Lilisin in 2010

Hello everyone.
I was in the 50 book challenge group but I don't care how many books I read in a year and I like to comment on my books so this group is a much better fit for me. Plus I recognize so many people! I have an idea of where I want to take my reading in 2010 but I'm always led astray so it's always a mystery.

So far in 2010:
1) Eiji Yoshikawa : Taiko
2) Celine Curiol : Voice Over *
3) Meisei Goto : Shot by Both Sides (sorta read) **
4) Monique Proulx : Wildlives *
5) Mitsuyo Kakuta : The Eighth Day *
6) Shusaku Endo : La fille que j'ai abandonnee (The Girl I Left Behind)
7) Shohei Ooka : Fires on the Plain (reread)
8) Stefan Zweig : Le joueur d'echecs (Chess Story)
9) Laura Restrepo : Demasiados Heroes (No Place for Heroes) *
10) John Steinbeck : Of Mice and Men
11) Stefan Zweig : La confusion des sentiments (Confusion of Feelings)
12) Kenzaburo Oe : Gibier d'elevage
13) Victor Hugo : L'homme qui rit (The Man who Laughs)
14) Cormac McCarthy : The Road

Stefan Zweig short stories:
1) La femme et le paysage
2) Les deux jumelles
3) Rachel contre Dieu

Read Real Japanese Fiction stories (5 total):
1) Hiromi Kawakami （川上広美） : 神様

* Read for Belletrista.com.
** Read for Belletrista but not in the issue due to the book being really boring and by a male author.

Books read in 2009:
1) Shohei Ooka : Fires on the Plain
2) Stefan Zweig : Vingt-Quatre heures de la vie d'une femme (Twenty four hours in the life of a woman)
3) Amelie Nothomb : Le sabotage amoureux (Loving sabotage)
4) Haruki Murakami : Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche
5) Alexandre Dumas : Le comte de Monte-Cristo, tome 2 (The Count of Monte-Cristo)
6) Stefan Zweig : Amok
7) Kyung Ran Jo : Tongue
8) Kazuo Ishiguro : A Pale View of Hills
9) Alexandre Dumas : Les trois mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers)
10) Ryunosuke Akutagawa : Rashomon et autres contes (Rashomon and other stories)
11) Nobuko Takagi : Translucent Tree
12) Junichiro Tanizaki : Le meurtre d'Otsuya (Otsuya's murder)
13) Victor Hugo : Le dernier jour d'un condamne (Last day of a condemned man)
----
Countries represented:
Japan x5
Austria x2
Belgium
France x3
South Korea
England

Books read since starting LT (2006):
2006
1) Kenzaburo Oe : Nip the buds, shoot the kids
2) Jose Saramago : L'aveuglement (Blindness)
3) Truman Capote : In Cold Blood
4) J.M.G. Le Clezio : L'Africain (The African)
5) Amelie Nothomb : Antechrista
6) Raymond Hesse : Vauriens, Voleurs, Assassins
7) Isabel Allende : D'amour et d'ombre (Of Love and Shadows)
----
2007
1) Amelie Nothomb : Mercure (Mercury)
2) Ralph Ellison : Invisible Man
3) Luis Sepulveda : Diario de un Killer Sentimental seguido de Yacare (Diary of a Sentimental Killer followed by Yacare)
4) Romain Gary : Les racines du ciel (Roots of Heaven)
5) Yasushi Inoue : La Favorite (The Favorite)
6) Isabel Allende : Ines del alma mia (Ines of my Soul)
7) Emile Zola : Au bonheur des dames (The Ladies' Paradise)
8) Mario Vargas Llosa : Pantaleon y las visitadoras (Captain Pantoja and the Special Service)
9) Milan Kundera : La valse aux adieux (Farewell Waltz)
10) Guillermo Arriaga : Un dulce olor a muerte (A Sweet Smell of Death)
11) Isabel Allende : Zorro
12) J.K. Rowling : Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
13) Nosaka Akiyuki : La tombe des lucioles (Grave of the Fireflies)
14) Dai Sijie : Balzac et la Petite Tailleuse chinoise (Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress)
15) Haruki Murakami : Après le tremblement de terre (After the Quake)
16) Yasunari Kawabata : Kyoto (The Old Capital)
17) Fumiko Enchi : The Waiting Years
18) Masuji Ibuse : Black Rain
19) Amelie Nothomb : Acide Sulfurique (Sulfuric Acid)
20) Romain Gary : Les cerfs-volants (The Kites)
----
2008
1) Amelie Nothomb : Journal d'Hirondelle
2) Alan Booth : The Roads to Sata
3) Miguel de Cervantes : Don Quixote de la Mancha
4) Fyodor Dostoevsky : Crime and Punishment
5) Amelie Nothomb : Biographie de la faim (Biography of Hunger)
6) Luis Sepulveda : Un viejo que leia novelas de amor (The Old Man who read Love Stories)
7) Victor Hugo : Notre-Dame de Paris
8) Alexandre Dumas : Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, tome 1
9) Ian McEwan : On Chesil Beach
10) Cormac McCarthy : No Country for Old Men
----
Countries represented:
Japan x7
France x6
Belgium x5
Chile x5
USA x4
England x3
Spain x2
Czech Republic
Mexico
China
Russia
Portugal

I've been lurking in your 50 books thread. Now I will follow you here. Starred!

I have not forgotten about "argot", but have not had time to really think enough to discuss it. I will post here when I can--probably this long weekend.

It's great to see you here! I'll definitely follow your thread closely.

Thanks everyone! I'm looking forward to more discussion with Club Read 2010 than from 50 books challenge. On that note, I'm copying and pasting two posts from my 2009 thread since I'm still reading those two books from then and would like to continue with my train of thought.

I'm currently reading Lituma dans les Andes (Death in the Andes) by Mario Vargas Llosa. I loved his Captain Pantoja book and his way of interweaving all the characters and back history. Sometimes you think his book is one thing but you're shocked at how it all ties in at the end. Very unexpected. So it's nice to read a Llosa again. :)

Associated vocab:
1) pishtaco
A fantasy figure, a boogeyman, in the Andes region of South America, in particular in Peru. According to folklore, it is an evil vampire-like man, often a stranger and often a white man, who seeks out unsuspecting Indians, to kill them and abuse their bodies in disgusting ways, for instance by stealing their body fat for various nefarioius canibalistic purposes or cutting them up and selling their flesh as fried chicharrones. Pishtaco is derived from the local language quechua word: "pishtay" which mean to "behead, cut the throat or cut into slices"

As a project to get my Japanese back and up at a level where I can read fiction and transition to the post-taking classes level, I started read Read Real Japanese Fiction which includes the following stories in Japanese.

