Comments on: Just Read It

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 06:28:18 +0000

Thanks for the comment, and also for the link on Japanator! I’ll definitely keep an eye out for 赤川次郎. I’m not familiar with his stories, but the writeup on Wikipedia make them sound interesting.

By: DickMcVengeance

DickMcVengeance — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 04:15:15 +0000

Just found this blog, and figured I’d chime in real quick. I’m just getting into reading, and my teacher handed me some of 赤川次郎’s work — specifically 白い雨. It’s a good piece for me to get started on, as most of what goes on are fairly easy-to-understand conversations and situations, and the chapters are long enough that I feel like I’m making serious progress without it killing my eyes.

Now, to actually get back into reading now that school’s out…

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:01:56 +0000

Sgt. Tanuki: Great points. Even when Murakami isn’t writing dialogue it often feels like someone is talking. That’s even true for parts of 1Q84 even though it’s third-person.

Derek: Yo, forget the 漢字検定! You don’t have to write in order to read. I mean, I’m sure the tests won’t hurt your abilities, but I feel like you’ll get more exposure by just reading for volume. It’s all about getting repetitions.

By: DEREK

DEREK — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:19:49 +0000

Good points Sgt. Tanuki. I never thought about it that way. I guess I should try and step it up to novels… the kanji barrier is pretty tough since I’m only around 8~7級 on the 漢検.

By: Sgt. Tanuki

Sgt. Tanuki — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:16:41 +0000

I always thought my conversational skills improved after reading a lot of Japanese fiction because it had exposed me to a lot of semi-natural conversations that I wouldn’t be good enough to take part in myself. Murakami’s particularly good for this: he writes great dialogue, and he’s modern so you don’t end up talking like Soseki or something (call yourself 予 in conversation sometime and see how people react). I get the same effect from watching a lot of TV or film in Japanese, but the advantage of novels is that you can see the kanji and take it at your own speed, so it doesn’t tend to wash over me uncomprehended like film and TV can.

I can’t think of anything better than Murakami for the beginning novel-reader in Japanese. Dance, Dance, Dance was my first. I agree with the A-Prize recommendation, though: those are mostly quite readable. Every once in a while the prize will go to someone who’s experimenting with dialect or something, but usually these days they’re solidly post-Murakami (or post-Yoshimoto Banana) stylists.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 02:11:55 +0000

Yeah, that’s another great collection. His early stuff is really simple and easy to read. I forgot to mention カンガルー日和 (“Perfect Day for Kangaroos”), which is another collection of short (but not super short) stories.

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 02:09:32 +0000

Another good Murakami that is great to get started with reading on is 中国行きのスローボート Using it at the moment with intermediate students and they seem to like it. I do!

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 22:33:17 +0000

cantabrigiana: Definitely hard to get motivated to read Japanese if you spend the whole day looking at kanjis. Murakami is one of the few I can get motivated for. Funny that Keritai senaka was your first book, too! I really only re-read Murakami, I guess…haven’t read too too much else, to be honest.

Daniel L: If there are enough folks, just coffee and talk about the Japanese sentences.

By: Daniel L

Daniel L — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:52:12 +0000

I’m a beginning reader (that 5 pages a day slog is sounding eerily familiar) in the area. I’d love to know what you have in mind for a reading group.

By: john

john — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:49:37 +0000

another recommendation: do not read translations of young adult books from your youth. “The Little Prince” is indeterminably difficult.