Recommend a Japanese Novel! - Printable Version

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - Printable Version

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Recommend a Japanese Novel! - TheVinster - 2013-02-23

I used to have a "what are you currently reading" thread a few months back, but I had trouble finding it. Nonetheless I thought I could create a new book thread where people actively recommend books in general, or for a person who has requested one in particular to their taste. This of course stems from the fact that I myself am looking for a new book.

I'm just about to finish Hunger Games in Japanese and I'm pretty happy with myself for doing all 500+ pages or so in the span of two months. I do have some books in my closet, such as 「怪しい人びと」 by 東野圭吾, but I figure if I still had a few difficulties with Hunger Games then perhaps it might not be wise to jump into a Higashino novel just yet.

Hunger Games is a novel geared towards young adults, so let's say I'm looking for a similarly difficult novel. I could probably read a wide variety of topics but of course I like mystery, sci-fi, and thrillers. Either way it doesn't have to be within these constraints since I don't read outside of studying for Japanese.

After a quick search of the current bestsellers I came across these 3:
・ペンギン・ハイウェイ; seem's like a novel about a teen in a town where penguins just appeared one day and affected a local girl?

・とんび; I know this was turned into a drama that is airing this season so it caught my eye for that apart from the reviews. Haven't watched the drama yet.

・その日のまえに; appears to be about love, family, and growing old together.

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - Fillanzea - 2013-02-23

I read ペンギン・ハイウェイ and I really enjoyed it. The protagonist is a 10-year-old boy who's very smart and precocious (but maybe not as smart as he thinks he is) and he has a crush on お姉さん who works at the dentist's office. He spends a lot of time going on expeditions with his friend. The story starts with the mysterious appearance of a group of penguins in the town where he lives. Then later, one of his classmates finds a very strange phenomenon in a clearing in the forest, and they decide to investigate it. Eventually they figure out that the penguins, the mysterious phenomenon, and お姉さん may all be connected...

It's a strange book, but it's charming and hugely fun to read and not too difficult. (Morimi Tomihiko sometimes likes to get wacky with all the kanji that he uses, but not in this one.)

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - chamcham - 2013-02-23

Book:
"Chain Mail: Addicted to You" ( チェーン・メール―ずっとあなたとつながっていたい)

Author:
Ishizaki Hiroshi (石崎洋司)

Summary:
Four disillusioned Tokyo teenagers who have never met are suddenly drawn together by a mysterious chain mail message sent to their cell phones. In the tradition of classical Japanese tanka poetry, each teen takes on a role in the intriguing and absorbing narrative: the schoolgirl stalked by an older boy; her mysterious stalker; the schoolgirl's boyfriend; and the female detective. Written from each character's point of view, Chain Mail carries the reader on a suspenseful adventure juxtaposing teenage angst against a colorful Tokyo backdrop in an unforgettable tale that blurs the boundaries between reality and fantasy.

English version:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/688097.Chain_Mail

Japanese version:
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%81%E3%82%A7%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%A1%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB-YA-ENTERTAINMENT-%E7%9F%B3%E5%B4%8E-%E6%B4%8B%E5%8F%B8/dp/4062121492

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - quark - 2013-02-23

It's an old book, but 時をかける少女 (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) was the first Japanese novel that I found myself really enjoying.
While cleaning the science room at school, Kazuko smells lavender and faints. Strange things start to happen, such as an earthquake, her friend's house burning, a near car accident, and her reliving a day that had already happened. It's soft sci-fi, but it was still an interesting story.

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - Realism - 2013-02-24

TheVinster Wrote:I'm just about to finish Hunger Games in Japanese and I'm pretty happy with myself for doing all 500+ pages or so in the span of two months. I do have some books in my closet, such as 「怪しい人びと」 by 東野圭吾, but I figure if I still had a few difficulties with Hunger Games then perhaps it might not be wise to jump into a Higashino novel just yet.

Doesn't matter what novel you read, difficulty level is mostly the same, 東野圭吾's books are no different from anything else, I've read like 2 of books, which were boring as heck if you ask me, maybe I just got the wrong ones.

