I've been living in Tokyo about 2 years, or so. Since then, I've been writing little miniature reviews of all the books I read. I do this mainly because my memory is faulty and it's nice sometimes to go back over my own personal history and grin, or grimace at the stories I've read and how they informed that period or moment of my life. And also, I hope to share some of my literary experiences with you, dear reader, and ask that you share yours if you'd like.
There are three ways to view this very limited catalogue:
1) click -- by the order I read the books. Starts from most recent.
2) click -- by authors last name, alphabetically.
3) click -- by title, alphabetically. [this page]
About the Author, John Colapinto, 2001
Pretty good tale about authenticity and artistic license and blackmail and stuff. A real page turner, though I read it a while back, and can hardly recall the details. Something about the author. Yeah; a guy appropriates his dead roommates novel; the novel being about his life, not the dead guys'. Takes over dead guys life, kinda, but a mistake comes back to haunt him and now he has to deal with that, and some other stuff.
And Then, Natsume, Soseki, 1909
A young man, doesn't play by his father's rules, how does he survive. So much of this, so many young men struggling out from their fathers, finding the world doesn't offer support in the form of cash quite like pop did when he was satisfied.
The Best American Non-Required Reading, 2004, ed. Dave Eggers
Eggers takes this not-cool-unless-it's-not-known anthology and makes known some decent fiction, though I bought it purely (and after much searching) for the Poor Sailor comic strip by Sammy Harkham.
Blink!, Malcolm Gladwell
Trust your instincts, so long as you've honed them to a fine point by the fires of experience. Learn to listen to your guts by training it's voice--if you want quick decesions, you must know what you're doing; who knew?
A Brief History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson, 2003Over due from the library, though always enjoyable, half-read; a book that taught me everything I should have learned, and then I forgot most of it. From the pop of the Universe to our knowledge of it framed by the thinkers and scientists themselves who discovered what we now know: so much (560 pages), and so little (560 pages). I learned that objects are solid because of magnetism. Woah! Bill Bryson has a charming way of making science interesting and I kept picking it up until the library demanded it back. Will someone tell me how it ends?
Confessions of a Yakuza, Junichi Saga
Born in 1901, this tattooed and dying old man takes us through a life of everything, especially gambling; again, great glimpse into cultural Japan behind drapes that were pulled down and replaced long ago.
The Clash of Civilizations: Remaking of Global Order, Samuel P. Huntington
Fantastic book-look into the nature of politics at an unimaginable scale: global. Trace the lines of civilizations and look into the machine that is global politics (there are critiques out there, but for the semi-initiated, this is needle and thread with which to seam ideas).
Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert, 2006
At first, I liked this book, as it was personal and difficult and the main girl, the author herself, seemed truly in a bind with real challenges and a dilemma few would envy. But as the book progressed, I felt increasingly uneasy, like the itchy feet that had given her the get-outta-here bug had invaded my shoes, but not for so grand a scheme as to circumnavigate the globe, but like the intolerable trapped sensation of sitting through someone's travel slide show of countless crooked photos featuring a khaki clad traveller standing, smiling, in front of various world sights. Like, I'm glad you had a great time, but just keep it to yourself from now on, ok? Unless you fell into a tiger pit, or got your passport lifted by a gypsy elephant, I wasn't there and I'm frankly not that interested.
Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, Lynne Truss
This a half-amusing drly cycnical book about punctuation and how careless computers make us. No--we are careless to begin with, but I too like to punctuate (though I don't know if I'd pass any tests), meaningcanbeaboutsoundsandspaceandreallydowewanttowritelikethis?
Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman
IQ isn't the only measure: EI, emotional intelligence, though unmeasurable, really, plays a significant role in the use of our intelligence intelligence; but it's not taught in schools. Next time a pen rolls off the table and your hand flicks faster than gravity, catching the pen, you'll recognize your amygdala, and action without thought.
A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemmingway
This book gave me the most insight into Hemingway, no longer enamoured, I was, but more critical, and finding this time a desire in myself to read more motivation, more feeling, but alas: "it's hard to see inside the head of the brave" (126). But an ending such as this book has, in a way as all Ernest's books, brought me around, and I was the one moved (read the first explicit male tear in E.H.).
Fingerprints of the Gods, Graham Hancock
Wonderful non-fiction detective story tracing the cultures of pre-history ancients in Egypt, South America, and Antarctica (Atlantis is buried in 2 miles of ice) whom were likely smarter than us, though they still all died out and left only vague fingerprint smudges; though, keep in mind that the Mayan calendar wraps up a 5125 year cycle in six years: yes, mark your calendar for December 23rd, 2012. Antarctica was recently free of ice, the Earths crust slides around, the last-ice age was hell for early people, and the Noah story? There're hundreds more alike.
