Japanese literature boasts a rich tradition, and exploring works by Japanese authors offers readers a unique journey into a diverse cultural landscape.
Love that you mentioned Higashino Keigo and Japanese crime. I love Fuminori Nakamura and Natsuo Kirino in particular. Last year I read A True Novel too, which was pretty extraordinary.
Currently I'm reading Japanese World War 2 stories. It's fascinating to learn what was their thinking during the war. The problem is, they are translations and even like the Bible, translations miss so much of the innuendos and subtle meaning by words that can only be fully appreciated in the original. Even the bible in English never imparts the nuances of the original Greek and Hebrew, at least that is what I'm told since I know neither.
I did once study Russian and it's a languages filled with words or sentence structure that impart innuendos, nuances and subtle concepts it would take a paragraph in English to attempt a translation of. By the time you end the paragraph its meaning would be lost.
I am fortunate, English is a complex language that has adopted many foreign nuances and is the final resting place of all significant writing, even from Javanese/Malay, such as the book, This Earth Of Mankind. Unfortunately, each year, languages disappears as the "Village" condenses down to the few big ones.
What not enough people talk about, though, is the deliciousness of Japanese Oreos. Hard to find, it seems (a Substack friend was just there and couldn't find any). But they will change your life. xo
Timely post as this morning I just began reading Kintsugi Wellness by Candice Kumai. It's an exploration of principles of Japanese living including kintsugi and wabi-sabi as well as others less known perhaps in America. While not quite the same as the authors you're speaking of here, I'm finding the work really powerful.
and then there's the exquisite simplicity of Japanese poetic forms:
tanka. haiku. zuihitsu. magic.
Love that you mentioned Higashino Keigo and Japanese crime. I love Fuminori Nakamura and Natsuo Kirino in particular. Last year I read A True Novel too, which was pretty extraordinary.
Currently I'm reading Japanese World War 2 stories. It's fascinating to learn what was their thinking during the war. The problem is, they are translations and even like the Bible, translations miss so much of the innuendos and subtle meaning by words that can only be fully appreciated in the original. Even the bible in English never imparts the nuances of the original Greek and Hebrew, at least that is what I'm told since I know neither.
I did once study Russian and it's a languages filled with words or sentence structure that impart innuendos, nuances and subtle concepts it would take a paragraph in English to attempt a translation of. By the time you end the paragraph its meaning would be lost.
I am fortunate, English is a complex language that has adopted many foreign nuances and is the final resting place of all significant writing, even from Javanese/Malay, such as the book, This Earth Of Mankind. Unfortunately, each year, languages disappears as the "Village" condenses down to the few big ones.
What not enough people talk about, though, is the deliciousness of Japanese Oreos. Hard to find, it seems (a Substack friend was just there and couldn't find any). But they will change your life. xo
Sounds delicious and a bit of a mission to track down xx
Timely post as this morning I just began reading Kintsugi Wellness by Candice Kumai. It's an exploration of principles of Japanese living including kintsugi and wabi-sabi as well as others less known perhaps in America. While not quite the same as the authors you're speaking of here, I'm finding the work really powerful.
Currently reading Musashi, and it is absolutely beautiful
Nice 👌🏽