1.) 'Kamisama' - Kawakami Hiromi
2.) 'Mukashi yuuhi no koen de' - Otsuichi
3.) 'Nikuya Omuu' - Ishii Shinji
4.) 'Miira' - Yoshimoto Banana
5.) 'Hyakumonogatari' - Kitamura Kaoru
6.) 'Kakeru' - Tawada Yoko

The book is bilingual and very well organized. I'm enjoying it thus far and am excited to be up and running again in Japanese. I'll write more as I slowly work through these stories.

あけましたおめでとうございます！ *starred*your thread again this year and I see already you've posted something exciting (Read Real Japanese Fiction) just in time for me to re-commit my efforts to improve my Japanese. Thank you! (I'm starting at such a low level that anything would be an improvement).
I look forward to your intriguing book selections and comments.

Other projects for the year! (Although I'm starting to feel like I'm organizing more projects than actually reading.)

I started a group last year called Author Theme Reads. Basically we spend a whole year focusing on one author's works. Last year was Dostoevsky who was a bit of a bust but this year we're doing an author I actually really love: Stefan Zweig. So throughout the year you will (or should) see quite a bit of Zweig popping in and out of this thread.

Year-long Author: Stefan Zweig
Mini-author 1 (Jan-April): Joseph Roth
Mini-author 2 (May-Aug): Junichiro Tanizaki
Tentative Mini-author 3 (Sep-Dec): Undecided

Also, in the Reading Globally group I'll be leading the February group read: Jungle/Rainforest. Hopefully people will pop in there and join in. Could be really interesting if enough people participate.

Also, this is the thread where I go more in detail with my Japan reads. It's my attempt at conglomerating every Japan read together and comparing them so as to become wiser about my favorite lit.

As well, I'm supposed to participate in a Doctor Zhivago theme read this January so that should be coming up. However, I'm terrible at specific group reads so don't expect that one anytime soon. But at least the intention is there!

Also, currently reading Taiko (along with the Llosa) which I'm trying to finish. I love it but I had to put it down when I traveled over the summer since it was too big to bring with me and I'm just now getting back into it so it's time I finally finish it.

Zweig short story
1) La femme et le paysage

Just read this short 20 page story that I can't seem to find an equivalent English title. It'd be "The Woman and the landscape" literally but that just doesn't have the same ring in English so I'm certain it's translated differently in English.

In any case, I enjoyed this. Zweig really explores how human interaction is affected by its surroundings. In this case, it's August in the middle of a horrid heat spell. The narrator describes with such marvelous detail the dryness and the heaviness of the spell. You can feel the heat, you can feel the brief but unsatisfactory whisper of a breeze, and you can imagine the dissapointment when a storm seemingly decides to come in but only lets go of a few heavy drops.

The part with the breeze is nice:
"Toujours recroqueville dans mon coin d'ombre, je ne sentais pas encore son approche, mais les arbres, la-bas, sur le versant d'en face, semblaient avoir devine une presence etrangere, car soudain ils se mirent a osciller tres legerement, comme s'ils se penchaient l'un vers l'autre pour se parler."

"Still huddled in my corner of shade, I couldn't yet feel it's approach, but the trees over on the opposite side seemed to have noticed a strange presence as they suddenly started to oscillate lightly, as if they leaned towards one another to speak."

The narrator goes back into the hotel where he starts observing the other guests. Everything is muddled and the heaviness of the air makes him become unnerved with the clinks of forks, the rustling of human voices, heavy and slow.

He in turn notices a girl and the story continues as their interactions reflect that of the air about them.

Truly remarkable imagery; literally "refreshed" by the ending.

I had a wonderful weekend of skiing and relaxing in a jacuzzi but now I'm sick! Oy vey. And because of all of that I wasn't on LT to mention that my first professional review is out.

Since this thread is on Club Read 2010 you should all know of Avaland's belletrista.com web magazine. It's quite fantastic. And with issue 3 you can see my review of Translucent Tree. It's not exactly how I wanted it to be but I intend for them to get better as we get along. At least that's the hope.

Next book I'll be reading for the magazine is Voice Over by Celine Curiol. Hope it's a good one.

I enjoyed Voice Over when I read it last year.

Zweig short story
2) Les deux jumelles

Entitled "The two twins" this story is just that. Two twins, alike in every manner grow up in fierce competition. When one, Helena, decides to use her body to entice men and their wallets the other, Sophia, decides to keep her body to herself to entice men to her virginity. This aggravates the first leading her to trick her sister into sacrificing her virginity.

Once devirginized the sister joins her twin in corrupting men out of their fortunes. With age, their looks fade as do they and the story ends with them donating their fortunes.

This very short story (20 pages) is quite atypical of Zweig and really makes you wonder why he wrote it at all. According to the preface Zweig was starting to feel disdain towards contemporary times thus setting this story in a more medieval setting. Bah humbug is all I can say to that.

The preface to this story also compares the sisters to the sisters in Balzac's Pere Goriot, a book I didn't finish due to my lack of interest in some of the characters. (I will finish it some day considering it's short and I only had 60 or so pages left.)

But you can see one of Zweig's themes of passion within the characters. Not necessarily a constructive thing but it's there. Such as the Helena's passion in proving to her virgin sister Sophia that outside of her clerical world she'd be unable to deny a man's charm. Another of Zweig's themes is confusion as to one's sentiments. We do see that here but overall, not the most remarkable story nor is it really the best reflection of Zweig.

Zweig short story
3) Rachel contre Dieux

Just finished another short story by Zweig during my lunch break. The original title is "Rahel rechtet mit Gott" which literally means Rachel disputes with God which the French translate as Rachel against God. The story is subtitled "Legend".

It's short, 13 pages, and is about Rachel confronting God when he shows his anger and disgust at men putting idols of other Gods in his temples. Rachel sees this as being a type of jealousy and explains how she overcame a rage and a jealousy by taking in his name and believing in his benevolence and mercy. She does this by explaining how she had to give up the love of her life to her older sister due to her father's mischievous planning.

The preface compares this story to that of another legendary story, Virata, which I'm not familiar with. Overall, you see elements of Zweig's style but at the end of the day this story doesn't particularly speak to me. But I never was a huge fan of short stories.

