The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
frizzbee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
chlopee's review against another edition
5.0
unlike any other plot i’ve read but the best of his work
neemzilla's review against another edition
5.0
This is a very generous book of short stories collected (and many of them translated) by Jay Rubin. I tend to read as much Japanese fiction translated into English as I can get my hands on, and this collection featured some of my favorite modern authors and introduced me to just as many new ones. The most disappointing thing about this collection: many of the most exciting short stories re written by authors whose other works have not been translated into English yet! But I won’t ask any more of Jay Rubin, who seems to have his work cut out for him, gracing us with such an amazing collection.
b00kw0rm113's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lots of fucked up shit but some of the stories were really good
laelia's review against another edition
3.75
- The Story of Tomoda and Matsunaga - Tanizaki Jun’chirō — ☆☆☆.5
- Behind the Prison - Nagai Kafū ☆☆☆.75
- Sanshirō - Natsume Sōseki ☆☆
- The Last Testament of Okitsu Yagoemon - Mori Ōgai ☆☆☆
- Patriotism - Mishima Yukio ☆.5
- Flames - Tsushima Yūko ☆☆☆
- In the Box - Kōno Taeko ☆☆☆
- Remaining Flowers - Nakagami Kenji ☆☆
- Bee Honey - Yoshimoto Banana ☆☆☆☆
- The Smile of a Mountain Witch - Ohba Minako ☆☆☆☆
- A Bond for Two Lifetimes - Enchi Fumiko ☆☆
- Peaches - Abe Akira ☆☆☆
- The Tale of the House of Physics - Ogawa Yōko ☆☆☆☆
- Unforgettable People - Kunikida Doppo ☆☆☆☆
- The 1963/1982 Girl from Ipanema - Murakami Haruki ☆☆
- Cambridge Circus - Shibata Motoyuki ☆☆☆
- Closet LLB - Uno Kōji ☆☆☆
- Mr English - Genji Keita ☆☆☆
- Factory Town - Betsuyaku Minoru ☆☆☆☆
- Dreams of Love, Etc. - Kawakami Mieko ☆☆☆☆
- Shoulder-Top Secretary - Hoshi Shin’ichi ☆☆☆☆
- Hell Screen - Akutagawa Ryūnosuke
- Filling up with Sugar - Sawanishi Yūten
- Kudan - Uchida Hyakken
- The Great Earthquake and General Kim - Akutagawa Ryūnosuke
- Hiroshima, City of Doom - Ōta Yōko
- Insects - Serai Yūichi
- The Silver Fifty-Sen Pieces - Kawabata Yasunari
- American Hijiki - Nosaka Akiyuki
- Pink - Hoshino Tomoyuki
- UFO in Kushiro - Murakami Haruki
- Weather-Watching Hill - Saeki Kazumi
- Planting - Matsuda Aoko
- Same as Always - Satō Yūya
kindledspiritsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
While I was lucky enough to be travelling through Japan, I decided that it was the perfect time to expand my knowledge of Japanese literature. This is the perfect book with which to do that. Jay Rubin has collected a series of stories that span genres and centuries to create a captivating and varied collection that gives the reader a glimpse into the spirit of the country. Unusually rather than being ordered alphabetically or chronologically, the stories are arranged by themes such as 'Nature and Memory', 'Modern Life and Other Nonsense' and 'Dread'. My personal highlights were The Story of Tomoda and Matsunaga by Jun'ichiro Tanazaki, which provides a surreal but engrossing gateway into the collection, Patriotism by Yukio Mishima, which is a stunningly beautiful story about two heartbreakingly futile deaths, The Tale of the House of Physics by Yoko Ogawa, a tale of memory, longing and nostalgia and Hell Screen by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, a slow-burning horror story of artistic obsession. A special mention has to also go to Hiroshima, City of Doom by Yoko Ota, which I read on the bullet train to Hiroshima itself and provided a timely reminder of the enormous human cost of the the Hiroshima bombing and the terror of those who experienced it firsthand. If you're not lucky enough to be visiting Japan soon, I recommend this collection as a way of transporting yourself there much more quickly and cheaply!
christy_lorraine's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
avvai's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
alskn's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
ulyazmh's review against another edition
3.0
Finally finished this book in about 1 month and a half. It is actually longer than my usual pace. Each story has only a few pages, however, I found this book really hard to read. Is it because of my incompetence in understanding the story? Or is it because it was translated from Japanese (sometimes it is difficult to read books that are not in their native language)? The answer is probably a combination of those two reasons, plus the fact that it was written by numerous authors, so I have to adapt to their writing style for every story.
