3 Exciting New Japanese Books

[@tankgrlz]

Thank you for this .. I was looking for a review of Lonely Castle and this was all I needed to hear, so it's now in my cart :D

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Glad you found mine! And I hope you like it. It's a charmer of a novel :)

[@ryerye3147]

I love "At The End Of The Matinee". It kept me interested and at times the book just pull's your heartstrings.. it's beautiful. Keiichiro Hirano has a nice almost clinical/poetic writing style that's not overly pretentious, it is up there with "south of the border west of the sun" for me.

[@aixag1028]

I discovered your channel while looking into Murakami recently and I am fascinated by your videos. I have been binging them since and became a Patreon. Thanks for inspiring me!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Thank you so much for being a patron. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your support! It means the world to me.

[@artiesolomon3292]

I love your comments on translators and what great works they had already translated before the work described in detail.

[@ReadingWithKT]

These all sound good but Terminal Boredom is one I'm super curious to read after hearing you chat about it here! Thanks for sharing x

[@jagodesune6894]

The spanner in the works moment in End of the Matinee was so frustrating I considered not finishing the book, but I really glad I kept going because immediately afterwards it became the same calm and well written book it was before that moment. Would definitely recommend his previous novel A Man, a story of identity and transformation, past and present, it's a great book. Great video, will keep a look out for Terminal Boredom.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Matinee reall sold me on Hirano's writing so I'll definitely get to A Man asap!

[@ceciliaminaful]

Hard to pick only one of them ! But I guess I would choose some “murakamish” one 😉

[@laurenb_101]

Ooooh you have definitely piqued my interest in these books! 😊 I will definitely be picking up Terminal Boredom and Lonely Castle in the Mirror. I think I might read A Man by Hirano before picking up Matinee as this was on my radar last year. Great reviews! 👍

[@Ali94749]

Will be picking up Terminal Boredom!

[@whimsydearest]

Ooo, the Lonely Castle in the Mirror sounds really charming.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

It is! Charming is the word.

[@AnandVerma-tm2hf]

Amazing work, man! Lots of love from India. And would love to know your opinion on Italo Calvino's work (Separate video, maybe?)

[@glendaw5221]

I already had “Matinee” on my TBR. I’m not sure I’m up for an angry collection of short stories right now but will make a note of it. I am hoping you can recommend a book of Japanese short stories that will be more heartwarming? Loved this video.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

People From My Neighborhood is a very charming collection of tiny, interwoven short stories by Hiromi Kawakami. Hugely recommend! Very surreal but very charming!

[@glendaw5221]

@@WillowTalksBooks will buy it today. Thank you!!

[@RickMacDonnell]

As an aside, your thumbnail background is v cool ✌🏻

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Running out of shades of purple and it's making me anxious...

[@hardikksharmaaa]

Never forget, they recorded the video for us whilst having their stomach ate by pineapple. Respect.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I go through so much for my audience.

[@melsbookshelf]

Pineapple tongue is the worst! Great video!!! I am getting a new appreciation for short stories because of your channel! 😀

[@rightonrightonrighton]

I'm usually not a fan of Manga but I've just been reading one called Blood on the Tracks and I think you would really like i! X

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Yes! I've heard it's brilliant and terrifying. Thanks for reminding me to pick it up. Also one of my fave Bob Dylan albums.

[@rightonrightonrighton]

@@WillowTalksBooks honestly such good story telling! Very Yoko Ogawa in places... speaking of you should do a monthly or bi-monthly book club or something...was thinking this since I started watching your content :)

[@charlottemolloy]

I tend to get distracted during the video browsing your bookshelf! Have you picked these books for the background deliberately as they are your favorites or is it just a random selection of books?

[@WillowTalksBooks]

We actually move around from place to place a lot, so these are just the newest books we've bought or been given by publishers! No pattern, no thought, just books!

[@ariannelg]

I saw Matinee the other day and I didn’t care. Then I see your video and you start describing it with Jane Austen & Jane Eyre... Here I am wanting to read your recommendation (no news)!

[@Phil-p7p]

Enjoyed this video. I was much less impressed with Terminal Boredom than you were. It strikes me that Izumi Suzuki's colourful 'back-story' is somewhat more interesting than some of her actual stories in this collection. There are as you say a number of interesting premises and concepts in these stories but I felt that none of them were explored in any depth. The better stories present an interesting premise or a couple of ideas that did prompt my own thinking. But the stories themselves scarcely explore their own premises at all. A couple of stories mention over-population, one deals with gender issues, another colonialism. There are a few comic moments. But no real sense of place is ever established and there is a heavy reliance on fairly mundane dialogue through which the author reveals the unexpected or unusual nature of each particular story. Beyond these 'en passant' references nothing is explored in any depth (this is also true of the science fiction elements). The stories had a strong sense of isolation and alienation from everything and everyone. Despite all this I did actually enjoy reading most of these stories, but overall I was a bit disappointed. 5/10 for me. Perhaps I should give them another go.