/ot/ - off-topic

One writer I could never get into was Oe Kenzaburo. Don't get me wrong, the concepts of his works seem fascinating, and tbqh he seems like a genuinely wonderful man, but I could never get into his style.
Although that's possibly a translation issue? Not sure.

disclaimer: used to read a lot, don't really now. depression, loss of friends/family, self-loathing, and goodreads culture have really killed my interest in reading

in terms of what you can easily get your hands on and what's going to read familiar, you're gonna encounter stuff like banana yoshimoto, haruki murakami, yukio mishima, oe kenzaburo, and natsume soseki. i like them all fine but they're not my personal favorites. good place to start imo

most of these writers/contemporary japanese lit people in translation are so readily available due to parallels in western literary trends and styles. if u want to get into le purist nippon Xd lit i would suggest getting a copy of the ogura hyakunin isshu, some ryokan, and genji monogatari

personal favorites of mine include osamu dazai, b a s e d yoko ogawa, kenji miyazawa, b a s e d miyuki miyabe, b a s e d genichiro takahashi, and the guin saga

fuck

>>87989

http://www.vertical-inc.com/books/shieldofstraw.html

oh and pick this up if you want. written by the mangaka behind be-bop highschool with a great premise

I like Dazai and Mishima. Maybe it's a Japanese lit thing in general but I liked how much of themselves they put in their writing. Dazai has a bunch of good short stories besides his novels, too.

I've also read some of Miyazawa Kenji's stories but I think I had an awkward translation because they seemed really stiff. They were from a bilingual book line so that might of been part of the problem.

>>88016

dazai and mishima are emotional boys with their unique set of hang-ups, which i feel influences their work a lot and sets them a part from their contemporaries in translation. haven't really found anyone like them in japanese translation, but stuff like gide's fruits of the earth and some of bataille's writings have approached similar sentiments of isolation and annihilation of familiar comforts/self.

i've kinda given up on mishima outside of confessions of a mask for reasons i dont event remember anymore. should probably pick up the sailor who fell from grace or whatever soon but i can't be assed to

if u can find a copy of strong in the rain & other poems + osamu dazai's schoolgirl i think u'd enjoy them

Probably the most boring answer but Haruki Murakami all the way. Hope he gets the nobel prize soon.