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - Zgarbas - 2013-02-24

世界の終わりとハードボイルド・ワンダーランド is a bit more difficult, but not too difficult of a read. Also a very enjoyable book.

I'm currently reading 斜陽 by 太宰治; I wouldn't recommend it.

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - pm215 - 2013-02-24

Realism Wrote:Doesn't matter what novel you read, difficulty level is mostly the same

I agree that a lot of Japanese novels are just "normal difficulty for a novel" level, but there are definitely some outliers at both the 'easy' and the 'hard' ends of the spectrum. For instance 巷説百物語 by 京極夏彦 is a seriously difficult read IMHO since it combines an author with a complex prose style and a preference for using more kanji than the norm with Edo period vocabulary and lots of conversation in dialect. On the other end, everything I've read by 赤川次郎 has been definitely easier to read than the 'norm'.

I would actually recommend the 京極夏彦 if you like that kind of Edo-era ghost story/mystery, but only if you're comfortable with reading novels already and want a serious challenge... I'd also recommend 赤川次郎 for when you want a book you know you can blast through at a fast pace without having to pick up a dictionary.

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - Stian - 2013-02-24

Zgarbas Wrote:I'm currently reading 斜陽 by 太宰治; I wouldn't recommend it.

So why are you still "currently reading it"? :p

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - Zgarbas - 2013-02-24

Mainly for Uni, and even though I don't particularly enjoy some classics I think it's important to read them.

Also because I decided to read the classics in Japanese and I'm not going to let personal preference get in the way =).

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - Pauline - 2013-02-25

Book:
(ソードアート・オンライン: アインクラッド)
Sword Art Online 1: Aincrad (main story)
Sword Art Online 2: Aincrad (side-stories)

Anime:
Sword Art Online (Aincrad is episodes 01-14)

Author:
Reki Kawahara (川原礫)

Summary:
「これは、ゲームであっても遊びではない」
In the year 2022, the Virtual reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) Sword Art Online (SAO) is released. With the Nerve Gear, a VR Helmet that stimulates the user's five senses via their brain, players can experience and control their in-game characters with their minds. But an unexpected event occurs on November 6, 2022 when Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of SAO, prevents the players from logging out. Akihiko issues them a challenge; if they wish to be free and log out of the game, they must reach the 100th floor of the game's tower and defeat the final boss. However, should their avatars die in the game, so will their bodies in the real world. As the game's 10,000 players try to accept their new deadly predicament, Kirito, a skilled player who tested the beta version of the game, is determined to reach the 100th floor and be free.

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - chamcham - 2013-02-25

Pauline Wrote:Book:
(ソードアート・オンライン: アインクラッド)
Sword Art Online 1: Aincrad (main story)
Sword Art Online 2: Aincrad (side-stories)

Anime:
Sword Art Online (Aincrad is episodes 01-14)

Author:
Reki Kawahara (川原礫)

Summary:
「これは、ゲームであっても遊びではない」
In the year 2022, the Virtual reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) Sword Art Online (SAO) is released. With the Nerve Gear, a VR Helmet that stimulates the user's five senses via their brain, players can experience and control their in-game characters with their minds. But an unexpected event occurs on November 6, 2022 when Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of SAO, prevents the players from logging out. Akihiko issues them a challenge; if they wish to be free and log out of the game, they must reach the 100th floor of the game's tower and defeat the final boss. However, should their avatars die in the game, so will their bodies in the real world. As the game's 10,000 players try to accept their new deadly predicament, Kirito, a skilled player who tested the beta version of the game, is determined to reach the 100th floor and be free.

According to Oricon, this was the top selling light novel series of 2012. :-)

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-12-02/top-selling-light-novels-in-japan-by-series/2012

What's interesting is that the #1 and #2 selling series are by the same author!
#1 is Sword Art Online
#2 is Accel World

So maybe people should look at both. :-)
Both were also adapted into manga and anime, but the light novels came first.

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - TheVinster - 2013-02-25

I'm very interested in buying 世界の終わりとハードボイルド・ワンダーランド but if you guys think maybe I can possibly read this Higashino Keigo book I have, I should probably read it. No reason to spend extra money when material I already paid for is waiting for me to read it. Just... at least when I was reading Hunger Games on Kindle I could check the readings (to the best of the crappy Kindle's JP dictionary's ability).

