one you have listed and I would reccommend each and every one of them.......

Oh, you do, do you? Or are you referring to all the books in a specific post? Or are you just bumping up your post count to bypass the URL prevention?

 

[Mandi-chan]

I'm suprised no one has mentioned Koji Suzuki's "Ring" series.

The first two were fantastic, and I can't wait to read the next two!

 

[silverseason]

Years ago I read large parts of The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki in a translation by Arthur Waley and enjoyed it tremendously.

Also, for Nabokov, try Speak, Memory which is memoir of his boyhood i pre-revolutionary Russia. It will give you a different view of the writer than the one you get from Lolita.