Books you've read in 2020

But mine doesn't! :cry:

I've heard of, but not read Yoko Tawada. She's a bit sci-fi, right? The Last Children of Tokyo? What do you think of her?

I really need to spend a year not buying new books and not being stuck with class reading lists so I can delve into the international classics that I really care about!

I haven't read her either but I guess you could say it has traces of sci-fi, especially the one you mention which is the one I'm interested in (not so much the one from last year about the polar bear).

either way I find her bilingual method really interesting, writing some works in German, some in Japanese and translating them herself. an approach that reminds me of Homi Bhabha's concept of liminality
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zu
I did! Some parts with the teacher really turned my stomach and made for uncomfortable reading, but I found it quite easy and enjoyable otherwise. It's not a very complex allegory, is it? I was sort of hoping she'd want to get with her cousin again at the end!

What did you think?

read it. not impressed I'm afraid. it felt like a parody at times rather than criticism (which I guess she was aiming for as it's the same theme as Convenience Store Woman but expanded and in a different setting). I did not mind where the novel went in terms of unsettling scenes but it felt incomplete to me, especially the... feast at the end of the book.

I also had minor gripes with the translation.

2/5
 
read it. not impressed I'm afraid. it felt like a parody at times rather than criticism (which I guess she was aiming for as it's the same theme as Convenience Store Woman but expanded and in a different setting). I did not mind where the novel went in terms of unsettling scenes but it felt incomplete to me, especially the... feast at the end of the book.

I also had minor gripes with the translation.

2/5

Many reviews have said the same thing, and that it's not very innovative given the whole existentialist movement in the late 1800s. What was the problem with the translation?

Can you read Yoko Tawada next and tell me whether to bother please?! I've got a Yoko Ogawa book to read, actually. :disco:
 
Many reviews have said the same thing, and that it's not very innovative given the whole existentialist movement in the late 1800s. What was the problem with the translation?

Can you read Yoko Tawada next and tell me whether to bother please?! I've got a Yoko Ogawa book to read, actually. :disco:

a very minor thing, but they kept mentioning each other's names in dialogue, even when there were only two characters talking. this is perfectly natural in Japanese as the pronoun for 'you' is rarely used (and 'you' is not implied by the verb) – but very unnatural in English
 
are you reading The Memory Police? yes I'll get on the Tawada next year :angel:
 
Last edited:
a very minor thing, but they kept mentioning each other's names in dialogue, even when there were only two characters talking. this is perfectly natural in Japanese as the pronoun for 'you' is rarely used (and 'you' is not implied by the verb) – but very unnatural in English

BUT HAVE YOU READ OGAWA?

I do find Murata's work a little simplistic and for the basics, but there was something quite moving towards the end of Convenience Store.
 
I have not read Ogawa, no. let me know how you like it

I'm currently reading In the Miso Soup by Murakami Ryu for some grit
 
@Mats look at this amazing beast that I got today, I’m in love :disco:

084-BA852-E25-D-43-C2-B7-D5-E31-ECFF1-B841.jpg
 
He releases a special leather bound edition of one of his books every year
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom