What are you currently reading?

[aligreto]

--- and I'll show you a unicorn.

You have a pet unicorn too 
I feed mine on lotus leaves and candy floss 

[SimonNZ]

*Communism* and *opposition to the growth of government interference in private lives* are mutually exclusive --- I am surprised that an intelligent person as Abe did not realize that from the beginning. But the again he was certainly not alone in that, and indeed "communism is the opium of intellectuals" (Raymond Aron).

Have you actually researched the appeal of communism in the interwar or immediate postwar periods from the point of view of those who were - for their various reasons and degrees of enthusiasm and for however long - attracted to it?

[vers la flamme]

I read it more than a decade ago and I remember not being very impressed, even rather bored --- but I agree about the Kafka comparison. The protagonist is suddenly and unexpectedly caught in an absurd situation and the more he tries to get out of it, the more he is dragged deeper and deeper into it. The difference is that in Kafka there's the absurdity of bureaucracy, to which I can relate only too well, while in this Abe novel the absurdity is completely gratuitous. Not a fan of the latter, honestly.

That's too bad. I'm enjoying it a good bit.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

That's too bad. I'm enjoying it a good bit.

A little influence of him on HM? 

[vers la flamme]

A little influence of him on HM? 

I would say so! The darkly absurd surreality of the setting, the vivid sexual language, and the thought processes of the loner protagonist all call to mind for me Haruki Murakami at his weirdest. I do wonder what Murakami thought of Abe's work.

[vers la flamme]

Osamu Dazai, No Longer Human



I believe this is yet another recommendation from our DBK. That man knows his Japanese literature.

Apparently, this is the second-best selling novel of all time in Japan. I'm not very far into the book, but my impression is that it reminds me a lot of Mishima's great Confessions of a Mask. Both novels are first-person accounts which take a confessional tone, narrated by young male protagonists who have always seen themselves on the fringe of society. Anyway, I'm enjoying it so far.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

H Murakami frequently mentioned that he liked some Beatnik writers. Also, you said that he liked Soseki Natsume. AFIK, (oddly) he never mentioned Kobo Abe. I googled, and didn't find any statement from Murakami about Abe. Personally, I sense Abe's influence on M, but I have no evidence.

I knew Dazai was popular in Japan, but didn't know that NLH was that popular. Though I like the work, I never considered it a mainstream work in terms of style or theme. Furthermore, it amazes me that the work is being well received in the West. Perhaps because of the Millennials?

[vers la flamme]

Well, I devoured that book. Read it all within about four or five hours today. What an amazing book it was. Just horrifically dark, but I can't believe how insightful it was about the tragedy and comedy of life. For how bleak its subject matter is, I found myself laughing out loud in places. I found parts of it incredibly relatable, and other parts made me want to scream at the protagonist to make different choices in his life. I don't know a book which better approximates the feelings of severe depression and social anxiety as I have experienced them.

I've never read anything like this book, but some things that come somewhat close are Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground and Mishima's Confessions of a Mask. Wow, that was an incredible book.

H Murakami frequently mentioned that he liked some Beatnik writers. Also, you said that he liked Soseki Natsume. AFIK, (oddly) he never mentioned Kobo Abe. I googled, and didn't find any statement from Murakami about Abe. Personally, I sense Abe's influence on M, but I have no evidence.

I knew Dazai was popular in Japan, but didn't know that NLH was that popular. Though I like the work, I never considered it a mainstream work in terms of style or theme. Furthermore, it amazes me that the work is being well received in the West. Perhaps because of the Millennials?

I'm not sure how well-received it is in the West at large, as none of my reading friends have read it. But I found it extremely relatable and relevant to contemporary life in the West. Thanks for your recommendation. I loved it. Definitely going to read Dazai's other famous book, The Setting Sun, ASAP.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

It's interesting to hear about the relevance of NLH to modern life in the West. The Setting Sun (Shayo) is as good as the former, imo. Shayo could be translated as the "tilted sun."