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - Splatted - 2013-02-26

I'd definitely give Higashino Keigo a go if I were you. I've not read 怪しい人びと, but what I have read by him has been a lot easier than anything else.

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - uisukii - 2013-02-26

It isn't a book or light novel, but 素晴らしい世界、by 浅野いにお. Or anything by 浅野さん. おやすみプンプン was the manga which I came across posted on 4chan one night, years ago, which started my interest in the form.

Can't speak of the difficulty, as I've only read his works translated.

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - Fillanzea - 2013-02-26

Definitely read Higashino Keigo rather than 終わりとハードボイルド・ワンダーランド; it's a wonderful book but even in English it's *strange* and rather complex, and Higashino Keigo is not too hard in my experience.

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - IceCream - 2013-02-26

東野圭吾 is really easy to read, but he's also pretty gratuitously creepy, and not a great writer, imo. Other people seem to like him though. It doesn't really hurt to read a couple of his books if you're just getting into reading novels in Japanese either way though, since you can read them easily with reasonable speed.

I recommend モダンタイムス by 伊坂幸太郎. It's my favourite book i've read of his so far, it touches on lots of issues about society as a system. I don't really like his conclusions, but the book as a whole is interesting, entertaining and not too difficult to read. Difficulty wise i'd say, somewhere between 東野圭吾 and 世界の終わり.

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - lovelyweatherforducks - 2013-02-26

TheVinster Wrote:I'm very interested in buying 世界の終わりとハードボイルド・ワンダーランド

I'm reading it right now and I love it. The language is fairly simple and it's shouldn't be that difficult.

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - spideymike - 2013-02-26

I rather enjoyed the ビブリア古書堂の事件手帖 series by 三上延. It seems to be taking off lately with anime, drama, and two manga adaptations all coming out recently. (I'm curious how does one manage to sell the manga rights to two different publishers at the same time?)

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - eslang - 2013-02-28

TheVinster Wrote:I used to have a "what are you currently reading" thread a few months back, but I had trouble finding it.

Google... What are you currently reading? + koohii Smile

http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=8105&page=1

TheVinster Wrote:I do have some books in my closet, such as 「怪しい人びと」 by 東野圭吾, but I figure if I still had a few difficulties with Hunger Games then perhaps it might not be wise to jump into a Higashino novel just yet. ... I could probably read a wide variety of topics but of course I like mystery, sci-fi, and thrillers.

I took a cursory glance at 「怪しい人びと」, the opening line is quite interesting.
"俺がアルバイトを始めたきっかけは、片岡のスケベ心だった。..."
I have not read Hunger Games yet, so I can't compare the difficulty level.

4 out of the top 10 best-sellers in this list are mystery/suspense writers!
http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASFK1103L_R11C11A0000000/

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - eslang - 2013-02-28

Zgarbas Wrote:I'm currently reading 斜陽 by 太宰治; I wouldn't recommend it.

I find Villion's Wife more interesting than the Setting Sun.

Zgarbas Wrote:Mainly for Uni, and even though I don't particularly enjoy some classics I think it's important to read them.

Also because I decided to read the classics in Japanese and I'm not going to let personal preference get in the way =).

May I ask, what other classics in Japanese do you read or enjoy?

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - Crispy - 2013-02-28

I don't tend to read Japanese authors, no reason but here are two I've read and remember being surprised at how much I enjoyed them.

Title: サンタクロースの冒険 (Life and Adventures of Santa Claus)
Author: Lyman Frank Baum

Perhaps the wrong time of the year to read it but Lyman Frank Baum also wrote The Wizard of Oz so I figured it'd be good and it is! The title is kinda misleading since really it's the story of Santa Claus and how he got his name (as opposed to random adventures), where he came from, how he got the reindeers etc. Good book if you're into that kind of thing. Easy read, probably for like 10-12 year olds, not sure though.
サンタクロースの冒険

Title: メメント (Memento)
Author: Christopher Nolan

The story is basically about a guy who has no short term memory so keep notes and is covered in tattoos to help him remember things so he can track down the guy that murdered his wife.
I saw the film (only in a Japanese dub) and thought it was a pile of shit to be honest, but I read the book (in Japanese) and was actually pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. Normal novel as far as difficulty.
メメント

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - NickT - 2013-02-28

IceCream Wrote:I recommend モダンタイムス by 伊坂幸太郎. It's my favourite book i've read of his so far, it touches on lots of issues about society as a system. I don't really like his conclusions, but the book as a whole is interesting, entertaining and not too difficult to read. Difficulty wise i'd say, somewhere between 東野圭吾 and 世界の終わり.

