Best japanese novels?

Best japanese novels?

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Death note

I'm in the process of getting deeper into Japanese lit. Here's what I'd read so far, I'll try to give you one or two per author:

>The tale of Genji (unabridged. Get the Royall Tyler translation).

>Kokoro and I am a Cat. Same author. One is very depressing, the other is clever and cute.

>The Setting Sun and No Longer Human. Osamu Dazai is way fucked up, but man can he write

>The Sound of Waves and The Golden Pavilion

>In the Miso Soup and Deep Blue. Ryu Murakami is even more fucked up than Dazai. Enjoy!

>The Woman on the Waves and The Box Man. Thought-provoking and quick.

>Kafka on the Shore and Norwegian Wood. Everyone in Japan read NW when it came out. KotS is better; Murakami does magical realism best.

>Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. Maybe my favorite on this list. Sad, but beautiful. Comes with a second story I liked even better.

There you go! A lot of these works are very short, only the first three have any heft to them (Genji is definitely a doorstoper, but it's arguably the first novel ever written, and it's worth the time and effort.

jojo's bizarre adventure

Thank you so much user, Will check these out

I’m no expert, but I liked Spring Snow by Mishima and The Ark Sakura by Abe quite a bit.

You're very welcome! Japanese lit was something I was always curious about. Bought and checked out a metric ton of books and read them all. The list I gave you is a mix of personal favorites, like Kitchen, and books everyone points to as canon Japanese lit, like Kokoro.

Have fun!

Protip for you, OP: never take an advice on literature from someone who read the subject discussed translated.

Why, i cant neither read japanese

Woman in the Dunes, Ark Sakura, Ruined Map - Abe Kobo

Snow Country - Kawabata

Setting Sun - Dazai

Something Strange Across the River - Nagai

Snakes and Earrings - Kanehara Hitomi

That is a good start. I have been living here and reading the lit for about ten years and those are great works that have easily available translations.

>ruined map
Dropped that 80 pages in. The myriad of observations given by the detective were too dull

I've only read Musashi and some old war and espionage manuals, but those were pretty good

I haven't read many of the major ones, but the ones I thought were really good were:

>Fires on the Plain (1951) by Ōoka Shōhei
A brilliant war novel. Consists of a private wandering around the Philippines and being hungry.

>Patriotism (1961) by Mishima Yukio
A Japanese lieutenant commits seppuku. The one Mishima work everyone on Veeky Forums has read. A single short story, so not particularly long.

>Ten Nights of Dreams (1908) by Natsume Sōseki
One of Sōseki’s less well known works. A surreal short story collection. Dreamlike. Ten very short short stories, less than 100 pages in total.

So how is Kitchen? I have it, but have not got around to read it; the premise didn't seem too interesting.

I don't think he should take advice from someone who gives advice in english despite speaking it so poorly, faggot

Pick it up again and stick with it. It is a difficult read but make sense when it all comes together.

How is Botchan?

Chin chon baizou by Shin Megamitensei

Not him but I enjoyed it

kitchen is really nice. Its that kind of light reads in the bathroom when you dont want to think too much. The story is very heartwarming.

You can compare the prose of banana with murakami without the weird/obnuxious sexual descriptions.

you should give it a try and if you want to read more... N.P. or hardboiled are good choices.

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Great recommendations! I liked Kitchen a lot, but for me the accompanying novella Moonlight Shadows was amazing. That said, they're both about loss, so I may have just loved it because of when I read it.

I liked it, but for me it was quite as unique as I am a Cat and not as heavy-hitting as Kokoro. Still good though, sure.

I have both N.P. and Hardboiled, as well as Asleep. Still haven't ready any of them, though.

I'd actually recommend the Genji translation by Royall Tyler to anyone who can read English, including to native Japanese speakers. It's got a ton of great historical information at the bottom of almost every single page that really puts the tale in context.

夏目漱石の「吾輩は猫である」と「心」は一押しですよ。

>pretending to be japanese on Veeky Forums