My all-time favorite book is "The Last Samurai" by Helen DeWitt. First off, let me say that it is not based on or related to the movie with Tom Cruise of the same name -- different story entirely. If anything, it has much more to do with the movie 七人の侍 (Shichinin no Samurai, or Seven Samurai), although it is not that story either -- that movie just features in the story.
At any rate, the book is written in just English, but Japanese plays a decent part in it in that the protagonists each are studying it in a sense. But let me back up a second.
The story is about a woman Sibylla and her young son Ludo (or Stephen, or David...), both of whom are brilliant, and quite focused on intellectual pursuits. Sibylla teaches Ludo all sorts of things, but Ludo really just wants to know who his father is, and that she is unwilling to tell him. The book starts out from Sibylla's perspective and then moves on to Ludo's later on. Aside from this overarching story (or rather, interweaved in it) are the adventure stories of several characters.
Helen DeWitt has been described as displaying "unusual stylistic bravery", which is to say that the writing style is different. Given that, it's probably not for everyone, but I for one really like it. The book actually covers the kana and some kanji as the mother and son are studying them, and there's other sections of Japanese here and there, with or without translation and/or explanation.
All in all, if you don't mind a somewhat difficult read so long as it's rewarding enough, give it a try, it might just be rewarding enough. And if you do, please let me know what you thought of it, I'd be very interested to hear.
At any rate, the book is written in just English, but Japanese plays a decent part in it in that the protagonists each are studying it in a sense. But let me back up a second.
The story is about a woman Sibylla and her young son Ludo (or Stephen, or David...), both of whom are brilliant, and quite focused on intellectual pursuits. Sibylla teaches Ludo all sorts of things, but Ludo really just wants to know who his father is, and that she is unwilling to tell him. The book starts out from Sibylla's perspective and then moves on to Ludo's later on. Aside from this overarching story (or rather, interweaved in it) are the adventure stories of several characters.
Helen DeWitt has been described as displaying "unusual stylistic bravery", which is to say that the writing style is different. Given that, it's probably not for everyone, but I for one really like it. The book actually covers the kana and some kanji as the mother and son are studying them, and there's other sections of Japanese here and there, with or without translation and/or explanation.
All in all, if you don't mind a somewhat difficult read so long as it's rewarding enough, give it a try, it might just be rewarding enough. And if you do, please let me know what you thought of it, I'd be very interested to hear.