愛書家クラブ

Kafka — I read the first three books of the series while Kyoto Animation was airing the first season of its anime that covered the first of those books. They've since released a second season which covers the remaining two books of Kumiko's first year, as well as much of the content of the additional volume of short stories. I didn't realize until recently that a two-volume sequel had come out, and by sheer coincidence started reading the day KyoAni released an animated film which is based on this sequel, titled "リズと青い鳥". From the previews however, the movie seems laser focused on Nozomi and Mizore's relationship, which is far from being resolved and is hardly mentioned thus far, halfway through the book. So right now I'm drowning in foreshadowing, but at least I have very little potential for spoiling the movie, for anyone waiting to see it. One thing about these books that I really like that you might not know about if you're coming from the ...

学年ビリのギャルが1年で偏差値を40上げて慶應大学に現役合格した話 (aka ビリギャル) Jennifer - A new word I learned with this book was  ビリ which means "the last" or "at the bottom". This case it's a story about a gyaru (gal) who's at the bottom rank of her school, increases her scores by 40 points in 1 year and gets into Keio University . This is a true story. It's a piece of non-fiction written by the juku teacher who taught Sayaka (our gyaru) and pushed her to get her grades up and get into one of the most prestigious universities in Japan. At the start of the book we meet Sayaka in the moment she meets Tsubota ( 坪田) Sensei. He asks her some simple questions but is amazed by her creative answers. The start of the book looks at the holes in her basic knowledge and understanding of the world.  When I say lack of basic knowledge I mean very basic knowledge. Tsubota Sensei asks her to draw a map of Japan and she draws a circle. She doesn't only realize there are ...

Kafka - As I stated in my earlier review of part 1 of 6, From the New World is presented to us as a memoir, a cautionary tale from the 'new world' to an even newer world and an investigation of a past now lost — all at the same time. Now I would also describe it as a rich metaphorical painting of society, but this author's world is filtered through Saki, a more conservative narrator, so the metaphors don't feel as forced as they would be fed to us directly. The unsettling atmosphere that ties this world and Saki's worldview as she becomes forced to challenge it is this novel's best asset. It's the main reason I wasn't able to put the book down for long. However, I do not mean to say that the plot itself isn't full of suspense and intrigue. The plot goes back and forth between mystery and action, and unlike many stories today, very many people die. There are no guarantees. The only ones you can be sure live to see the end are the narrator, an...

I started reading 異世界のんびり農家 in February  and after the first 100 pages, knew I wasn't going to enjoy this book. This is an isekai narrative. A story about a middle-aged man who dies in our world from a long-term illness. He is then reincarnated by a god into a younger, stronger body with all the knowledge he had from his previous life, but in a fantasy world. From the start god gives him everything he wishes for and keeps persistently asking him if he wants more. He's given a younger body that will never get sick and a magical hoe that can transform into any  farming tool. He's then put into the middle of nowhere and had to create a farm from scratch. You would think this would be a great premise. Put out into the wilderness, having to fend for himself and working out how farming works from scratch. But with his tool and new body he doesn't get tired. When he builds fields the next day god fills them with seeds, so he doesn't have to look for them. When ...

Kafka - Shinsekai Yori/From the New World is split into six sections, titled: 若葉の季節, 夏闇, 深秋, 冬の遠雷, 劫火, and 闇に燃えし篝火は. I've just come to the end of part one, "Season of Young Leaves" and I thought I'd share my thoughts. "What would happen if humans developed telekinetic powers?" Everything seems happy-go-lucky on the surface, but children are disappearing, and no one seems to take notice. These ideas taken by themselves may be a bit hackneyed, but I was most drawn in by the book's presentation. From the New World is presented to us as a memoir, a cautionary tale from the 'new world' to an even newer world and an investigation of a past now lost — all at the same time. While there are a couple of anachronisms, and I have to wonder how the narrator was able to remember some (info dump) things she shouldn't have been able to understand at the time in full, the writing itself hews fairly close to this pretext. I have been vague so f...

Daniel - MORI Hiroshi is connected to a lot of firsts for me, so I wanted to touch on those a little bit (and how I originally got into his books) before putting down some thoughts on '風は青海を渡るのか' and its series, which may make this post a bit long (sorry).

Daniel - Again I thought I'd try something different and this book caught my eye while I was book shopping over the Winter break. Written by the same author as the 'Ikebukuro West Gate Park' series, this one is about four women living together in a share-house, and follows their attempts at finding love in the heart of Tokyo. I've got maybe a third left to plough through, but I've been really enjoying it so far. Although some aspects have of course been exaggerated for entertainment value, it provides an interesting look into the messy and often shallow world of group and speed dating with some comical episodes and cutting witty quips from our protagonist. The protagonist's constant clashes with the ideologies and expectations of the men surrounding her and her friends throughout the story generate a lot of food for thought on a number of social issues currently plaguing Japan. Being a very grounded slice of life novel, the language doesn't throw ...