ETA: Virata is another short story of Zweig which just happens to fall right before Rachel in my anthology. Silly me.

1) Eiji Yoshikawa : Taiko
5/5 stars
Japan

I really enjoy a good solid historical fiction read every once in a while and this was just epic and glorious! Feudal Japan with all its samurai and lords and battles and feuding and epic-ness. Love it love it. This follows Hideyoshi and his journey to becoming Taiko but we get to see so many others! Ieyasu, Nobunaga, Mitsuhide, Katsuie, Hanbei, and the hundred other men and women who played a big part in Hideyoshi's life. So glorious I loved it! This book is already quite large at 920 pages (plus it's hardback with lovely glossy pages) but apparently the translation is an abridged version of the original. How I wish they could have just translated it all! There are a few parts where you wonder if they didn't cut something out but I didn't flinch too much over it. It's historical, it's epic. I still enjoyed this.

Other reviews state that all of the names becomes boggling but with my experience of Japanese and Japan (and if you have that same experience) I didn't have an issue and you shouldn't have too much of one. There is an index of main locations and characters before each section in case you need to look back.

But yes. Feudal Japan in all its glory. Right up my alley and I loved it.

Lisa,

Don't know if you're following the thread right now but I just wanted to let you know that I'm currently reading the Argot chapters from Les Mis. (Book 7 in Marius from Les Mis)

(For those who are following or want to follow, you can see the exchanges Lisa and I were having in my 2009 thread.)

I haven't gotten far as I'm still technically at work (or I should say, at work, technically working), but interestingly enough in one of the starting paragraphs Hugo plugs his book Last day of a condemned man. And appropriately so as most of what is in the first chapter or so is mentioned in that book. In fact the exact quote "L'argot est la langue de la misère." is found in both books. (Jargon is the language of the miserable)

I find it interesting how in the first chapter he mentions the need to study argot despite our initial reactions to it. This is interesting 'cause I was just having a conversation with my mother the other day about internet English versus proper English and how people are bastardizing their languages (and themselves for that matter) by dumbing down their use of grammar and proper spelling. As much as I hate this, my mother mentioned that this could become the language as we know it in the future as unfortunate as it is.

But as Hugo then mentions, every field has its own jargon. Medicine has its jargon, army people have their jargon just as much as the criminal's jargon in Last Day.

The question is, are we hypocrites, or rather, are we allowed to be hypocrites in accepting some jargon while considering other argot to be filth?

And, is argot a result of the uneducated? Doctors may use jargon, but let's face it, they may know their medicine but there are many who know nothing else. And, how many times has one come home to rattle on about how dumb their doctor is. Or for others, their professor or their boss. People with high positions aren't necessarily the brightest as much as we'd like them to be.

I like this quote:
"La misère a inventé une langue de combat qui est l'argot."

And then ending chapter 1:
"L'argot, est la langue des ténébreux."

On to chapter 2.

I am following your thread, but am off track on other reading ventures (and work) and have not gotten back to the book on argot. In a thread at Le Salon des amateurs de la langue (an offshoot of le salon litteraire du peuple . . .) there was a discussion of whether jargon and argot are actually the same thing or different. It was a bit above my head.

I am not sure Hugo made a distinction between jargon and argot. I need to reread. Hugo seems to grasp that the people who invent argot have a reason for it--I don't think he thought that it was because of lack of education but because it allowed communication--perhaps communication that others could not understand--under the circumstances in which certain groups found themselves. Your quotes above seem to allude to that.

I promise to try to get back to this!

May I butt in? I remembered that particular salon discussion and found it. From anna_in_pdx:

"I would use "jargon" for professional language (medical, legal, IT), "argot" for groups that use it as a sort of code because they are operating on the edge of the law (thieves' cant, for e.g.), and "slang" for casual spoken stuff used by general population groups (youth, etc.)."

Does this fit, lilisin? You're a bit ahead of me in Les Mis, (I've stopped briefly to finish Light in August) ...off to find lilisin's 2009 thread...

Lisa -

I read through the first chapter briefly (my post was a stream of consciousness as I read the chapter) so I don't know if he alluded to the uneducated. But that was more my interjection since I was reflecting back on the conversation I had had with my mother. I'll have to find the salon amateur thread and see what people think. I'm getting lost with all the different salons I must admit. I will also reread chapter 1 and read the rest and think about the topic some more. Good luck getting through all your work. :)

theaelizabet -

Of you course you can butt in! That's the whole reason I joined Club Read. :)
I think I actually meant to translate it as slang but wasn't thinking straight since I was supposed to be working. But I do feel slang can turn into jargon with time. I'm thinking about anna's differentiation between argot and slang because argot in French does literally mean slang.

And I'm not actually reading Les Mis. I read it back in middle school but I did read Hugo's The Last Day of a Condemned Man during the salon group read and in that Hugo goes into argot as well. A footnote in that book led me to go back to Les Mis to find Hugo's more substantial thoughts on argot.

Oh and there's a link to my 2009 thread in message 2 of this thread.

Thanks!

Very interesting, thread, lilisin! I think I might have some uses for that Japanese....

Thanks avaland. I'm enjoying all the discussion here on Club Read versus the 50 book challenge group. So much more fun.

As for the Japanese, I don't know whether to be scared or excited! :)

I'm not a poetry person so I do not seek out poetry but this is a poem from a movie I adore (L'homme sur le train) that I feel requires sharing. It randomly came popped up into my head as I was working today. It's so beautiful; very solemn. It also requires a permanent spot in my reading threads instead of occupying a random notepad document in my files.

Although I got this poem from the movie it is from Louis Aragon's Le roman inachevé. Aragon is a famous French poet who also wrote novels but is more known for his poetry.

