The Great Passage by Shion Miura

The Great Passage by Shion Miura
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you've read one socially awkward book about the many different meanings of Japanese words and language, and the efforts of an unusual cast of characters that forms an unlikely team to create the world's greatest dictionary despite endless obstacles and setbacks, then you've read them all. ;)

This was heartfelt and charming, even though it often reads like a rough week at quiz bowl camp. There's something so uneasy about some of the characters themselves, that you almost feel awkward and uncomfortable just reading about them. . . and I mean that as a compliment, as I think this group of complete misfits was fascinating. I'd like to be friends with all of them. Honestly, I probably am, since I'm also a word nerd and tend to collect unusual people.

When I picked this up, I expected it would suck, and yet I was very close to bumping this up to 5 stars. I think it fell just shy in that I wanted a bit more, especially from some of the side characters. In fact, this is a book that could have benefited from 50 more pages, even though the story is interesting and complete as it is.

Book 230 read in 2018

Pages: 222

Go: A Coming of Age Novel by Kazuki Kaneshiro

Go: A Coming of Age Novel by Kazuki Kaneshiro
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a YA story about a Korean student, who goes to a Japanese school. I think the translation is solid (no complaints about the writing), and the audiobook is good.

This started out okay and had my attention, but it quickly lost steam. I confess, I don't even recall how it ended, and I just finished reading it yesterday. It felt more like a character study, or a window view at a certain kind of character, rather than a truly cohesive story. There were some interesting parts, but I just don't love this.

Book 189 read in 2018

Pages: 172

A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea by Masaji Ishikawa

A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea by Masaji Ishikawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the true story of Masaji Ishikawa, born in Japan to a Japanese mom, and an abusive Korean father, who was lured by false promises of a utopian society to move his family from Japan to North Korea when Ishikawa was only 13 years old. The family became part of the lowest social caste, and all of them suffered immensely under the brutal totalitarian regime.

I've read some tough stories about people with very difficult lives, but the abject poverty experienced by Ishikawa completely unsettled me.

I'm shocked and horrified by the ways in which North Koreans were (and probably still are) forced to suffer. The constant indoctrination didn't surprise me, but the sheer stupidity and cruelty behind running an entire country and people into the ground was infuriating. It's so hard for me to wrap my mind around how an entire nation of people can be abused and kept down in such a way. They're so far down, they don't ever even consider rising up, probably because any attempt to fight back against the system only leads to more sorrow and loss.

If you had asked me to point fingers at which countries are the most guilty of crimes against their own people, North Korea probably wouldn't have made my top 5 list before reading this book. I mean, on some level, I knew things weren't great in North Korea, but I had no idea how bad it really was.

My only minor complaint is that I wanted more. More depth, more explanations, more emotions, more stories, and even more information on aspects of Ishikawa's daily life (and especially into his different relationships). I suspect some of what I really wanted to know was left out of this story or glossed over just due to sheer cultural differences. I'm sure it would have been deemed inappropriate for him to speak more in depth about either of his wives, and specifics of his relationships with them, but I definitely wanted to know more about all of that.

This is not a story of hope, so what's beautiful about it is the honest way in which the story is told.

Book 51 read in 2018

Pages: 172

A Small Charred Face by Kazuki Sakuraba

Summary: A boy name Kyo is saved from the precipice of death by Bamboo, a vampire born of the tall grasses. They start an enjoyable, yet strange shared life together, Kyo and the gentle Bamboo. But for Bamboo, communication with a human being is the greatest sin.

Kyo's story is uniquely beautiful and touching.  I found myself continually wishing I were able to read this in the original Japanese as it was occasionally obvious that something was left behind in the translation.  And while there are two additional stories in the novel, Kyo's is the best by far.   

Overall, this novel is a fresh take on 'horror' - one that is thoughtful, hopeful, and sad all at the same time.  It isn't the best book I've ever read, it's not even in the top third, but I am thankful to have read it.

3.5/5

288 pages

I am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki

I am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

A classic of Japanese literature, I Am a Cat is one of the author's best-known novels. This novel was written over the course of 1904 to 1906. The main character is a cat who is never given a name but lives with a middle-class family. Cat tells the reader his observations of human behavior and Japanese society during the Meiji era in all of his cat snarkiness.

Page Numbers: 470