伊坂幸太郎 is probably my favorite author in Japanese.

I've read 終末のフール and 死神の精度 so far, which I both enjoyed (終末のフール was a little harder I think). I also have グラスホッパー lined up on my Kindle which will be the next book I read.

When I showed all the books I have bought to a Japanese friend of mine, she was mostly unimpressed and and hadn't heard of a lot of them. She was quite enthusiastic about グラスホッパー though, she said knew it and wanted to read it herself. As I said though I haven't read it yet, so I can't give a proper review (I'll report back in 2 months if anyone is interested)

I will also check out モダンタイムス.

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - TheVinster - 2013-02-28

Truth be told I actually passed on my previous decision of reading 「怪しい人びと」 in favor of 「夏の庭」 which someone recommended on these forums a while back. It has great reviews and I've actually had it longer so I decided on starting that, which I did today. I'm still on the fence as to how much I should read a day, but with the 1-month daily news reading competition starting tomorrow I'll have to see what I can balance.

When I was in Japan my Osaka friend recommended 「夢をかなえるゾウ」 because she knows I like 関西弁. Anybody read this yet and can tell me how good it was? She said it was funny and full of the dialect, also I got it for $1 at Book Off.

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - eslang - 2013-03-01

TheVinster Wrote:Truth be told I actually passed on my previous decision of reading 「怪しい人びと」 in favor of 「夏の庭」 which someone recommended on these forums a while back. It has great reviews and I've actually had it longer so I decided on starting that, which I did today. I'm still on the fence as to how much I should read a day, but with the 1-month daily news reading competition starting tomorrow I'll have to see what I can balance.

When I was in Japan my Osaka friend recommended 「夢をかなえるゾウ」 because she knows I like 関西弁. Anybody read this yet and can tell me how good it was? She said it was funny and full of the dialect, also I got it for $1 at Book Off.

I read part of it as my friend used 「夢をかなえるゾウ」 to practise for translation into English. If you like 関西弁, I think you'll find 「夢をかなえるゾウ」 interesting and funny. There is a drama version and d-addicts have it. I think the Japanese subs are available online somewhere.
http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/viewtopic_71627.htm

Some meaningful quotes from the book:
ガネーシャ（夢をかなえるゾウ）の名言
http://www.asamail.jp/one_asa_txt_list_g.cfm?url_asamail_id=657
夢をかなえるゾウ　quotes
https://twitter.com/gane_shya

Most of the story is in dialogue form, so it is quite easy to read (imo). Smile

Actually, I have not heard of 「夏の庭」 and google it to read the review, it seems like a book for children (児童文学) which is really very simple for me.
【書評】湯本香樹実: 夏の庭 The Friends
http://bookjapan.jp/search/review/200904/002/03/review.html

Btw, if may I ask..... what is "1-month daily news reading competition"?

Recommend a Japanese Novel! - TheVinster - 2013-03-09

Just a small bump to this thread because the Read or Die competition starts March 15th for half a month. That's a good time for people to look into getting a new book now in preparation. For 「夏の庭」 I've been reading a chapter a day and have noticed a pretty acceptable increase in the speed in confidence that I go at. There are still some passages, when it gets very specific in its vocabulary, that bring me to a near-halt unfortunately. I do recommend it though. It's about 3 kids who want to see a dead body and they start watching this old man who lives all by himself and appears as if he's about to die any day. It's not a thriller or anything, so as dark as it sorta sounds from the plot it's more like a tale of bonding for the kids and the old man.

Thanks for the info eslang, sorry I got back to you late. The 1M Challenge and it's detailed are listed at the hyperlinked thread.