From: Le roman inachevé
By: Louis Aragon

Pont Neuf

Sur le Pont Neuf j'ai rencontré
D'où sort cette chanson lointaine
D'une péniche mal ancrée
Ou du métro Samaritaine

Sur le Pont Neuf j'ai rencontré
Sans chien sans canne sans pancarte
Pitié pour les désespérés
Devant qui la foule s'écarte

Sur le Pont Neuf j'ai rencontré
L'ancienne image de moi-même
Qui n'avait d'yeux que pour pleurer
De bouche que pour le blasphème

Sur le Pont Neuf j'ai rencontré
Cette pitoyable apparence
Ce mendiant accaparé
Du seul souci de sa souffrance

Sur le Pont Neuf j'ai rencontré
Fumée aujourd'hui comme alors
Celui que je fus à l'orée
Celui que je fus à l'aurore

Sur le Pont Neuf j'ai rencontré
Semblance d'avant que je naisse
Cet enfant toujours effaré
Le fantôme de ma jeunesse

Sur le Pont Neuf j'ai rencontré
Vingt ans l'empire des mensonges
L'espace d'un miséréré
Ce gamin qui n'était que songes

Sur le Pont Neuf j'ai rencontré
Ce jeune homme et ses bras déserts
Ses lèvres de vent dévorées
Disant les airs qui le grisèrent

Sur le Pont Neuf j'ai rencontré
Baladin du ciel et du coeur
Son front pur et ses goûts outrés
Dans le cri noir des remorqueurs

Sur le Pont Neuf j'ai rencontré
Le joueur qui joua son âme
Comme une colombe égarée
Entre les tours de Notre-Dame

Sur le Pont Neuf j'ai rencontré
Ce spectre de moi qui commence
La ville à l'aval est dorée
A l'amont se meurt la romance

Sur le Pont Neuf j'ai rencontré
Ce pauvre petit mon pareil
Il m'a sur la Seine montré
Au loin les taches de soleil

Sur le Pont Neuf j'ai rencontré
Mon autre au loin ma mascarade
Et dans le jour décoloré
Il m'a dit tout bas Camarade

Sur le Pont Neuf j'ai rencontré
Mon double ignorant et crédule
Et je suis longtemps demeuré
Dans ma propre ombre qui recule

Sur le Pont Neuf j'ai rencontré
Assis à l'usure des pierres
Le refrain que j'ai murmuré
Le reve qui fut ma lumière

Aveugle aveugle rencontré
Passant avec tes regards veufs
Ô mon passé désemparé
Sur le Pont Neuf

lilisin,

I love it.

Brilliant!

It's my birthday which means I'm getting new books! Now if I could just finish what I'm currently reading. I'm getting two books by Jonathan Spence and one by Oe I think. Can't remember. :)

Happy Birthday, Lilisin!

Happy birthday!

Lilisin, happy birthday.

Robert

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday, and thanks for the Aragon poem. I love Aragon.
And I also love this by Apollinaire, about another bridge in Paris:

Le Pont Mirabeau
Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine
Et nos amours
Faut-il qu'il m'en souvienne
La joie venait toujours après la peine

Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeure

Les mains dans les mains restons face à face
Tandis que sous
Le pont de nos bras passe
Des éternels regards l'onde si lasse

Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeure

L'amour s'en va comme cette eau courante
L'amour s'en va
Comme la vie est lente
Et comme l'Espérance est violente

Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeure

Passent les jours et passent les semaines
Ni temps passé
Ni les amours reviennent
Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine

Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeure

What Jonathon Spence are you getting? Do show us your presies!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone! I ended up taking myself out to sushi last night which led me to a bar having drinks with the sushi chefs. Random, but fun nevertheless.

tomcatmurr -
Lovely poem. I can see why the Aragon poem made you think of that one. The rhythm, the subject. Probably not the topic I wanted to read about (I'm still suffering from a broken heart) but still lovely.

As for the 'presies' it would seem a friend got me:
The Death of Woman Wang and The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution and then Silence by Shusaku Endo (not Oe as I previously thought). I really enjoyed God's Chinese Son when I read it so I'm interested in reading another Spence.

Just noticed though that my Colorado tag is sitting at 81 books. That reflects all the unread books I have in Colorado with me. Not too long ago I was trying to keep that number under 50. Now it better stay under 100. I should force myself to read more before I become a makeshift bookstore.

>34 lilisin: You got some very nice "presies"! Enjoy!

2) Celine Curiol : Voice Over
4/5 stars
France

Voice Over is a little 200 page book I read for Belletrista. Despite being small it took me a while to read but only because I have been having trouble reading more than 30-50 pages at once. But, with a plane ride this weekend I was able to sit down and tear through the book.

Overall this was an excellent debut novel. My only problem with it was that I related to the protagonist too much which sort of freaked me out. Not so much her personality but just in terms of the different situations she let herself get into and the ones she actively chose to get into. I think we all have those moments in our lives where we walk through our homes dragging our fingers against the wall to try and feel something tangible and concrete; something that has a purpose.

At times I felt I was the protagonist as I'm also a single French woman close to the protagonist's age and I'm familiar with all the locations she went to, all the stores she found herself in and all the types of ambiance the author described. I'm also currently going through similar turmoils as she (although am thankful that I have a happy childhood to look back on). I wonder how those readers who aren't exact reflections of the protagonist feel about the book.

The third person narrative was interesting as the protagonist was referred to solely as "she" as we never discover her name. I found it very fitting as it created an ambiance and a sense of void that aptly reflected the protagonist's mood.

So, overall, quite excellent. I wonder how I will be able to write an appropriate review for Belletrista that reflects my views but doesn't become too personal.

On another note, I feel that this is what Translucent Tree was trying to emote and got close to doing. But again, I still feel that was a translation issue moreso than anything else as I've been flipping through the original Japanese text.

----

Official review will be at Belletrista in issue 4.

dchaikin in another thread asked for us Belletrista reviewers to post our reviews for easier access. Here are mine.

Belletrista reviews:
1) Review for Translucent Tree in issue 3
2) Review for Voice Over in issue 4

I've never been a good writer (which is why I'm a scientist). Whenever I'd write a paper for school, no matter how hard I tried or didn't try I'd always get a B. No more, no less. So writing reviews is not the easiest thing for me and I'm still trying to find my style. (Thank goodness for our lovely editors!) For LT reviews I just state opinions really but for Belletrista I try for something more substantial. I don't think I was as successful with the Voice Over review. I feel now like it was too much summary and not enough reviewer reaction. Any thoughts?

Especially since the main review page shows the first few sentences of our review. I don't feel like mine pulls the reader in to want to know more about the book. I'll take that into account for the next review for sure.

ETA: I would appreciate if people still stuck to using the name Lilisin in LT threads. Thank you. :)

I think your Belletrista review of Voice Over is great. In fact, I'll be looking out for the book!

I agree. I thought you got the balance between analysis of how the book works and how you reacted emotionally to it as you were reading just right. I imagine you also captured the mood of the book in summarising it the way you did.

Your writing brought to my mind Duras.

Most informative and readable review. Thank you.

Update on my Japanese short story progress! (see post 8)

As I mentioned in post 8, as a project to get my Japanese back and up at a level where I can read fiction and transition to the post-taking classes level, I started read the reader, Read Real Japanese Fiction.

