How many "normal" Japanese books have you read?

[lionsprey]

unless you count web novels then 0 as far as i know. i have read a good number of web novels though

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Hmmm... if translations do count then, well, one. "Musashi" from Yoshikawa Eiji. It was a very enjoyable read.

Count me as well. I read it the first time when I was like 11. I got it from an old books festival in my summer home town, and its sheer size caught my attention. I think it was the thickest book I'd ever seen or read up until that point in my life. When I held a presentation about it in middle school, my classmates were joking that I'd brought in the Bible.

 

[Satinavian]

2

 

[Queen Michael]

None!

But I dont really read American books either.

If I did though, would want to read The Book of 5 Rings by Mushashi Miyamoto...though I dont know if that counts as normal either, since its about like...practical stuff for swordsmen rather than a novel.

It's a classic non-fiction book, so yep, it counts as heck. I read it years ago; it was not bad IMO.

I suppose technically one, Japan 1941 by Eri Hotta, but I don't know if was released in Japan first or not.

For the record, it's a non-fiction work looking at the beginnings of the Pacific War in WWII from the Japanese perspective. Very good historical work in my opinion.

Sorry, mate, but it doesn't count. I don't know if it's been translated to Japanese, but it was originally written in English for a western audience.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I don't see how light novels are abnormal books simply because of being anime-like.


Anyways, love me some egg at the end of the world.

 

[Story]

4
As in 4 of the Vampire Hunter D novels by Hideyuki Kikuchi though those might be light novels I'm not sure.

Those are definitely light novels. Cheap, trashy, sexist, pandering light novels.

Love them to death, got over a dozen of the english language ones.

Gotcha. I loved was well I meant to continue with the series.

 

[davidmc1158_v1legacy]

I suppose technically one, Japan 1941 by Eri Hotta, but I don't know if was released in Japan first or not.

For the record, it's a non-fiction work looking at the beginnings of the Pacific War in WWII from the Japanese perspective. Very good historical work in my opinion.

Sorry, mate, but it doesn't count. I don't know if it's been translated to Japanese, but it was originally written in English for a western audience.

Welp, my soul is now officially crushed. That shunts my tally back down to zero.

(I still highly recommend it though.)

 

[DrownedAmmet]

I've got a huge literary hard on for Haruki Murakami, but other than that I don't think I've ready anything else Japanese. I've probably read about seven of his books so far, though.

His books (at least the ones I've read) all have this spooky vibe that hangs over them, where even though completely normal things may be happening, you know something is out of the ordinary.

Not sure if that has to with him being Japanese or if that's just his style

 

[Sonmi]

Read a bunch of Murakami, Silence, Battle Royale, and Confessions of a Mask and The Temple of the Golden Pavillon, though I only read these last two because Mishima was such an interesting figure in real life.

I'm not a big fan of Japanese litterature, to be honest.

 

[hermes]

Well, I have read some Murakami books, besides "Samurai" by Matsubara and some real classics, like "The Five Rings" by Musashi, so my final count would have to be around five-ish...

 

[Queen Michael]

Sorry to sound whiny, but you can't just say "Murakami." There are multiple Japanese writers called Murakami. There's Ryu Murakami, Haruki Murakami, and more.

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

I had to read Silence and Kokoro for a Japanese literature class and I found them insightful for the time period they are about

Sadly, i don't think I will see an adaptation of classic Japanese literature any time soon. However, I'm happy Tomihiko Morimi is getting adapted; his books seems to have a nice level of narrative complexity and thematic resonance.

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

Ehh... some? I don't really keep track, to be honest.

Between Haruki Murakami, Eiji Yoshikawa, Yasutaka Tsutsui and Koji Suzuki, I would guess I must've read maybe a dozen or so, plus the odd short story by authors like Junichiro Tanizaki, Kenzaburo Oe or Ryunosuke Akutagawa; if Kazuo Ishiguro counted, that would probably push the final count up some.

You have no idea how long I've wanted to find somebody else who's read Tanizaki.

Call me a failed weeb but may i ask what Junichiro Tanizaki wrote? i think i might have read a short story or two in my lit class but i don't recall sadly

Edit: looking at his body of work, i've read Aguri at least

 

[Mister K]

Exactly one: All you need is kill. Good book.

 

[Sonmi]

Sorry to sound whiny, but you can't just say "Murakami." There are multiple Japanese writers called Murakami. There's Ryu Murakami, Haruki Murakami, and more.

Pretty sure we all mean Haruki when we refer to Murakami.

He's pretty much the only Murakami that pierced into mainstream Western reading circles, as far as I know.

 

[COMaestro]

I've read a few. Like some others here I read Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. I've also read Musashi's Book of Five Rings and Hagakure by Yamamoto Tsunetomo. Though light novels, I've read nearly all of Hideyuki Kukichi's Vampire Hunter D novels, as well as his Meiji Dorakyuu Den (Dark Wars: The Tale of Meiji Dracula). One of the first Japanese novels I read, though, was The Inugami Clan by Seishi Yokomizo. I was sad that more of his works were not translated. There may be a few others, but they are not coming to mind.

 

[Queen Michael]

Sorry to sound whiny, but you can't just say "Murakami." There are multiple Japanese writers called Murakami. There's Ryu Murakami, Haruki Murakami, and more.

Pretty sure we all mean Haruki when we refer to Murakami.

He's pretty much the only Murakami that pierced into mainstream Western reading circles, as far as I know.

Not to be a besserwisser, but I'm gonna be a besserwisser: The work of Ryu Murakami was mentioned in this thread, and before Haruki ever came up too. Which makes me happy, since Ryu Murakami is my favorite Japanese writer.

 

[Queen Michael]

Exactly one: All you need is kill. Good book.

Agreed, mate. I was gonna read it just so I could brag that I'd read the book before I watched Edge of Tomorrow, but I ended up liking the book on its own merits.

 

[Mister K]

Exactly one: All you need is kill. Good book.

Agreed, mate. I was gonna read it just so I could brag that I'd read the book before I watched Edge of Tomorrow, but I ended up liking the book on its own merits.

I especially liked authors afterthoughts in the end of the book (not a direct quote):

"When in RPG the old village elder says "Thank you brave warrior for saving our world" the only thing that I can think is that I am not a talented warrior, or skilled tactician, gramps. I died and failed and reloaded and with each reload I knew how to fight enemies better. I am no hero, there was just no way for me to not beat the game".

It just shows his attitude when he was writing the story. Anyone can become "badass" if they can relive every dire situation untill they succeed.

 

[sageoftruth]

Excluding the ones about Japan, the only ones I've read are "The Book of Five Rings" by Musashi Miyamoto, and "The Life Giving Sword" by Munemori Yagyu, back when I was in college. Back then, I'd just finished reading a biography on Musashi, so I was curious to see what their books on sword philosophy were like.