Tag: Japanese fiction

First Lines Friday – 20/06/2025

When looking up whether my local library had a copy of a book I wanted to read, I spotted an interesting resource that I used to choose today’s First Lines Friday feature. It came in good time too. Rather than featuring yet another book on my list or already read by me, I wanted to feature something different. Thankfully I didn’t restrict myself in last week’s Sunday Summary post so I was able to make the most of today’s discovery.

My local libraries’ website links to a site called WhichBook as a novel way of helping choose your next read. You can search by emotion, geographical locations, characters and plot types. When playing with the customisation of the searches I cam across today’s feature. If you are a fan of words and language as I am, you might appreciate today’s book! 

 

Kohei Araki had devoted his entire life—his entire working life—to dictionaries. Words fascinated him, always had. 

He had learned early on that dog contained other meanings besides the four-legged animal. Once when his father had taken him to the movies, a blood-spattered gangster, betrayed and dying on screen, spat out the words “Damn that dog!” So an enemy spy was a dog. The gang boss, upon receiving word of the gangster’s demise, jumped up and shouted, “What are you all standing around here for? Polish your daggers! Don’t let him die a dog’s death!” So the word could also mean “pointless.” 

Dogs were faithful partners—trustworthy, intelligent, endearing—yet dog could also refer to a traitor or a condition of meaninglessness. How strange! In his child’s mind he tried to work out how this could be. Faithfulness to the point of servility, devotion going pathetically unrewarded—all the more pathetic as it increased in intensity. Perhaps such canine traits were responsible for the negative associations attached to the word.

 

 

The Great Passage – Shion Miura

Genre: Historical Fiction 

Pages: 224

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Amazon Crossing

Publication Date: 01 Jun 2017

Goodreads – The Great Passage

 

An award-winning story of love, friendship, and the power of human connection.

Kohei Araki believes that a dictionary is a boat to carry us across the sea of words. But after thirty-seven years of creating dictionaries, it’s time for him to retire and find his replacement.

He discovers a kindred spirit in Mitsuya Majime—a young, disheveled square peg with a penchant for collecting antiquarian books and a background in linguistics—whom he swipes from his company’s sales department.

Along with an energetic, if reluctant, new recruit and an elder linguistics scholar, Majime is tasked with a career-defining accomplishment: completing The Great Passage, a comprehensive 2,900-page tome of the Japanese language. On his journey, Majime discovers friendship, romance, and an incredible dedication to his work, inspired by the words that connect us all.

 

My Thoughts…

The Great Passage appeals to me for several reasons. Firstly, I love language. Words and meanings and the play off of expressions to make different meanings interests me. Call me sad, or frankly whatever you like. I enjoy what I enjoy. 

However, as well as that, I’m intrigued by the books Japanese origins. The Great Passage is translated from Japanese originally and is written by an author who is just as passionate about language. Does this book indicate if there is a cultural difference in language, or are some things universal? That’s what I’m also curious to read about. 

I’ve regularly shared that I tend to read western books. I’ve more said this in the context of fantasy, but this is probably true across the board. Picking up The Great Passage would be a great way to lean into different histories and cultures and read a brand new narrative. 

I need to be careful – I almost sound like I’ve used this First Lines Friday post to talk myself into reading this book. Who am I kidding – of course it’s now on my TBR! Maybe WhichBook is just as dangerous for my reading list as it is good at being a useful tool for picking something in a different way.

Care – use with caution. My mum joked once that I’d make my out of this world suffocating under a pile of books. She probably isn’t wrong… 

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s slightly different First Lines Friday feature!

What are you reading this weekend? 

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First Lines Friday – 16/08/2024

Today’s First Lines Friday feature includes a book that I added to my reading list earlier this week. In last week’s Sunday Summary I shared that I was keeping the topic of this First Lines Friday open. Given this is a recent addition, it felt like a natural feature.

Whilst I’m trying to keep myself on the straight narrow and not purchase any more books at the moment, I confess that I have added this to my reading list without purchasing as I was intrigued by the synopsis.

What also makes this book more interesting is that it is translated from Japanese. I can’t say I’ve ever read Japanese dystopia before, so it’s going to be something new!

Here is today’s First Lines Friday intro, followed by details of the book:-


I sometimes wonder what disappeared first – among all the things that have vanished from the island. “Long ago, before you were born, there were many more things here, “ my mother used to tell me when I was still a child. “Transparent things, fragrant things… fluttery ones, bright ones… wonderful things you can’t possibly imagine.

“It’s a shame that the people who live here haven’t been able to hold such marvellous things in their hearts and minds, but that’s just the way it is on this island. Things go on disappearing, one by one, it won’t be long now,” she added. “You’ll see for yourself. Something will disappear from your life.”

 


The Memory Police- Yōko Ogawa

Genre: Dystopian / Japanese Literature

Pages: 274

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Pantheon

Publication Date: 13 Aug 2019

 

Goodreads – The Memory Police

On an unnamed island, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses. . .

Most of the inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those who remember live in fear of the Memory Police.

To the people on the island, a disappeared thing no longer has any meaning. It can be burned in the garden, thrown in the river, or handed over to the Memory Police. Soon enough, the island forgets it ever existed.

When a young novelist discovers that her editor is in danger of being taken away by the Memory Police, she desperately wants to save him. For some reason, he doesn’t forget, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult for him to hide his memories. Who knows what will vanish next?


My Thoughts…

It’s the uniqueness of The Memory Police that caught my attention. I have never read anything like it. Given that I’m also trying to branch out my reading, picking up a Japanese translation definitely falls into that bracket.

I love a good dystopian novel. There is something about reading of otherworldliness that stretches my imagination and captures my attention. It brings home what we value in real life society by reflecting its absence in fiction.

I was already captivated by the synopsis, but the introduction I have shared with you today has cemented my want to pick up the book. It leaves a lot of questions before we even really dive into the book. What is disappearing? Who are the memory police, and what are the consequences of remembering that which others forget?

Personally, I’m looking forward to getting stuck into this book down the line.

Have you read The Memory Police?

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