I'm currently reading the first story: 神様 by 川上博美。
And oh I'm enjoyed myself so much! I spent my free time at work these past two weeks writing out all the kanji from the short story (kanji I know and kanji I don't) and now I'm going through the story sentence by sentence. It's great how fast this is coming back to me but I am going very slowly. Mostly though because there is so much good information in this! I always say the best way to get past classroom-use language is to read and this just proves that. The grammar, the vocab, seeing how sentences are structured; it's fascinating! I could just read right through this and look at the translation but the way I'm doing it now, although slow, has just been a great journey. I can't help thinking too "well, how would I translate this? how would I format that?". Especially when looking back at how much I complained about the Translucent Tree translation.

Oh this has been so much fun. On to page 3! (out of 11)

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PS. Thanks everyone for the kind words about my review. I look forward to writing the next one which should be for Wildlives by Monique Proulx. Then eventually I'd like to read a non-Belletrista book as a break. Ha.

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ETA: Just finished page 3. Love this imagery!
くまの足がアスファルトを踏む、かすかなしゃりしゃりという音だけが規則正しく響く。
The bears feet treaded along the asphalt, constant and faint scraping sounds.

There's just something about the Japanese way of using onomatopoeia that is so fascinating. A seemingly simple and regular sentence that carries such charm with the sound that しゃりしゃり provokes in your mind. Really alters the mood.

lilisin - I loved your review of Voice Over. I feel I got a sense of the experience of the book - a very nice sounding one. Definitely captures my curiosity.

I very much liked your review of Voice Over and I think you did get the balance, as Murr says, just right. I love it when a book inspires a certain kind of review - one that echoes the book itself.

Thanks avaland!
I wish I could say the same about the Goto book. It's inspiring me into boredom.

A snoozer, eh?

You could say that. I've definitely been going to sleep earlier this past week!

3) Meisei Goto : Shot by Both Sides
1/5 stars
Japan

Akaki is on a bridge in Ochanomizu bridge waiting for Yamakawa. No particular reason why he chooses that bridge to meet Yamakawa. He could have easily have chosen the next bridge over. Or a park bench. Or the subway exit. And what a strange thought to randomly decide to meet Yamakawa. And now he can't stop thinking about his greycoat that he lost at some point twenty years ago. Or was it a blue goat? Perhaps it was tan with stripes? Perhaps it was stolen?

And on and on do those digressions go. This book is the written equivalent of listening to someone trying to tell a story who just won't get to the point. Poorly written stream-of-consciousness for a plot that could have contained many wonderful layers of complexity and intrigue.

We end up following him throughout Tokyo, aimlessly describing the subway and train lines he took 20 years ago to get to where he is today. He takes off in the early morning and follows the path he once took. Eventually he gets to the home of an old friend at chapter four. But at chapter 5 I skipped to the last chapter so I don't know what happens in the middle.

I have yet to read it the last chapter too; I just wanted to get on with this review. And I'm so bored from reading this book that the last 8 pages is proving too dull to read. In the middle of the book you're supposed to get some resolution about the coat and some insight about how it relates to his memories of his childhood in North Korea while under Japanese rule but I couldn't tell you what that insight is. I'm usually a patient reader but this just wasn't striking me at all.

And to think this book is only 215 pages long with large font. You'd think I could make it. Perhaps I'll come back when I do finally finish the last chapter (let alone the other chapters). Till then, don't hold your breath.

I'm struggling to find what I want to read next. A month and a half have gone by and I just don't know what to read. Can someone either A) pick something from my Colorado tag to read or B) recommend something new that has slightly dark undertones to it? I just can't decide on my own!

(Wildlives though I'm already reading though since it's for Belletrista.)

47 - I would nudge 2666 only because I plan on reading it this year too.

From your Colorado tag, I can highly recommend The Radetzky March Conversation in the Cathedral, and Chess Story, all with dark undertones. 2666 is dark (but funny in places) but a big investment of time, as of course is Proust.

49 -

I started Radetzky a few weeks ago and got about 50 pages in and was enjoying it but then life got busy and I had to put it down. That's the thing. I know I'll probably enjoy most of what is by my bedside right now but I just can't seem to actually get myself to physically pick them up and start.

But I'll try to force myself. Not tonight though. Tonight is soccer and poker night and maybe St. Patrick's day celebration night. :)

But tomorrow I'll try again. I really should just read a Zweig. He always puts me in a good reading mood.

Thanks for your input. I really just needed that push in the back into the literary pile.

The advantage of the Zweig is that it's relatively short, so you'll finish it and feel a sense of accomplishment that will spur you on to continued reading! Good luck!

...slightly dark undertones...

ooo, I like that. Is that because this is what you generally like or what you are just in the mood for?

It is both what I generally like and what I'm in the mood for.

Oh - then read Cassandra at the Wedding - funny but with definite dark undertones.

Or Beauty and Sadness although the dark undertones are more than slight. Then again The Book about Blanche and Marie is an option. A Thousand Splendid Things might fall into that category as well.

Thanks urania. I'll start looking about and see what inspires me. :)

So I got super busy but I finished the first story in my Read Real Japanese Fiction book. So sweet. Called 神様 (Kamisama) by 川上広美 (Kawakami Hiromi). Simple short story about a boy who meets a bear who has just moved in three doors down. They have a very distant connection (knowing a guy who knows a guy who happens to be this certain guy) and decide to go off on a picnic. The short story is just the boy's take on the bear as they eat lunch, catch fish in the river and dry them in the sun. Very endearing story. And at the end of it all "it wasn't a bad day". Very sweet.

Next story is only four pages long called むかし夕日の公園で by Otsuichi. Different genre: suspense!

I'm excited. The stories are supposed to progress in difficulty as the book goes along so it'll be nice to move on. The first one, although a good refresher was indeed quite easy. So yes! Time to prep the next story.

Oh and by the way I'm currently reading Wildlives by Monique Proulx for Belletrista. Easy quick read (I'll finish it in two more reading sessions) and I'll review that soon.

4) Monique Proulx : Wildlives
4/5 stars
Canada

Never mentioned that I did finish this book and enjoyed it. You can see the review in issue 5 of Belletrista.

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Been keeping busy otherwise and haven't been reading at all lately. Just not in the mood. But will still keep up to date with my Belletrista books at least even though I don't touch any real personal reading.

