by Murasaki Shikibu English translation by Arthur Waley ‘At the court of an emperor (he lived it matters not when) there was among the many gentlewomen of the Wardrobe and Chamber one, though she was not of very high rank was favored far beyond all the rest.’ For a reader in the West, The …
Category: Japan
Strangers
異人たちとの夏 by Taichi Yamada 'With lips locked, we fell to the tatami and quickly forgot the arietta. Later that same evening, everything came to an end.' Strangers is a teasing, creepy ghost story from Japan. I think the original title means something like 'the summer of the strange people' - I do hope I've got …
Just an ordinary guy …
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami (translated by Philip Gabriel) Straight off, I will say that I loved this character-driven story. Tazaki is just your average guy but he carries a lot of emotional baggage. He likes railway stations, he likes music, he plays sport and (we'll come to this …
