I know, it must be comparable to modern English speakers reading Shakespeare... but a billion times worse XDD I heard you can get modern day Japanese translations of Genji too, which is hilarious but probably very useful ^__^
Thanks so much! I'll be sure to check those out after I finish Genji... I do generally like the novels which imitate the original language's style, so that's probably right up my alley. It's probably all kinds of geeky and lame that I find book recommendations so exciting XD
For sure, if you have more I'd love to hear it! =D And if you have more recs from Edo-and-later, I'd love to hear those too. I haven't had much (err, any really XD) experience with Japanese literature, that is, until I read Genji, so a good assortment should give me an idea of what I like best. And I'm particularly excited to see contemporaries of Genji and the inspiration for Genji, so summaries would be like fantastic XD
How about you, what books are at the top of your To Read list? I saw on this post that you have Wuthering Heights, Memoirs of a Geisha, Dune, and Tale of Two Cities italicized. These are all somewhere on the list of my favourite books like ever ; ) If you like the vulgar Edo-period lit, then Wuthering Heights should catch your interest: it's written by the daughter of a curate and yet the style is very bold, improper and vulgar even. Especially in squeamish, up-tight Victorian society, it was not well-received at all. It's very brutal, a psychological train wreck. Memoirs of a Geisha (despite not being a very complicated or difficult read) was a book that I enjoyed immensely because of the plot, characters and cultural elements. Dune is amazing. It's probably the most epic Sci-Fi novel in existence. It is a big hefty book and it deals with some truly spectacular themes and concepts. And Tale of Two Cities <3 Oh Sydney Carton... "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known". And Two Cities is all about the French Revolution, which is a time period from which so much fascinating literature has been born =D
Ahh... I got carried away. Umm... food for thought, I guess XD
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Date: 2008-07-17 09:12 am (UTC)Thanks so much! I'll be sure to check those out after I finish Genji... I do generally like the novels which imitate the original language's style, so that's probably right up my alley. It's probably all kinds of geeky and lame that I find book recommendations so exciting XD
For sure, if you have more I'd love to hear it! =D And if you have more recs from Edo-and-later, I'd love to hear those too. I haven't had much (err, any really XD) experience with Japanese literature, that is, until I read Genji, so a good assortment should give me an idea of what I like best. And I'm particularly excited to see contemporaries of Genji and the inspiration for Genji, so summaries would be like fantastic XD
How about you, what books are at the top of your To Read list? I saw on this post that you have Wuthering Heights, Memoirs of a Geisha, Dune, and Tale of Two Cities italicized. These are all somewhere on the list of my favourite books like ever ; ) If you like the vulgar Edo-period lit, then Wuthering Heights should catch your interest: it's written by the daughter of a curate and yet the style is very bold, improper and vulgar even. Especially in squeamish, up-tight Victorian society, it was not well-received at all. It's very brutal, a psychological train wreck. Memoirs of a Geisha (despite not being a very complicated or difficult read) was a book that I enjoyed immensely because of the plot, characters and cultural elements. Dune is amazing. It's probably the most epic Sci-Fi novel in existence. It is a big hefty book and it deals with some truly spectacular themes and concepts. And Tale of Two Cities <3 Oh Sydney Carton... "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known". And Two Cities is all about the French Revolution, which is a time period from which so much fascinating literature has been born =D
Ahh... I got carried away. Umm... food for thought, I guess XD