5) Mitsuyo Kakuta : The Eighth Day
4/5 stars
Japan

This book is being published in English in May 2010 and I highly recommend people go out there and purchase it. I was stuck in a reading rut (I get into those a lot) and just could not put this down!

The novel is quite short, at 248 or so pages, and is told in two perspectives. The first half is narrated by Kiwako, a woman who steals the baby of her married ex-lover. She takes the baby, whom she names Kaoru, out of Tokyo, evading the eyes of police and familiar faces. She ends up in an old woman's home but has to flee when the police are told to come to evict her. Kiwako thus joins the Angel Home, a home for women fleeing dire circumstances. However, the Angel Home is actually a (non-religious) sect which is being placed under great criticism due to past collisions with sects such as Aum Shinrikyo. When outsiders get the police to raid the Angel Home, Kiwako flees again to an island where she works in a shop and takes care of Kaoru. That is, until she is caught on camera and the police find her and take Kaoru away.

The second half of the story is told under Kaoru's point of view, now Erina, and her life since being reunited with her biological family. We follow her as she continues to cope with the idea of being a "stolen baby" and her struggles to relate to both her biological parents and her "adoptive" mother. Her repulsion to both sides is adamant, as she obviously feels anger to both sides for her situation. Ironically, Elena now finds herself pregnant as well by a married man. It becomes interesting to see what she decides to do with the baby so as not to follow her "adoptive" mother's footsteps.

Very interesting and engaging story. I particularly enjoyed following Kiwako's struggles to keep Kaoru while evading the police, even to the extent of joining a known cult. Having studied Aum Shinrikyo it was interesting to compare the Angel Home to it (thankfully, though, the Angel Home is no where near to being like the sinister Aum Shinrikyo). Kaoru's plight was also rather interesting.

In any case, as I said, I definitely recommend this one.
Now to try and write a review for Belletrista for this upcoming issue.

We are reading Junichiro Tanizaki at the Author Theme Reads. Please join us!

Before starting on Tanizaki though I decided to read another Japanese book. Currently reading La fille que j'ai abandonnee (Watashi ga suteta onna/The Girl I Abandoned) by Shuusaku Endo. This is the first I've read from this author. It tells of a boy who manipulates a girl (Mitsu) into sleeping with him and decides to just drop and leave her. Years later though he can't get her out of his mind and decides to find her only to come upon a desperate story. Being a Japanese Catholic, Endo's works come with much criticism so it'll be interesting to see how his works differ from other Japanese authors.

I'm also rereading Fires on the Plain with my ESL student. Just as amazing the second time around.

I've added Fires on the Plain to my wish list; thanks, lilisin!

I'm very intrigued about the 'ambiguous underpants'.

6) Shusaku Endo : La fille que j'ai abandonnee (The Girl I Left Behind)
4/5 stars
Japan

As I mentioned before, this is the first of Shusaku Endo's works I read. This is one of his first so I'll definitely go on to read his more famous ones. This one is said to yes, follow his style, but it has to be fully developed.

It tells of a boy (Yoshioka) who manipulates a girl (Mitsu) into sleeping with him by making her emphasize with his slight disability. Once he has had her he just drops and leaves her. Years later though he can't get her out of his mind and decides to find her only to come upon a desperate story.

Mitsu is a naive girl who can't help but emphasize with others misfortunes believing theirs to be worse than hers so she's always the first to help them out. Unfortunately this allows her to be easily manipulated by others. She also has an unfortunate spot on her arm that begins to hurt which later leads her to a hospital for lepers.

We really weep for how a sweet innocent girl can be punished while a character like Yoshioka manages to succeed quite well in life despite consciously doing ill acts. In Endo's postface (which he writes 20 years later) he mentions how Mitsu is based off a real woman he met and how he means to use Mitsu as a comparison to Jesus. Although I know of Endo's Catholic beliefs, I'm not so convinced of the ties to Jesus but I'll let him and others believe what they will.

Otherwise, I'm interested to read more by Endo.

The Endo book led me to look up leprosy in Japan, since, despite having studied the culture for so long, I have heard nothing about this. It popped some interesting articles about the state of leprosy there and how only recently (2008), the problem has been "resolved".

Interesting stuff. Here's an easy history of leprosy in Japan article on wikipedia.

World Cup 2010 is coming up in one week!
Don't expect much reading to get done other than Belletrista responsibilities.

Go FRANCE! :)

>65 lilisin: I heard a piece on the BBC World News where they discussed the age old question of whether sex before the games (in this case they were indeed talking about the World Cup) is beneficial or detrimental to the players. It seemed that the conclusion was that the heightened testosterone is beneficial to players who play certain positions...

Ha. That's interesting.
I'm a soccer player myself so I'll have to reflect on that. ;)

7) Shohei Ooka : Fires on the Plain (reread)
5/5 stars
Japan

8) Stefan Zweig : Le joueur d'echecs (Chess Story)
5/5 stars
Austria

I just finished reading Le joueur d'echecs (Chess Story) over my lunch break. As always, with Zweig, I become fully immersed in his books. It's hard not to turn the page to read on.

The introduction of my novel quotes Zweig as saying in a letter to his ex-wife:
"J'ai commence une petite nouvelle sur les echecs, inspiree par un manuel que j'ai achete pour meubler ma solitude, et je rejoue quoitidiennement les parties des grands maitres."

"I started a novella on chess, inspired by a manual that I bought to furnish my solitude, where I re-play daily the games of the great masters."

One of Zweig's great strengths comes from the strength of his characters and their interaction with their environment. Every mental subtlety and flaw and strength is observed and pondered as we see how their stability is altered upon their diferent situations. The battle between Czentovic's naive arrogance and M.B's morose passion is fascinating. Truly fascinating.

9) Laura Restrepo : Demasiados Heroes (No Place for Heroes)
3 and a half/5 stars
Colombia

Just finished this last night as I tore through the second half in two nights. Forcing myself to read like that was refreshing 'cause it reminded me that I'm actually not a slow reader, just a slightly complacent one sometimes.

Anyway, my review for this is coming up in issue 6 of Belletrista so you can find it there.

(Also in that issue will be my review of The Eighth Day.)

It was nice to read in Spanish again though. I started reading again in Spanish when I was living in Argentina but since I've been back (that was three years ago, wow), I haven't touched a book in Spanish since. It was nice as this is by a Colombian about a Colombian but takes place in Buenos Aires. So seeing the difference between the two Spanish-es, both of which I'm familiar with, was entertaining.

