Japanese Literature discussion

August 2019: Murder in the Crooked House
September: Life of a Counterfeiter
October: The Memory Police
November: Villain
December: The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino: The Politics of Feeling

Does anyone have a point of view on which translation of Kokoro I should buy? One version is translated by Edward McLellan (1996) and another by Meredith McKinney (2010)?

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I have the McLellan translation, and I didn't see anything wrong with it (but I haven't tried to read it in Japanese). The McLellan translation will be cheaper, especially if you can find the Dover edition.

Bill wrote: "I have the McLellan translation, and I didn't see anything wrong with it (but I haven't tried to read it in Japanese). The McLellan translation will be cheaper, especially if you can find the Dover..."

Thanks, Bill. I appreciate it.

Fwiw, the Meredith McKinney translation of The Pillow Book was far more fluid than any of the other Sei Shonagon translations I've encountered. Presumably she does an equally good job with anything else she's translated.

Thank you! Good to know.

This is my copy, translated by Edwin McClellan:

I heard from my library that Moshi Moshi is ready for pickup. I'm actually rather proud that they bought it at my suggestion. That makes 2 out of probably 30 books I've suggested but a win is a win. Are we starting to read it next week?

That's great to hear Carol :) I'm ready to start next week.

Yup! Got mine too!

I got mine too so I'm ready :D

Finished the book I was reading and I think I'll start Moshi Moshi today after work.

I'll open up a discussion thread for Moshi Moshi so we have a place to share our thoughts as everyone gets to it.

just read 'moshi moshi' and many questions come up. as it has been years (decades...) since i read 'kitchen' and more recently other work, i am trying to isolate exactly what i liked about her work and whether it is culture-specific, that is, in all Japanese work...

the gift wrote: "just read 'moshi moshi' and many questions come up. as it has been years (decades...) since i read 'kitchen' and more recently other work, i am trying to isolate exactly what i liked about her work..."

Bring on those questions. The link to the discussion thread is here:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Christian, is it time to start thinking about September - November reads? Seeing that Black Rain is the last one in queue and recalling our exchanges earlier in the year around an October offering, it crossed my mind. I must purchase all of our books. My library system doesn't even have the classics so a little lead time is helpful.

Yup! I was just dreading the fact that we'll have to call it a poll for autumn. Already! Can you open the thread? Or I'll make it later today! :)

I will open the thread for Black Rain tonight. That's what you meant. Right?

Perhaps he meant a different thread for voting for August/September/October? You want me to clear the old votes and nominations?

Bill wrote: "Perhaps he meant a different thread for voting for August/September/October? You want me to clear the old votes and nominations?"

Bill, Christian set that up today. It's here.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thanks to the group that notified me today on reading "The Doctor's Wife" (Kodansha 1990) by Sawako Ariyoshi on January 1. I look forward to sharing some ideas from our reading.

Welcome umberto. I just opened the thread for it: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I'm still confused about next month's read.

I own The Counterfeiter and Other Stories which contains "The Counterfeiter", "Obasute", and "The Full Moon" from Tuttle Publishing.

Does anyone have the Pushkin Press edition linked here? What three stories does it contain? Even Pushkin's site doesn't tell me...

Bill, looking at a review on Amazon just now for the Pushkin edition. It mentions the three stories as: Counterfeiter, Reeds, and Mr Goodall's Gloves. Here's what it says about the last two:

Reeds is a story about childhood memory and how it is frustratingly impossible to be certain of fragmentary and intangible memories of one’s childhood – how can you be sure of their truth and accuracy, or are they just the accumulated result of attributes and fantasy over the subsequent years? Mr Goodall’s Gloves is also about memory and the past – the narrator’s recollection of times with Madame Kano, who acted as a loving grandparent to him, and he looked to uncover the past and find some truth.

I dunno if that helps. My work is crazy busy in September so I won't be buying it, or reading along. I might catch up in October.

Thanks for the reply, Alan.

What worries me is that someone seems to have merged the collection I have with a collection that contains "Counterfeiter", "Reeds", and "Mr Goodall's Gloves". They may have done the same thing to the Amazon reviews. So I'm trying to verify first-hand from someone who has the Pushkin Press edition exactly which stories it contains.

Ok, no worries. I'll pass on that, then. I hope you get a definite answer :)

Bill, maybe just try emailing the publisher: [email protected]

I got the Pushkin kindle version:


It lists only those three stories mentioned above.


I could have got the older version from the library, but assumed something was different... :(

Bill wrote: "Thanks for the reply, Alan.

What worries me is that someone seems to have merged the collection I have with a collection that contains "Counterfeiter", "Reeds", and "Mr Goodall's Gloves". They may..."

I have it in my hands and confirm that it is comprised of those three stories. Counterfeiter is first. 74 pages. Then Reeds. 30 pages. Gloves, 27 pages. 140 in all.

Thanks, Carol.

Would you mind un-merging these two books? Yours has different short stories than mine.

Bill wrote: "Thanks, Carol.

Would you mind un-merging these two books? Yours has different short stories than mine."

What do you mean, Bill? What action do you want me to take? I’m not a GR Librarian.

I'm sorry. I got confused. I recalled seeing your name in the J-list edits, but of course it was just you making a request for a change.

Bill wrote: "I'm sorry. I got confused. I recalled seeing your name in the J-list edits, but of course it was just you making a request for a change."

Thanks. No problem.

Christian wrote: "August 2019: Murder in the Crooked House
September: Life of a Counterfeiter
October: The Memory Police
November: Villain
December: [bo..."

Upcoming Book Reads

December 2019: [book:The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino|43404544]
Jan 2020: The Woman in the Dunes
Feb 2020: Go
March 2020: The Lake
April 2020: The Emissary / The Last Children of Tokyo
May 2020: Shipwrecks

I want to read "Go" this February!

Joanne wrote: "I want to read "Go" this February!"

Excellent! Good to see you, Joanne.

As Alan raised and others commented in the Shipwrecks thread, it's time to pick our group reads for the next several months. Bill will hopefully link to the Google spreadsheet for noms and voting.

in the meantime, consider what you'd like to be reading this summer, availability, balancing classic vs contemporary, and let's align on our next 3 or 4 selections.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

I've added Toward Dusk, which we discussed adding some time ago.

I've added a few books, on my shelf and hopefully on some other people's shelves too.

I've added two books I have at home, nice to see all the suggestions :-)

Hi all! How do I vote and add books on the spreadsheet? Just by adding a column/line? :-)

Yup, that's all it takes!

I've added a couple of titles. Some interesting choices there so far.

Someone added Revenge to the list, but forgot to vote for it...

I’ll add a few and place my votes soon! :)

I added a few, plus my votes. Nice range of choices, I agree.

Iliana: You want the full Genji, at 1000+ pages? I think that's going to take more than a month :)

It's odd how these books get linked sometimes. The Seidensticker translation of Genji is listed as the same book as the Tyler translation of Genji.

We had A Dark Night's Passing already last year, so that one can't be taken ..... especially as I could not cope a reread of that....
It was tough. Still when I see it on my shelf I am glad that one is now read and yep, check, another classic done and dusted, very done indeed.

Oh crap, well spotted Agnetta!! I wondered why I had a copy lol. I never got round to it at the time! I'll delete it from the sheet. My bad :-)