Japanese Literature Book Group

WHO
Anyone who is interested in Japanese Literature is welcome to join in.

WHAT
A casual reading group to discuss Japanese literature with fellow readers and bloggers.

WHERE
The discussion post will be hosted here, and participants can post about the books on their own blogs, if they are so inclined.

WHEN
Depending on title selection, and interest, approximately every one to two months. The discussion will begin on the last Monday of the month, unless otherwise noted.

WHY
To share a love of Japanese literature. To hopefully gain a deeper understanding of Japanese literature and culture through reading and discussing the books with others.

THE BOOKS
Current selection:
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
1Q84 (ichi-kyu-hachi-yon)

The year is 1984. Aomame sits in a taxi on the expressway in Tokyo.

Her work is not the kind which can be discussed in public but she is in a hurry to carry out an assignment and, with the traffic at a stand-still, the driver proposes a solution. She agrees, but as a result of her actions starts to feel increasingly detached from the real world. She has been on a top-secret mission, and her next job will lead her to encounter the apparently superhuman founder of a religious cult.

Meanwhile, Tengo is leading a nondescript life but wishes to become a writer. He inadvertently becomes involved in a strange affair surrounding a literary prize to which a mysterious seventeen-year-old girl has submitted her remarkable first novel. It seems to be based on her own experiences and moves readers in unusual ways. Can her story really be true?

Both Aomame and Tengo notice that the world has grown strange; both realise that they are indispensable to each other. While their stories influence one another, at times by accident and at times intentionally, the two come closer and closer to intertwining. Is it possible for them to ever meet in the real world?

1Q84: Discussion post

Previous selections:
November 2009
The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata
The Old Capital: Discussion post
Cultural Context, Places and Events

January 2010
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
The Housekeeper and the Professor: Discussion post

March 2010
A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
A Wild Sheep Chase: Discussion post

Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami
Dance Dance Dance: Discussion post

Click on the book covers for more information.

June 2010 (originally scheduled in May)
Silence by Shusaku Endo
Silence: Discussion post

July 2010
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
Battle Royale: Discussion post

August 2010
Goodbye Tsugumi and/or Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
Goodbye Tsugumi and Kitchen: Discussion post

September 2010
The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata
The Sound of the Mountain: Discussion post

December 2010 (originally scheduled for November)
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion: Discussion post

February 2011
In the Miso Soup and/or Audition by Ryu Murakami
In the Miso Soup and Audition: Discussion post

April 2011
The Silent Cry by Kenzaburō Ōe
The Silent Cry: Thoughts and Discussion

June 2011
The Woman in the Dunes by Kōbō Abe
The Woman in the Dunes: Thoughts and Discussion

August 2011
Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata
Thousand Cranes: Thoughts and Discussion

October/November 2011
Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki
Kokoro: Thoughts and Discussion

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Also running concurrently, the Japanese Literature Read-along for those titles that are longer, for which we could use some mutual cheer-leading, or could benefit from a closer reading. These books will typically be read over a few months.

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