Next book I have in the works for Belletrista will also be in Spanish and that is Isabel Allende's La isla bajo el mar.

I just found out today that I've received No Place for Heroes (in English) as an ER book, so I'll be reading it soon. I'll check out your review after I've read it.

Nice! I had noticed that book was in the Early Reviewers batch and it made me smile really wide. Can't wait to see what others think.

10) John Steinbeck : Of Mice and Men
5/5 stars
USA

This is a book I have been reading with my ESL (English as a Second Language) student. It is both his and mine's first Steinbeck. I thought it would be fun for us to both be reading it together for the first time. Although he hasn't finished reading it, we're so close to the end that I had to finish it today.

And I must say that I throughly enjoyed it. And what a sad ending. I mean, you know what the characters' fates will be but I didn't think it was going to happen in the way that it did. Really a great character study and a great tale of friendship and the importance of having that steady companionship. The dialogue is remarkable and Steinbeck's style is just so comforting and fluid. I love the way he describes people and scenery.

I will definitely read another Steinbeck soon.

11) Stefan Zweig : La confusion des sentiments
Translated title: Confusion of Feelings or Confusion: The Private Papers of Privy Councillor R. von D.
5/5 stars
Austria

Zweig is just one of those authors where I find it nearly impossible not to give him a full 5 stars everytime I read one of his works. He just has an uncanny ability to pull a reader in and toy with their emotions.

This novella was particularly uncomfortable to read. It speaks of a 19 year old student who has been newly reformed by the inspiration he has gained thanks to his professor. He becomes utterly fascinated with his professor and does all he can to learn from him and learn about him. This idolatry leads, as the title suggests, to a confusion of feelings, and we are forced to continue to see if the protagonist succumbs to what is being hinted at us.

As I mentioned before, the book is almost uncomfortable to read. Not due to its subject matter but due to the way the subject is presented. You can feel the tension of the characters, the oppression that comes from an intellectual mind and the uncomfortable passion the student has for his professor. Truly stunning.

I would have to rank this one at the top of Zweig's works.

I have to get this! Nice review, lilisin.

12) Kenzaburo Oe: Gibier d'elevage
3/5 stars
Japan

I haven't had any time to read since I've been traveling since August but got this short 100 pager on a plane. Talks about the reaction of a Japanese village to a black American soldier whose plane has crashed and of which he is the sole survivor. More specifically it speaks of a boy's reaction to the soldier's impressive presence. I enjoyed Oe's style and narrative and really enjoyed the main character but I can't say I gained much from this book nor will I remember it later. Although I loved Nip the Buds.

I think the following describes the book well taken from wikipedia.

" He explained, shortly after learning that he'd been awarded the Nobel Prize, "I am writing about the dignity of human beings.""

I might elaborate more when I'm not typing on a iPod touch. Two more weeks of travel left!

13) Victor Hugo : L'homme qui rit
4.5/5 stars
France

Just finished one of Hugo's lesser known works and what a trip it was as always! Despite it's title, I would almost consider this one of his darker works. As always it's a comment on society, primarily that of the general aristocracy during those times. Let the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.

All of this is focused on one character, Gwynplaine, a boy abandoned on the coast of a wintery England to die; his face mutilated, casting a permanent "smile" all the way to his ears; a punishment only a king can prescribe. We follow his life as he is adopted by the Green-Box to live as a performer with a man, his wolf and a blind girl. When they arrive in London, however, all changes when a bottle floats into the hands of one man and aristocracy takes a curious eye on Gwynplaine.

Although I enjoyed this I missed Hugo's usual humor. It didn't cast as much a spell on this work as his other works. But as always I loved the personalities and inner workings of his characters, whether they are the naive, the brave, the philosopher, or the malfaisant.

For the Hugo lover, I will of course recommend this book. How could you not read his works.

I also really enjoyed reading this alongside booksontrial. Looking forward to his review as well.

Finally finished my flying experience. Two months of travel including(!):
France
Switzerland
NYC x 8 times or so
Costa Rica
Colombia
Denver
Austin
Barbados
Dominican Republic

Now back to real life tomorrow for my last flight home. And no book in hand. What am I going to do? Goodbye NYC weather. Hello Texas.

Love that Mario Vargas Llosa has won the Nobel Prize for literature. I adore his works and have so much more to read from him!

Same here, lilisin; he's my favorite living author. It looks as though I've only read five of his novels and his first book of short stories, Los jefes (The Cubs and Other Stories), and I have 11 novels left to read, including his newest novel, El sueño del celta, which will be published in Spanish next month. I've also read two of his nonfiction works, Memorias (A Fish in the Water) and Cartas a un joven novelista (Letters to a Young Novelist), and I'll start Making Waves, a collection of essays taken from his previous book Contra viento y marea, later today.

Would you consider MVL as the 2011 major author for the Author Theme Read group?

I have definitely considered him before and would consider him again. And now that he has won the Nobel Prize I'm sure others would be much more inclined to join in but for also that reason, it might not be a good idea since other groups will be reading him already.

Plus with the success of Zweig, I'm inclined to try and introduce another author who isn't well known but deserves recognition.

Either way, I'm sure we'll have a good author and when we start nominations and voting, we can see what authors people are thinking of.

14) Cormac McCarthy : The Road
3/5 stars
USA

First of all, my reading scenario.
I read the first 2/3s of this book on a plane. Imagine being pressed against the window, the AC on full blast, your toes curling under the bag at your feet to try and get some sense of heat and feeling back in them. Drowning out the snore of the man behind you, only glancing up when the snack cart passes by. You grab a back of the Munchies: processed Doritoes, Cheetoes and pretzels in a bag. Click! Fizz! The Coca Cola releases the stress of retaining carbonation upon lifting the tab. It's dark, the little lamp above your head forms a circle of limited light on the page. You shuffle and lean to illuminate what you can.

The second third of the book, the climax, if you will, was spent in the comforts of my queen size bed, surrounded by books, two laptops on the desk and my closet full of incredibly expensive designer fashion that any future potential spouse of mine should fear. Turning the page feels different at this point. I felt guilty. I imagined myself walking down the streets with rags at my feet, a can of beans in my cart. I would walk into my home, straight past the closet, not even glance at my books, and wish I had those processed Doritoes from the airplane. Ah, the good life.