For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemmingway
Practically a manual for dying; a beautiful ode to fate and love (never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee). Hemmingway writes with a heavy hand, but can be so subtle and graceful at times, those times he seems to know.
Freakonomics, Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
This book uses the tools of economics to tell a story of how things are: "[i]f morality represents an ideal world, then economics represents the actual world;" statistics tell us things profound, though it seems in retrospect. One more question for the book of questions: does knowing statistics change statistics (eg. an intact family is not a meaningful measure of a child's performance in school--does knowing this affect an outcome)?
The Green Hills of Africa, Ernest Hemmingway
This time around, killing things in the jungle, and as such involved me less--maleness has changed, though I can still understand the appeal. Though, the laws of the jungle weren't written with rifles in mind, were they?
Gurdjieff, John Shirley
Gurdjieff seems a madman, perhaps was, but his history and methods are startlingly persuasive. Thinking back on it now, everything seems so clear: people are sleeping machines; so am I, so are you-- shock!
Ham on Rye, Charles Bukowski, 1982
Such a dirty rambunctious life; told in straight honest prose. Recently I saw Barfly, and there he is again, Chinaski, the brawler, the drinker, the philosopher, full of an ordinary passion for life, but with fewer fears.
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Haruki Murakami
Double narrative, strange tale, makes taking the subway scary, wonder anew about the science of acoustics, and then forget all about it. Unicorns skulls and dreams...
Hegemony or Survival, Noam Chomsky
The world is not as it appears; the surface we are shown is generally a mistruth, a deceit even. Read this and be saddened, and hopefully compelled to compassionate outrage--a great work by a relentlessly thorough and straightforward reader of the things we should all know.
A History of Modern Japan, Richard Storry
Good read, but too short. Modern Japan: Samurai or Yakuza? mmm, neither.
The Inquisition, Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, 1999
Picked this book up because of the pictures, grotesque etchings depicting torture and burnings. Starts as a heavy book, historical and revealing, ends as a critique seething conjecture and hypothesis. Beginning with the Cathars, moving to the Franciscans and eventually the Freemasons, to name a few groups, the Inquisition scoured the Catholic landscape in search of heretics to burn or sickeningly torture in the name of the Church, though probably in some ways more akin to licensed serial killers. The Church evolves and so does the Inquisition, naming itself now, according to these authors, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; different name, though no less stubborn and problematic (though no torture anymore). Indeed, a terrible history, but the lack of academic integrity and authorial stubbornness make the ending a slog through too much must and have to and should holier-than-though finger pointing pejorative from two decidedly secular rabble rousers. I get it: Christ's teachings have vanished, the Church is a self-validating edifice, dogma and doctrine are irrelevant for sprituality, faith is personal. A case of intellectuals pissed off about irrationality. Just let it go. Fewer people go to mass, and the church can't twist arms anymore. Let it disappear.
In the Miso Soup, Ryu Murakami
Sex, violence, and violence in the Tokyo "underworld" of sex and violence, but mostly the pathetic-ones let loose upon by a foreign beast man; part misunderstood man; part robotic animal man. Spatterings of social critique among the blood.
Introducing Postmodernism, R. Appignanesi, C. Garratt, Z. Sardar, P. Curry
Got over my elitist refusal of introductory books, and found that this book is laid out well, is intelligent, and is indeed, hardly for beginners at all. I don't get it, oh just did; now it's gone.
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth, Chris Ware
"I could flip through this book all day," I said. The artwork is brilliant and so is the story, though be prepared to have it engage you, for it will define your mood.
Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami
Better than Hard-boiled, travel journey, mind trip, though am I alone in thinking Murakami pretentious?
The Key, Junichiro Tanizaki,1956
Great sexual psycho-drama played out in the diaries of the protagonists; a husband and wife. One can never be sure what one knows and what one doesn't, or what's truth or deceit, or if it even matters, so long as everyone gets what they want. Very sexy and somewhat off-putting story that shies from the slippery details but never fails to arouse: not just like peeking into someone's diary, it is a diary. Two of them.
Learning to Bow, Bruce S. Feiler
A great insight into Japan, from a teacher in the early days of English teaching--he speaks Japanese too. Felt like he was telling my story; I'm sure you'll feel similar--check it out: a great look into the culture that's still relevant today.
