"Sanshirō by Natsume Sōseki (Translated by Jay Rubin) Penguin Random House UK

ISBN: 978-0-241-28446-9 Penguin Random House UK

So far, "Sanshirō" is my favorite Natsume Sōseki novel. Written over 100 years ago during the presence of the Meiji era in Japan, it's a book that is very much of its time. Japan at the time was feeling the influence of the West - in particular with the arts from that period. English and European literature were being translated into Japanese, and Sōseki is a writer who was very much under the influence of Western writers as well as its various philosophies - yet, the beauty of this book deals with the tension or difference between the West and Japan. 

The main character, Sanshirō is a countryside fellow who comes to the big city, Tokyo, to study and live. Here he encounters fellow students and professors who are exposed to other things in life besides what Sanshirō knows from his rural life. Including sexual feelings, or the first entrance to romantic overtures from a female. The great thing about the book for me is Sōseki's journalistic talents in writing about Tokyo and wandering throughout the city. "Sanshirō" through the main character, is very much going on a pre-Situationist adventure in finding new delights that Tokyo has to offer its new citizen. 

Nothing dramatic happens, but there is a strong narrative, with characters interacting with others. The female figures seem to be much more aware of what's going on than Sanshirō who is somewhat a 'sheep' or perhaps even a coward. I think he's not in tuned to his surroundings or even to himself. So, the book is about a discovery and how one processes a change in one's life. In that sense, it's a young man's or person's novel. The ripe fruit is life as it happens, and this novel is about the moments as it happens.

"The Life of a Stupid Man" by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

On of the three little Penguin books I bought in Tokyo for the plane trip back home.  Here are 3 small selections of the works by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, the king of the Japanese decadent writers, as well as the famous prize given out every year to a contemporary Japanese writer.   Oddly enough, I never read his works, but I knew of him as the iconic writer of his time.  Strongly influenced by the French writers and poets of the 19tth century (he was born in 1892 and died in 1927), there are traces of that type of impressionistic dynamics in his work.  The longer piece "The Life of a Stupid Man" is a poetic commentary of a young man going under.   Romantic and death obsessed.  What writer could resist such a figure. And readers, an enticing adventure(er) to another world.  Of course, I'm going to seek out and purchase a bigger collection of his stories.   And I do have some of his books in my library.  But untouched by my eyes at this moment....

Tosh Berman

"The Edogawa Rampo Reader"

I feel like i have been waiting for this book for all of my life.  it has been a slow amount of time to get the Japanese writer Edogawa Rampo translated into English.  One of his collections of short stories have been in print for so many years - yet waiting for another title seemed endless.  Now we have at least three other books by Rampo, and I bought them all this year.

"The Edogawa Rampo Reader" is a much needed over-all look of his career.  The first half of this book is short stories and the second half are essays -mostly regarding the nature of the 'detective' story.  i only found one essay the most interesting and that's "The Horror Of Films" dealing with the nature and history of cinema.  It's a great piece on what was then a new medium.  He wrote it in 1926, and for a short essay it covers a lot of ground.  Basically all to do with being the viewer.

The short stories are all in the creepy mode that I love about Rampo's work.  It includes the story about a man who spends a lot of time in the attic where he spies on people down below, and also commits a murder.  The long introduction by Seth Jacobowitz is pretty perfect in capturing what is so essential about Rampo, his times, and the work itself.   A remarkable writer.

"Strange Tale of Pamorama Island" by Edogawa Rampo

A pulpy version of Raymond Roussel's "Impressions of Africa." Rampo is the Japanese link between a boy's adventure narrative and kinky sex takes. Rampo's take on the benefits of the Panaorama and the Utopian narrative. Also a crime novel of sorts.  A man takes on the identity of his rich dead brother and builds his perfect world on an island.  Including nude mermaids/women, scented air, beautiful plants, and stunning landscapes.  Probably the most anti-natural nature novel of all time.  It's up there with Huysman's "Against Nature."  The book makes interesting commentary on the nature of one's artistic vision over a specific landscape.  But with Rampo (as usual) its a twisted and dark vision of what life can be made -  and the sexual undertones are never far from the surface.    A brilliant book.  And for some reason, the translation of Rampo's name is spelled Ranpo.   So, if you are in a bookstore, look up both spellings.

"The Fiend With Twenty Faces" by Edogawa Rampo

Rampo's semi-insane boy's adventure novel. A master villain matches wit and skills with the greatest detective and his young assistant who is 10 years old.  Tokyo of the 30's is the landscape which can be compared to Fantomas' Paris.  The world is about to end or be changed, and Rampo dances on the grave of Tokyo.  Essential young adult literature.  

Edogawa Rampo's "Moju: The Blind Beast" plus Film by Yasuzo Masumura

Ah, such a perfect read while I am in Japan.  I first heard the name "Edogawa Rampo" from my wife who told me that his writings would give me a certain amount of pleasure.  And as usual (the wife is always right) she is correct.    Rampo is a pen-name, and if you say it really quickly, you will see that the name is based on Edgar Allen Poe.  Rampo's favorite writer, and truly his work is up there with the master.  Except he's more pulpy, more lurid, more...out there.

Rampo is the master of the field that is called "Erotic-Grotesque" in Japan.  A mixture of horror with sex.  And his short novel "Moju" is a perfect example of that genre.  The narrative is about a blind man who is obsessed with the gesture of touching woman with his 'skilled' hands, and then eventually killing them, and cutting them up in pieces.  He also has a genius in displaying his 'work' either by making sculptures made by human parts, or displaying the corpse or part of the corpse in rather imaginative ways.

Rampo goes for the throat, and what makes him so unique is that he has these amazing set-pieces, that is a combination of creepy, funny, but always filtered through the eyes of an aesthetic soul.  I can imagine his stories are not for everyone, but strange enough he has even written (god forbid!) 'young adult' adventures.  A low-rent Tanizaki, but with the brilliance of a B-film genius.   Rampo needs to be exposed to a larger readership in the West.  Hopefully we'll see more of his titles translated into English.

Down below is the film version of the novel, directed by Yasuzo Masumura.  Its a classic piece of Japanese cinema and I strongly recommend watching this film:

Choukitsu Kurumatani's "The Paradise Bird Tattoo (or, attempted double-suicide)"

I never heard of Kurumatani before I picked this book up at the Downtown Kinokuniya Bookstore here in Los Angeles (excellent bookstore by the way).  I wanted to read something new by a Japanese writer, and I didn't want to go down the thriller or horror route - which now seems to be new trend in contemporary translated-into-English Japanese literature.

"The Paradise Bird Tattoo" is very much of a quiet modern noir novel that deals with an individual who is slowly losing it in contemporary Japan.   He's an office bee worker, where he gets no pleasure, and decides to go on to a world that has no beginning or ending.  A vagrant of sorts. Most of the narrative takes place in a low-rent apartment building where the leading character gets involved with the neighbors.  All either a little bit off or criminal minded.

Kurumatani captures the quiet despair of the little guy who is sort of floating on the tide of human waste and disappointment.  While reading the book I thought of the films by Jim Jarmusch, because the characters float in and out of the narrative, while having one main figure staying there for the whole ride (narrative).  There is also a touch of Kafka, but without the humor.  Interesting writer, and I will keep him in mind for the future.