Second, style.
Punctuation or lack thereof has never bothered me. I've seen much worse (Saramago) where it is used brilliantly and then I've seen correct punctuation used in the most dreary of books. McCarthy is all about relating life. We don't speak in quotations; we speak words, thoughts and ideas. We don't need our observations and thoughts riddled and fluffed with periods and semicolons. If we want to say Damn right its dreary out there then damn it, we're going to say it. None of this: "Damn right, it's dreary out there." When heading for the south so that I can escape the bad guys, I'm not going to escape them by attacking them with commas. So yes, McCarthy's style is perfect here. It's his voice; it's our voice. This is how we speak.

Third, plot.
A man and his boy walk through a post-apocalyptic country heading South. Why? Because perhaps the good guys are there. They push a shopping cart of tattered sheets and shoes, rusting tin cans of beans, and a pistol with only a few remaining bullets. A bullet destined for the boy so that he may end his life if ever the bad guys were to appear. It's grim, it's dark, it's dusty, literally. There is no hope here, there is no light, there is no future. We know it and yet we can't stop turning the page to see when McCarthy will finally put down the final period to mark the end.

I should note that I gave this book only three stars out of five. Does my review suggest more? I gave it three because although it was good -- yes -- I read it quickly and I know I won't really remember this later down the road (no pun intended). It didn't have the impact that Jose Saramago's Blindness had and for me it never will. It was to the stark and to the point and that's what it was supposed to be. Perhaps, as well, I'm used to authors like Victor Hugo giving their vast impressions on every thought and ideal. Something that I personally adore. I can definitely say that McCarthy is the start contrast of Zweig. Fun to compare.

Fabulous review, lilisin! I loved your comments about reading on the plane and at home. Yours is the first review of The Road that makes me eager to read it, and I also enjoyed your comparison of McCarthy to Saramago and Zweig. Well done!

I'll second that! I've read numerous reviews, some laudatory, some panning it, but that was the first one that brought it to life.

I too enjoyed your review, although you can count me among those who really disliked The Road. It's true that something kept me turning the pages, but that's because every time it got just too grim, McCarthy would trot out something to make me want to continue. Maybe that's the sign of a great author but, as I've mentioned before, I felt really manipulated and I was really irritated by the mother giving up.

Great Review of The Road. Totally agree with about the conversational style McCarthy uses. I never understood those that lampooned the book based solely on the lack of punctuation. Then again I'm not all that hung up on grammar/spelling anyway.

I have been meaning to ask ever sense I read Fires on the Plain and started ans stopped Black Rain if you had any other Japanese/Asian classics/authors that I should put on my reading (no matter the subject). There's a simplicity to the Japanese writing that I can't quite explain, but have come to be enthralled with.

Thanks everyone for the compliments. Didn't think the damn book would give me a hot review! My first! Why is that the reviews you write in 10 minutes as a means of procrastinating from a presentation are the better ones? If only I could channel that creative process to belletrista. :)

kidzdoc -
I don't know if it's good that it makes you eager to read it but at least then you can see what you finally think about it? If anything, it's a short read! Not many hours are lost on it.

rebeccanyc -
I won't know if I'd say I full out disliked it. But it certainly wasn't memorable. Make me choose between rereading this or rereading the very hated On Chesil Beach and I'll read the McCarthy but hey, let's not go to extremes now. It's just unnecessary. Manipulated into what though? Thinking there was hope? An escape?

stretch -
I have a thread that goes into all my Japanese lit reading. It's where I've been hoping to compare and contrast the authors I read and whatnot. I haven't read too much Japanese lit lately so it hasn't been as updated as I'd like but you might get some ideas there.

As for recommendations....
Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa if you love really great epic historical fiction. I was engrossed for hours upon hours with this one. But it is historical fiction and very history based; as in, lots of wars and battle scenes.
Underground by Haruki Murakami is his nonfiction work about the Tokyo subway gas attacks. Very interesting I think and a wonderful accompaniment to Religious Violence in Contemporary Japan which is a full on study of Aum Shinrikyo, the cult who led the gas attacks.

As for actual literature though....
You can't go wrong reading Ryunosuke Akutagawa. His descriptions are superb, his writing tense and he really brings you in.
I'm a huge fan of Yasushi Inoue, particularly The Hunting Gun and Shirobamba. That is definitely quiet Japanese writing.
Also enjoyed Kenzaburo Oe's Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids, hailed as a Japanese Lord of the Flies.
I also loved Junichiro Tanizaki's In Praise of Shadows. Often used as a required read in interior design school, read between the lines on this one, and you'll see a man's distaste for modern sensibilities and his love of Japanese minimalist style.

Well, you're a better woman than me if you actually read On Chesil Beach; having read an excerpt from it in the New Yorker, I stayed far away.

I liked On Chesil Beach...

Thanks Lilisin for the recommendations and the pointing me to your other thread. Looks I like I have a lot of catching up to do. Historical fiction that's heavy on history like Taiko sounds like it will be right up my alley.

Well, now I'm definitely moving The Road up my TBR. I thought On Chesil Beach was a quietly powerful book. I still think about it now and then.

Hmmm, maybe I should add anything you were ambivalent about to my wishlist...

Stretch -
I don't know if you're part of the Reading Globally group or not but back in the day we had a terrific discussion on Japanese lit. Here is the thread if you are interested.

Love your review and agree with your comments in #83. I was not a big fan of On Chesil Beach either. Please don't make me chose between having to read one or the other!

>93 lilisin: Thanks Lilisin for the link. That's alot to digest, it looks like I'll be adding quite a few Japanese books to my ever growing wishlist in the coming weeks. I agree 100% with the things you said in the third post of Reading Globally.

I'm in a reading rut! I haven't touched a book since October 13th! And I have been uninspired to read about reading so I haven't really been around LT. Sorry everyone. This might be it for me till the end of the year but we'll see if I can't pull something out before then.

Glad to see you back here. I've been too busy to read/write as much as I'd like to, but I also hope to get back to LT more. I enjoy your comments.

Awww, thank you!
Just so you know, I am reading ONE thing at least. I've been reading Almost Transparent Blue in Japanese for about two months now. (限りなく透明に近いブルー）I think because I've been so entranced with this project, it has prevented me from doing other things. Having a lot of fun reading this book! It has been very... interesting. But I definitely won't finish it before the end of the year (I am in no hurry in any case) so I still don't know if I'll end up reading something else.

Off to Korea and Japan tomorrow and will be gone till January 9th so this is my last post in 2010.

Here is my 2011 thread.

Happy Holidays everyone. Let's hope North Korea doesn't get trigger happy while I'm in Seoul.

Have a safe and happy trip. Look forward to your thoughts in 2011.