Some additional information on two of the books I mentioned: Keyi Sheng : Un paradis - this particular title has not yet been translated into English but other titles by the author are available Shusaku Endo : Le Dernier souper et autres nouvelles - the short stories I mentioned can be found in the English translation in "The Final Martyrs" by New Direction Books
Thanks for the interesting book recommendations!🙏In case anyone is curious I read a short story collection by Endo (in English) called "The final martyrs" that included all three that you mentioned
"Shonen..." I totally got it about replacing one character with another with the same phonetic but a different meaning in order to create a nuance. I've encountered that in Chinese. 🙂
Hello! I just remembered that I once told you that Tarjei Vesaas’ The Ice Palace is written in Norwegian Nynorsk, which expresses a number of dialects in rural and western Norway. My guess is that about 15% of the population writes in Norwegian Nynorsk. The recent winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Jon Fosse, is known for his Nynorsk works. This will be a major support for this lesser-used - and sometimes unpopular - form of written Norwegian.
I'm so glad you picked up Stevenson, especially Treasure Island. Have you ever read any books about the Japanese occupation of Korea from a Japanese author? Korea authors mine that era a lot, but I have not seen anything from the Japanese perspective.
I can't tell you how high and low I've searched for books about that topic from the Japanese perspective! I couldn't find anything in translation nor in Japanese! But this year Yu Miri has a book called The End of August that is out which takes place in Korea during the occupation so that might be something to look at!
@@tokyochemist Thank you for the suggestion. Though, Yu Miri is Zainichi. I get the sense that Japanese writers steer away from politics, at least the the professionalize version. It would be great if non-Korean/non-Zainichi took up the era. It isn't as though most Japanese people had much to do with the brutal treatment of Koreans by their government. So, there has got to be a way for stories to be told without some sort of societal guilt. Koreans mine this era all the time for stories, but there is always this sense the writer is making the Koreans to be underdogs, victims, survivors, etc. It serves a nationalistic pride, but not all that interesting as it gets repeated over and over. From my limited knowledge, I understand that Japanese people considered Korean people to be lesser people. While that sounds bad, it is in contrast to Europeans who treated Native Americans like another species. And, maybe, that is some indication that Japanese people, despite their prejudices, ended up feeling guilt that Europeans in the Americas generally don't. I was listening to an American academic who was stating that the Japanese government was trying to make their case legit by trying to get Koreans to be involved in the government that they had setup on the peninsula. While I get that the Japanese government fully intended to erase Korean culture, it also was trying to make Koreans fully Japanese. In a twisted way, I think they felt that at some point, Koreans and Japanese would be one people. Anyway, there is a lot of nuance that is not all that suited for a UA-cam comment, but it's good to engage with someone who reads and reflects. Thank you for that. PS: I"m of Korean descent, so, I'm sure I have some serious blind spots on this topic.
Off topic (a bit): I just got back from the library where I found Toshikazu Kawaguchi's "Tales from the Cafe". (He also wrote "Before the Coffee Gets Cold"). Are you familiar with him? It looks like it is going to be a good read.
I was tempted to buy the original coffee book when it first came out here in Japan but never got to it. Now I feel fine with not reading it. But it's very popular.
@tokyochemist, the book turned out to be okay- the storyline- but the translation could have been better. I don't know how to explain it but it was so "basic". It was missing verve. It might be a better read in Japanese.
Just discovered this channel and loving the videos :) :)
Thank you!
To meet that character somewhere other than the Long John Silver restaurant- that was good 🤣
I had to smile at that also! I think the chain eventually went out of business but I do remember seeing the restaurants around.
Some additional information on two of the books I mentioned:
Keyi Sheng : Un paradis
- this particular title has not yet been translated into English but other titles by the author are available
Shusaku Endo : Le Dernier souper et autres nouvelles
- the short stories I mentioned can be found in the English translation in "The Final Martyrs" by New Direction Books
Thanks for the interesting book recommendations!🙏In case anyone is curious I read a short story collection by Endo (in English) called "The final martyrs" that included all three that you mentioned
Thank you! I'll add that to the description box!
"Shonen..." I totally got it about replacing one character with another with the same phonetic but a different meaning in order to create a nuance. I've encountered that in Chinese. 🙂
Hello! I just remembered that I once told you that Tarjei Vesaas’ The Ice Palace is written in Norwegian Nynorsk, which expresses a number of dialects in rural and western Norway. My guess is that about 15% of the population writes in Norwegian Nynorsk. The recent winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Jon Fosse, is known for his Nynorsk works. This will be a major support for this lesser-used - and sometimes unpopular - form of written Norwegian.
His works seem like quite a feat to work through!
I’d say you’re right! I’m also planning to see some of his plays. A friend here has recommended them to me.
I'm so glad you picked up Stevenson, especially Treasure Island.
Have you ever read any books about the Japanese occupation of Korea from a Japanese author? Korea authors mine that era a lot, but I have not seen anything from the Japanese perspective.
I can't tell you how high and low I've searched for books about that topic from the Japanese perspective! I couldn't find anything in translation nor in Japanese! But this year Yu Miri has a book called The End of August that is out which takes place in Korea during the occupation so that might be something to look at!
@@tokyochemist Thank you for the suggestion. Though, Yu Miri is Zainichi.
I get the sense that Japanese writers steer away from politics, at least the the professionalize version.
It would be great if non-Korean/non-Zainichi took up the era. It isn't as though most Japanese people had much to do with the brutal treatment of Koreans by their government. So, there has got to be a way for stories to be told without some sort of societal guilt. Koreans mine this era all the time for stories, but there is always this sense the writer is making the Koreans to be underdogs, victims, survivors, etc. It serves a nationalistic pride, but not all that interesting as it gets repeated over and over.
From my limited knowledge, I understand that Japanese people considered Korean people to be lesser people. While that sounds bad, it is in contrast to Europeans who treated Native Americans like another species. And, maybe, that is some indication that Japanese people, despite their prejudices, ended up feeling guilt that Europeans in the Americas generally don't.
I was listening to an American academic who was stating that the Japanese government was trying to make their case legit by trying to get Koreans to be involved in the government that they had setup on the peninsula. While I get that the Japanese government fully intended to erase Korean culture, it also was trying to make Koreans fully Japanese. In a twisted way, I think they felt that at some point, Koreans and Japanese would be one people.
Anyway, there is a lot of nuance that is not all that suited for a UA-cam comment, but it's good to engage with someone who reads and reflects. Thank you for that.
PS: I"m of Korean descent, so, I'm sure I have some serious blind spots on this topic.
Off topic (a bit): I just got back from the library where I found Toshikazu Kawaguchi's "Tales from the Cafe". (He also wrote "Before the Coffee Gets Cold"). Are you familiar with him? It looks like it is going to be a good read.
I was tempted to buy the original coffee book when it first came out here in Japan but never got to it. Now I feel fine with not reading it. But it's very popular.
@tokyochemist, the book turned out to be okay- the storyline- but the translation could have been better. I don't know how to explain it but it was so "basic". It was missing verve. It might be a better read in Japanese.
@@allie1953 I can almost certainly guarantee you even without reading it that in the original it is probably equally basic.