A Journey to the Levant
Started reading Sayaka Murata’s (村田沙耶香）latest novel 地球星人 . Literal translation of the name is 地球 = Earth 星人=Person from the planet. Interesting combination.
The book was published last week, so only available in Hardcover. Not sure why it is not available in Kindle as previous one.
Looking forward to it, as I enjoyed her last books and the way she looks at our lives, social standards.
A winner of the Naoki prize this year, First love received mixed reviews on Amazon.
Maybe I expected more from a Naoki prize winner, but this book read more like a movie script than a book.
Not enough depth, not enough story. The turn of events and investigation of the murder proceed in a strange pace with too many holes left in between to be “discovered” later.
“court scene” is way too short and uneventful to have significance.
One of her books was already adapted to a movie and I have a feeling this one will follow as well.
A popular writer, yet I still expect more from a prize winner. I guess this was the first and last book I read from this writer.
The book, not the place.
Started reading it in Japanese, which proves a harder task than I expected. Will not give up and continue to read, but the pace and flow are discouraging.
It is difficult to read, the temple/buddhism related terms, grammar and what Mishima Yukio is trying to convey makes it a challenge.
Now should I insist finishing this before moving to another book, or try to read two in parallel.
As I previously wrote , I have a problem with the way the book portrays Japanese.
Again, I am certain Koreans were discriminated, and maybe even up to this day, but still the book reads like political propaganda.
What bothers me even more is in-accuracies:
Will finish reading this book, but can’t recommend it.
Maybe too early to write this, as I am only halfway through the book.
But until now I could not find even one positive Japanese character. All characters are either bad, neutral or greedy, exploiting the Korean workers.
In Japan times Article , it is mentioned:
Lee never casts Japanese as villains. There is no resentment, only fraught, complex interaction. Lee thinks it unfair to blame modern Japan for the past — but what might the future hold for Koreans and Japanese?
Which I find to be wrong.
I almost regret buying and reading this book, but feel obliged to read to the end.
I do not say that Korean did not suffer from Japanese occupation, discrimination and exploitation, but it feels almost a political book that cannot find “good” or “kind ” Japanese.
Can I get my money back ?
Saw yesterday the play Hedda Gabler at Bunkamura Cocoon theater.
It has been a while since I went to see a play, especially in Japanese.
Obviously missed a few words here and there, but luckily (?!) actors speak clearly, so it was not that difficult for me to understand.
Terajima Shinobu was great, but also enjoyed the stage design, the See-Through Mirror which is used twice in the play. First Scene and last Suicide Scene. The colors and light coming from the windows.
It is good to remember how a good play is much better than a movie.
Less important to mention, I was the only foreigner in the theater, many people watched me, none approached.
Previous posts:
Last post and a summary (?)
It was an interesting book, but I did not enjoy the way it was written. I am guessing I will be holding my breath for the next book by Nassim Taleb.
Collected some notes and quotes:
people need to be equal, at least for the purpose of the conversation, otherwise it fails. It has to be hierarchy-free and equal in contribution.
I fully support this, and also relates to my experience in Japan. While in Israel the hierarchy is there but less strong, it is maybe too strong in Japan. Going to drink or eat with a customer and the conversation feels superficial. That unless there is a strong and long relationship between the members. I am lucky enough to be a foreigner and able to break these walls of hierarchy.
People who are bred, selected, and compensated to find complicated solutions do not have an incentive to implement simplified ones.
Maybe not directly related, but I am almost allergic to the use of the word “elite” in Japan, the branding of people according to their education. It means nothing to me and it does feel sometimes like “smart” people are acting the act and trying to talk or act in a complex way.
Traders, when they make profits, have short communications; when they lose they drown you in details, theories, and charts.
Same goes for Sales. If all goes well, nobody cares. If not, the excuses, finger pointing and theories prevail: “Political instability”, “Competition is doing this or that” and more
Several years ago, while reading “Bad Girl” by Mario Vargas Llosa, I opened a gmail account with the name of one of the characters.
Not quite remember why I did it, not sure I remember the password to that account, but the emails there are forwarded to my standard account.
There was no activity until a few weeks back when I started getting emails. Surprisingly, these do not appear like SPAM, but actual emails sent to the wrong address.
Now I have a dilemma, do I let the senders know it is a mistake, thus risking getting on a Spammer list, or just wait quietly till the sender figures out the mistake.
I think I will risk the Spam, I just need to figure out the password first.
Reading again Kafka short stories translated to Hebrew.
One of my favorite stories is still “A report for An Academy” .
Hebrew translation is obviously slightly different, but the discussion on Freedom is the part I like best
Incidentally, among human beings people all too often are deceived by freedom. And since freedom is reckoned among the most sublime feelings, the corresponding disappointment is also among the most sublime.
No, I didn’t want freedom. Only a way out—to the right or left or anywhere at all. I made no other demands, even if the way out should also be only an illusion. The demand was small; the disappointment would not be any greater—to move on further, to move on further! Only not to stand still with arms raised, pressed against a crate wall.
And a reminder that the cover uses Yosel Bergner painting that were commissioned for the series.
Definitely not a new song, but a song that accompanies me for many years.
One of the best books I have read (multiple times) and one of the best songs I know.
The song actually starts from bullying and being a stranger, with a clear reference to Albert Camus at the end.
MOTHER died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure.
But then it cuts off to
At the funeral they expected me to cry
Well I didn’t
Trying to bring the conclusion or more “strangeness” into the song.