The Life of Pi, Yann Martel, 2001
I like this especially for the description of the zoo in the beginning. Check it out. Other than that, nice writing, and a good tale. An orange tail.
Maus, Art Spiegleman
Highly talked about, and indeed, a great read, likely an honest, a grisly honest read, but I wasn't engaged in the reading and looking so much as by the thinking it inspired. I hardly want to think those things, let alone to have endured them.
Meditation Yoga, Masahiro Oki
Yoga isn't stretching; it's the universe and everything in it. Read this book, and others like it.
Men Without Women, Ernest Hemmingway
I read a few of these short stories, but I find I'm just not a fan of the short story medium. So I put it down; maybe another time (In Another Country I liked for images of men manipulated by machines).
Monkey Brain Sushi, ed. Alfred Birnbaum
A once-a-day conversation with a different Japanese writer. Murakami appears here, among, notably, Amy Yamada and Yoshinori Shimizu.
The Mother Tongue, english and how it got that way, Bill Bryson, 1990
The English language has gone through so much that it's almost laughable how it's ended up; but we (English speakers) are rather lucky as well, to have such a tongue, with such complexity and possibility for adaption and poetry and precision. When we are born the world is undivided, a vast unnamed blur of shape and color and movement--and then we define our awareness, our senses themselves, and then our minds. The finer cuts we can make as we slice up this reality into intelligibility the better. Let subtlety reign and imagination flourish, spelling be damned!
In English: the schwa [ə] is the most common sound, velleity is a new word for me, there are over 50 sounds and millions of words.
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, Umberto Eco, 2004
After reading The Name of the Rose, I was so into Umberto Eco that I picked up whatever I could find of his in the library. Unfortunately this was the book I found. Perhaps I needed something with a smidge more energy or hmm anything, because this book nearly turned me off reading altogether which is why I ended up reading Colapinto next, simply for something guaranteed not to put me to sleep. Philosophically, psychologically, literarily, semiotically, and on and on, this book is stirring in every way want something to care about, even slightly, or hate, or feel anything except for a sensation that this is punishment. It appeals in the hands as you flip through, with it's many fanciful images, but as I read, and became more and more detached from the subject, it became apparent quickly that either you are a buff, or you are Umberto, because you are reading a personal history of the author circa 1950 Italy, and if that's not remote enough for me, for most people, it's in a book that reads like grampa telling stories by the window on the best day of summer.
The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco, 1980
A beautiful tale, a modern classic, a book I felt like disappearing into the moment I picked it up. Compares to the greats I've read in breadth, beauty and sheer fascination. For the enjoyment of reading, the wonder of thinking and reason, and ancient questions posed within a simple context by extremely complex and often historically accurate characters. Did Christ live without possessions, did he have to use, or have to keep; what does this matter to the world and religion, and how can ancient texts be coaxed toward one side or the other? The answers are all in the library, the tomb of knowing, which the novel's story unfurls within and around.
No Longer Human, Dazai, Osamu, 1958
How autobiographical this little book is, I'm not sure, but it seems to follow Dazai's own patterns faithfully through bungled suicides and alcoholism, artistic craft and desire and real lonliness. It's a beautiful read full of poignant soliloquies on society, crime and frequently shaken by existential tremors of an essential human, non-human. Read it. I can only wonder about the original prose in Japanese...
The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemmingway
Got me started on the tough, the stubborn refusal to give in, the existential of male, of man. A wonderful read, curt in its descriptions, sparse with its words; a good introduction.
One Hundred Years of Solitude,Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1967
"...because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth." This beautiful and magical book about the Buendia family and their town and home was like watching the people across the street with the big dramatic family and wondering why I wasn't born into them and their tumult and endless amsument and passions. And my family is somewhat like that. But the Buendias have a particular fate, a circular destiny, and like all things must too pass. I loved this book even though I was a little bored at times, because I was often, just slightly, twinged with that jealousy and it felt real, but it's a gift to see inside the doors.
On Jung, Anthony Stevens
Nothing can be said of Jungian psychology and theory without mentioning something of the man; this is perhaps the greatest achievement and the slightest flaw for Jung or anyone else, but if archetypes, dreams and the unconscious keep you up at night, then give the shadow reign for the evening and seek out your animus or anima.
Profit Over People, Noam Chomsky
So steadily and intensively researched that I became overburdened with grief, but I think most of us know how badly most of us get fucked by a system hidden behind a democracy. You have two votes: the ballot and the dollar.
