| Title | : | Exploring Japanese Literature: Read Mishima, Tanizaki, and Kawabata in the Original |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 477003041X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9784770030412 |
| Language | : | Multiple languages |
| Format Type | : | Perfect Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 352 |
| Publication | : | First published August 1, 2007 |
The poignancy of romance between a wealthy Tokyoite and a provincial geisha in
Exploring Japanese Literature: Read Mishima, Tanizaki, and Kawabata in the Original Reviews
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what an undertaking for giles! i'm totally impressed with his translation of these texts, as i can understand how incredibly difficult it must have been. in my opinion, the texts chosen should have been placed in his third installment rather than his second due to their difficulty. maybe he'll come out with a book where the difficulty level is somewhere between the first and the second. for example, reading mishima is just like a smack to the face. it's SO hard. on the other hand, reading tanizaki, for me, is a lot more doable once you familiarize yourself with the place names.
in any case, if you're not using this book for study, it's still a great book for the level of translation quality. these are great examples of some of the best short stories of the shōwa era. if you're interested in more stories from this period, i highly recommend you check out
The Showa Anthology Modern Japanese Short Stories -
Didn't actually finish it, but I'm done with it.
I don't understand the purpose of this collection. The stories are SUPER difficult, especially Tanizaki's. To get anything else than desperation from this, your Japanese would have to be at a stellar level. To a level where you wouldn't consider reading a parallel text.
I guess you could work your way through that forest of old kanjis, antiquated expressions and rarely-used words, but if you're looking for a way to get started reading Japanese novels, that's not a book for you. The Read Real Japanese books are much more to the point and include some hints about grammar as well. Or just pick any contemporary Japanese novel: at least you would be exposed to Japanese as it is used today. -
Good as study of course (despite the unfortunate lack of accompanying audio files, which were so helpful in the first volume). However, I just didn't like these stories, particularly the Mishima (romanticized blood sex suicide--yuck). The next textbook I spend money on will have some writing by women!