This book is divided into 6 main topics: 'Japan and West', 'Loyal Warriors', 'Men and Women', 'Nature and Memory', 'Modern Life and Other Nonsense', and 'Disasters, Natural and man-Made'. I personally think the grouping of the stories felt unnatural. For example, a story about ‘Flames’ is categorized in Men and Women, which is actually about a single mother who thinks that her child’s illness has a relation to the death of her neighbors. Or ‘UFO in Kushiro’ which is about a man who was left by his wife after looking at news about an earthquake. Rather than put it on Natural Disasters, I think it fits better in the 'Men and Women' section. My list can go on and on, and these examples support the fact that I think the topic is too broad and a single piece of composition can actually be grouped into many topics.
Aside from the negative aspects I mentioned, I found two exquisite stories from this book. They are ‘Patriotism’ by Mishima Yukio and ‘Insects’ by Seirai Yuichi. I will elaborate on each story below.
'Patriotism' was written in 1961. We can find this piece in the 'Loyal Warriors' section. This story is about a lieutenant who wants to commit seppuku because he was asked to chase his comrades and kill them because they had been with the mutineers, and following him, his wife, Reiko, who stabbed herself to death as a form of devotion to her husband. This story progressed from the early night when Reiko learned about the riot and that her husband would commit seppuku, what they did when her husband went home and how they spent their last night together to the end of their lives.
'Insects' was written in 2005. This story is included in the 'Disasters, Natural and man-Made' section. This story is about a woman who was a victim of the Nagasaki bombing. In her old age, she was reminded of an incident in her youth, when she fell in love with a man who ended up marrying another woman. What makes this story interesting is that it turns out that this woman and this married man she liked have committed a "sin", even though this man is known as a devout person. What was more surprising was the man's view of God and all that was happening in his life. According to that man, humans are just like insects, they just eat, mate, and reproduce. Who lives, who dies? It's just luck. He also added that God doesn't spend His time watching over every little person in the world and doesn't remember our faces and names. Like insects. For me, this story does not only discuss the issue of bombs (relation to nature) and love (relation to other human beings), but also the relationship between God and humans. This story really drained my emotions.
Because of those two stories, I felt motivated enough to dive in more to other stories. I re-read several stories that I couldn’t understand in the first read, I gave each story a rating which resulted in an average of 3.5 stars. This is considered to be 'just okay' in my rating system. I probably will not recommend other people to read this book, but I will highly recommend reading two stories I mentioned before.
This book is divided into 6 main topics: 'Japan and West', 'Loyal Warriors', 'Men and Women', 'Nature and Memory', 'Modern Life and Other Nonsense', and 'Disasters, Natural and man-Made'. I personally think the grouping of the stories felt unnatural. For example, a story about ‘Flames’ is categorized in Men and Women, which is actually about a single mother who thinks that her child’s illness has a relation to the death of her neighbors. Or ‘UFO in Kushiro’ which is about a man who was left by his wife after looking at news about an earthquake. Rather than put it on Natural Disasters, I think it fits better in the 'Men and Women' section. My list can go on and on, and these examples support the fact that I think the topic is too broad and a single piece of composition can actually be grouped into many topics.
Aside from the negative aspects I mentioned, I found two exquisite stories from this book. They are ‘Patriotism’ by Mishima Yukio and ‘Insects’ by Seirai Yuichi. I will elaborate on each story below.
'Patriotism' was written in 1961. We can find this piece in the 'Loyal Warriors' section. This story is about a lieutenant who wants to commit seppuku because he was asked to chase his comrades and kill them because they had been with the mutineers, and following him, his wife, Reiko, who stabbed herself to death as a form of devotion to her husband. This story progressed from the early night when Reiko learned about the riot and that her husband would commit seppuku, what they did when her husband went home and how they spent their last night together to the end of their lives.
'Insects' was written in 2005. This story is included in the 'Disasters, Natural and man-Made' section. This story is about a woman who was a victim of the Nagasaki bombing. In her old age, she was reminded of an incident in her youth, when she fell in love with a man who ended up marrying another woman. What makes this story interesting is that it turns out that this woman and this married man she liked have committed a "sin", even though this man is known as a devout person. What was more surprising was the man's view of God and all that was happening in his life. According to that man, humans are just like insects, they just eat, mate, and reproduce. Who lives, who dies? It's just luck. He also added that God doesn't spend His time watching over every little person in the world and doesn't remember our faces and names. Like insects. For me, this story does not only discuss the issue of bombs (relation to nature) and love (relation to other human beings), but also the relationship between God and humans. This story really drained my emotions.
Because of those two stories, I felt motivated enough to dive in more to other stories. I re-read several stories that I couldn’t understand in the first read, I gave each story a rating which resulted in an average of 3.5 stars. This is considered to be 'just okay' in my rating system. I probably will not recommend other people to read this book, but I will highly recommend reading two stories I mentioned before.