Saturday, August 01, 2009

Japanese Literature Challenge 3

This has to be one of the easiest challenges of all time, hosted by Dolce Bellezza. These are the rules:

"All you have to do is read one work of Japanese origin. It can be literature of course, but don’t feel confined to that. You may choose to read poetry, biographies, short stories or even manga. If you are willing to read one such piece, you’ve met the challenge. If you read more, all the better.

"I have set the time frame between July 30, 2009 and January 30, 2010."


During the past two years, I have read five mysteries by Scotland's Denise Mina, three by Iceland's Arnaldur Indridason, two by Ireland's Benjamin Black, and one by Italy's Andrea Camilleri. It is time, then, for me to expand my mysteriousness to Japan.

I plan to start with All She Was Worth by Miyuki Miyabe. The Amazon product description not only sounds intriguing, but also contemporary to our love of plastic money:

"Recovering from a leg injury, a 43-year-old Tokyo police inspector named Shunsuke Honma realizes how out of touch he has become when a relative asks him to make some private inquiries into the disappearance of his fiancée. While he wasn't paying attention, it seems that everyone in the country but Honma has been caught up in a consumer feeding frenzy--going into heavy debt and declaring bankruptcy at a snowballing rate. This engrossing story of the search for happiness through shopping marks the first appearance in English of one of Japan's leading writers."

If you are interested in participating, Mary (or anyone else), visit Bellezza' site and sign up.

12 comments:

Wandering Coyote said...

Cool challenge!

Barlinnie said...

Funnily enough pal, I've just read a magazine article on the Japanese Flyweight boxing champ, Daisuke Naito.

Does that count?

savannah said...

japanese mysteries...i might have to give this one a go, sugar! xoxox

Book Bird Dog said...

I've never read Miyabe and have her latest, a horror-mystery, on my challenge list. I hope it's as good as the one you're reading. Looking forward to your review!

Anonymous said...

Hi Charlie, I'm also in for this challenge; I'm going for a different Miyabe novel - Brave Story.

Bellezza said...

All She Was Worth was a very interesting book to me, a sort of mystery set in current day Japan. I was intrigued by the depiction of life there, as I've never visited in person. I've also read Crossfire by Miyabe; both were filled with a nice tension for the reader.

I'm glad that you've joined in the challenge, and I look forward to discovering more about Japan, and its authors, with you.

Kim Ayres said...

I might watch The Seven Samurai again...

Pat said...

One of my blogging friends - Angry Parsnip has a son in Japan and is herself a Japan-ophile. Does that count?

kara said...

so what...Shogun doesn't count? lame.

Charlie said...

MOE, LARRY, & CURLY FROM THE U.K.: Very funny you three. Actually you are, but you're all old enough now to know that rules are rules. Therefore,

1. Moe Bastard: No.
2. Larry Ayres: No.
3. Curly Pat: No.

SHEMP: Please read the above, Kara, or does that lame you off too?

EVERYONE ELSE: Thank you for your comment.

Mary Witzl said...

Ooh, I've already met this challenge about 100 times over and I didn't even know it!! Do we get extra points for reading stuff in the original? I'm off to find out...

Mark David said...

Welcome to the challenge Charlie! Glad you could join us :)