And the winner is...

It's that time of year, Murakami doesn't win the Nobel. But it always stirs up a lot of talk.

Asymtote have an interview with Murakami translator Jay Rubin:
http://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2014/10/09/in-conversation-with-jay-rubin/

The New Yorker has a Murakami short story translated by Ted Goossen:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/13/scheherazade-3

And Granta have a piece written by Yukiko Motoya, translated by Asa Yoneda:
http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/Why-I-Can-No-Longer-Look-at-a-Picnic-Blanket-Without-Laughing

I've just finished Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki, and I've been thinking recently about the lack of critical reviews of translated works. There is usually a single line that mentions 'this is a translation' for good or bad, and nothing more is said. But a decent review of the work as a translation can be hard to do without falling down to nagging about word choice. I was pleased to see translator Philip Gabriel keeping some Japanese specific terms such as kotatsu, but bento was jarringly translated as boxed lunch, and it was also quite strange to see distances measured in miles and not kilometres. But how much do such word choices effect the reading experience for the majority of Murakami readers? Not much. One section of the novel deals with the use of the masculine pronoun ore and how that influences the relationship between Tazaki and Aka. Gabriel did quite well to explain the usage within the context of story. I enjoyed restraint of Colorless TsukuruTazaki much more than the sea of unnecessary text that was 1Q84.

I also recently read All You Need Is Kill, the acclaimed sci-fi novel behind the latest Tom Cruise movie, Edge of Tomorrow. The underlying storyline was quite interesting, but I was quite turned off by the immature characterisation and juvenile conversations. It felt more like Japanese high school 'light novel' drama pulp, unsatisfying as a sci-fi novel. It is rating very well over at Goodreads (4+), but if anyone can tell me why, I'd really like to know.

Samsa In Love, Murakami

The New Yorker has a new Hauki Murakami (村上春樹) short story, 'Samsa In Love', translated by Ted Goosen. You can check out the story here:
http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2013/10/28/131028fi_fiction_murakami

Asymtote also has a review up on their blog:
http://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2013/11/08/murakami-samsa-in-love/

Alice Munro and Haruki Murakami

Congratulations to Alice Munro on receiving this years Nobel Prize in Literature. I must admit that I'm not too familiar with her work. I've been hoping Cormac McCarthy will take the prize some day soon. But I know a lot of people here in Japan and abroad are championing for Haruki Murakami (村上春樹).

I'm not sure if it is careful planning or prescience from Murakami, but last month he released a collection of short stories from various international authors including one story from Alice Munro, Koishikte (恋しくて) - Ten Selected Love Stories, which I'm sure will charge back up the best sellers list this week in Japan. Murakami is a prolific translator of English literature, and he receives a lot of recognition for his work as a translator, which highlights the big difference between the valuation of translators in Japan and the second rate status they are afforded in English translations.

Yumiko Kotake (小竹由美子) is another translator who has translated a lot of Alice Munro's work into Japanese, including Too Much Happiness (小説のように), The View from Castle Rock (林檎の木の下で), and Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (イラクサ). She has also translated works from John Iriving and Paul Torday.

April Round-Up

I hope everyone enjoyed their spring break. It's been a busy April, and I've been side tracked by work and spring break. But there were some notable releases in the past few weeks.

Haruki Murakami's latest book, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (色彩を持たない田崎つくると、彼の巡礼の年) has stormed up the best seller list. I haven't picked up a copy yet, but the books release highlights the reluctance of the Japanese publishing industry to move to digital distribution, as I haven't been able to find it in epub format.

Kentaro Miura's Berserk volume 37 was released. I'm still back in volume 11, but slowly catching up when I have some spare time.

And Takehiko Inoue's samurai masterpiece Vagabond is up to volume 35, which is a series that is on my to-read list. I'm a huge fan of the annually released wheelchair basketball series, Real.