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+--- Thread: 吾輩は猫である (/thread-7437.html)
吾輩は猫である - fakewookie - 2011-03-09
Since I'm sure there are people here who have read it/have experience with it, how good would you say 吾輩は猫である is for picking up phrases and vocabulary, given that it was written in 1905?
It sounds interesting and I'd like to read it, but I'm worried that I'll waste time trying to understand ancient Japanese which I really don't need to know.
吾輩は猫である - ta12121 - 2011-03-09
remember seeing similar vocab in rurouni kenshin manga books. Anything in Japanese is useful. Once you get past all the common stuff, then your going to really want to learn more or stop but why should one stop? There are still plenty of things to learn after.
吾輩は猫である - fakewookie - 2011-03-09
ta12121 Wrote:Anything in Japanese is useful.Is it though? For example, I wouldn't recommend to someone learning English to try to read a Shakespeare play.
吾輩は猫である - ta12121 - 2011-03-09
fakewookie Wrote:true. I'm just saying, once one get's past the common stuff, then one should learn more vocab(some rare if one wants too).ta12121 Wrote:Anything in Japanese is useful.Is it though? For example, I wouldn't recommend to someone learning English to try to read a Shakespeare play.
吾輩は猫である - Bokusenou - 2011-03-09
I gave up on it after a while (more because of the content then the language XD )...Kokoro is easier, and more interesting if you want to read Soseki IMO.
EDIT: It looks like someone else compared the two.
吾輩は猫である - Eikyu - 2011-03-09
I wouldn't recommend it. It's pretty hard and extremely long. You can find an audiobook in the Audiobooks thread. http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=752 First sample here.
The first chapter is pretty easy though so you can start from there and see if you want to read it until the end.
吾輩は猫である - yudantaiteki - 2011-03-09
I read it in translation and it was pretty interesting; Soseki is easier than some of the other writers from that period. IMO his easiest novel is Bocchan.
吾輩は猫である - bladethecoder - 2011-03-09
The first chapter also stands by itself as a short story.
For the first chapter, there is a different audiobook here:
http://jclab.wordpress.com/2007/03/
It's too hard for me at the moment, but I like it and will go back to it sometime.
I read Kokoro and Botchan in translation, and found both of them too upsetting to want to dwell on them for many hours in the course of study. The latter might just be me, since as far as I've heard it's not normally considered to be a dark one...
吾輩は猫である - ta12121 - 2011-03-09
bladethecoder Wrote:The first chapter also stands by itself as a short story.oh yea I was wondering about that site for some time(forgot it). Thanks for the link.
For the first chapter, there is a different audiobook here:
http://jclab.wordpress.com/2007/03/
It's too hard for me at the moment, but I like it and will go back to it sometime.
I read Kokoro and Botchan in translation, and found both of them too upsetting to want to dwell on them for many hours in the course of study. The latter might just be me, since as far as I've heard it's not normally considered to be a dark one...
吾輩は猫である - yudantaiteki - 2011-03-09
Kokoro is usually considered fairly dark, but not Bocchan -- Bocchan is supposed to be humorous satire. Being an ALT at the time, I found his portrayal of being plopped down in a backwoods school to be hilarious. I've never heard of anyone being upset by Bocchan.
吾輩は猫である - Tzadeck - 2011-03-09
I read the most hilarious bad English translation of Bocchan. It made the main character sound like a unreliable narrator, which he apparently is not supposed to be.
As for I Am a Cat, I thought it was pretty boring when I read a bit of it. On the upside, the first chapter was meant to be a short story, so can just read that part and see how you feel. At any rate, the whole thing is so long I can't imagine very many learners getting all the way through it.