The Rum Diary, Hunter S. Thompson
The S. stands for smile, see entry below.
Sanity, Madness and the Family, R. D. Laing
A look at 11 schizophrenic daughters and their families. This is a disorder difficult to pin down (at the time?); read this and discover how families can be messed up and craziness may emerge out of situations, not just minds.
The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie
What can I say about this book? A great read as a foreigner, as a human being, with an interest in literature, reading, from a word magician. Take up a new interest in Islam, understand that nothing is perfect, especially history, and fall from the upper atmosphere, or Mt. Everest, you choose.
Scar Tissue, Anthony Kiedis, 2004
I started this book by flipping to a random page, but before I made it to the next I was so enthralled that I flopped the bulk of it over and went straight to page one looking for the whole story, which is all here. This is a great, seemingly honest, rock star account of an unordinary life lived extraordinarily and with tons of drugs. tons. and sex. and egomania. Highly recommended, just for the holy shit factor which is palpable.
The Sea and Poison, Endo Shusaku, 1958
Post war literature: Japan; the war; tradition; modernity; changing culture; etc.. I really enjoy post-war Japanese literature, not because of these themes, but because of the careful subtlety of their delivery, if they can be called themes at all. Stories about people in a culture in a time doing things. Though this book very attached to the period, being about the mistreatment of some POW's, it's fully about the psychology of it's people, who happen to be there, then.
The Sickening Mind, Paul Martin
Stress not only fascilitates sickness, it can make you sick. Through a somewhat complex mechanism called the nervous system, your very body may suppress your very immune system to help deal with stresses; just try not to allow it to persist--that's the trick (note: emotional intelligence, meditation yoga, Gurdjieff can help).
The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemmingway, 1926
Another Hemmingway; this time a group of expats travel to Spain for the Fiesta and the bull fights. I was never interested in bull fighting until I read this book and that's just a part of it. He captures young people at large in life and culture and love with characteristic subtlety and directness.
Supernatural, Graham Hancock
What cave paintings, faeries, and alien abductions have in common: they are different manifestations of the same other worldy reality existing just out of sensory reach. Reach the other side through a variety of psychadelic means, trance states, or just by a natural burst of excess DMT from your brain; apparently a lot of people see the same things, and not just hippies--cavemen and europeans and ancient greeks alike (what they all have in common: DNA; humans have shared the same form for potentially 200,000 years, passing on the same information all along)!
Technopoly, Neil Postman
Technology takes us over as we become more and more dependant on technologies, and do we wonder: how much benefit do we gain, and what do we lose--he makes a funny point about computers (those who profit from them come up with good arguments for their existence, but what do we gain really?). Progress is measured in technological terms, and we have access to more information than we could ever need; informed and smart, or just overwhelmed and unaware--what about human development?
Terrorism and War, Howard Zinn
An interviewed Zinn describes the tremendous disappointment he feels in this modern age by reasoned intellectual insults toward the Bush administration, and also... to you! ... and me.
Thousand Cranes, Yasunari Kawabata, 1958
Winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, a beautiful book of poetic snippets among a tale of kiss and tell or not tell. Well rendered characters vie for pasts and relics. Framed by the tea ceremony though purposefully negligent of its themes, the objects of its ancient protocols become the living ghosts of its participants. Why this won the nobel prize, I'm not sure, but perhaps it is for sheer orientalism, the sheer japanese-ness of it, as seen by an occidental award. For that though, it must be magical for foreign audiences, perhaps frustrating and impenetrable like the history of a tea cup.
To Have and Have Not, Ernest Hemmingway
A collage book of three stories, none of which compelled me to keep reading. A violent and questionable hero struggling to survive in a story lacking substance (though not without a few bright passages by the great writer).
Twentieth-Century Mystics and Sages, Anne Bancroft
A book about the great kind of people. The individuals that colour experience and shed light on our own minds.
Twilight of the Idols, Friedrich Nietzsche
This book is about more than can be said in two lines. But, indeed, can we all agree that the twilight looms and it's finally time?
Ulysses, James Joyce
yes, yes. How long have I been reading this book about Bloom's day and I'm still not finished, perhaps never will be, but when I'm in it it's a delight simply for the words (and I guess Hemingway and Joyce were pals at a time and there were some written flourishes in the former that seemed particularly Joycian).
Underground, Haruki Murakami
Murakami interviews survivors and participants of the Tokyo Gas attack; I take the Marunochi line every day! Fascinating read into the mind of Japan. Murakami, though man, keep your voice down...