Also, quite interesting observation about a connection between the Dunes and Mishima's Mask. Never thought about it. I must think about it.

[vers la flamme]

Ah, I should have clarified, but that connection was supposed to be No Longer Human and Confessions of a Mask. The book I was referring to in the first part of my post was Dazai's. The Woman in the Dunes took me about three days to read, and while I did enjoy it greatly, it wasn't quite as hard-hitting as No Longer Human. There may be some connection also between Abe's and Mishima's work, but if there is, I haven't yet figured it out. As for Dazai and Mishima, it's been said that toward the end of his short life Dazai actually met the young Mishima. Apparently, Dazai was drinking with a group of younger writers, a group including Mishima who was not a drinker, and Mishima told Dazai to his face that he didn't like his writing, and Dazai said something to the effect of "then why are you here?" Amazing story if it's true; have you heard this? I heard it from a Youtuber quoting a biography of Mishima.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Ah, I should have clarified, but that connection was supposed to be No Longer Human and Confessions of a Mask. The book I was referring to in the first part of my post was Dazai's. The Woman in the Dunes took me about three days to read, and while I did enjoy it greatly, it wasn't quite as hard-hitting as No Longer Human. There may be some connection also between Abe's and Mishima's work, but if there is, I haven't yet figured it out. As for Dazai and Mishima, it's been said that toward the end of his short life Dazai actually met the young Mishima. Apparently, Dazai was drinking with a group of younger writers, a group including Mishima who was not a drinker, and Mishima told Dazai to his face that he didn't like his writing, and Dazai said something to the effect of "then why are you here?" Amazing story if it's true; have you heard this? I heard it from a Youtuber quoting a biography of Mishima.

Sorry about the confusion on my part. Still I like this confusion (self-justification)  .
Yes, I believe the story is true or mostly true. It is weird because Mishima, unlike his works, was usually polite and friendly to anybody and he was liked by most people.
I heard that M didn't like what he considered to be self-pity and romanticization/glorification of loneliness in D's works.
Also, M was a fashionable city boy from Tokyo while Dazai was a country (albeit rich and aristocratic) guy from Aomori, which is like Mississippi, USA.

I was not sure if you would like Dazai (I thought you would like Mishima), but it appears that you liked NLH. Hope you will have good time reading Shayo.

[SimonNZ]

Started:



and also on the go:



whis is reminding me that I've been wanting to read Browne's Urn-Burial for some long time, so that's been pulled out as well

[vers la flamme]

Yasunari Kawabata, The Old Capital



This is the fourth book I've read from this author in as many months, I think. I am very much in awe of his aesthetic sensibilities. It seems this book is both love letter and elegy for the city of its title, Kyoto, former capital of Japan, which as of the time of this book's writing—the early postwar decades—was in the midst of massive change. Very much a quiet and subdued book, with less of the burning passion that seemed to lie just beneath the surface in Snow Country and Thousand Cranes, both earlier books.

[Ganondorf]

Reading about Capital here too, although a different kind of Capital, in other words: Marx's Das Kapital.

[vers la flamme]

Reading about Capital here too, although a different kind of Capital, in other words: Marx's Das Kapital.

That makes three "capital" books on one page 

[JBS]

Started:

[

whis is reminding me that I've been wanting to read Browne's Urn-Burial for some long time, so that's been pulled out as well

I have that edition. Browne's style is like a very rich dessert for me: wonderful to taste but a very small amount fills you for a long time. I think I've never been able to read more than 5 pages at a sitting.

[Brian]

Anybody reading "Capital" the novel by John Lanchester? 

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Piketty's Capital is on my book shelf. Will start reading it this summer. Kawabata's Old Capital next year. Dealing with Marx's Kapital all the time for my work.

[Artem]

and also on the go:

I love Sebald. He's one of my all time favourite authors. That book made me fall in love with his prose right away.

[vers la flamme]

Never heard of Sebald, he sounds like a fascinating writer. I'll have to see if I can find that book, The Rings of Saturn.