![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bookblogging
Oct. 26th, 2008 11:43 pmBooks:
Yokomizo Seishi: The Inugami Clan
(this is I think sort of like the Murder on the Orient Express of Japanese mystery, one of those hugely popular, well-known, influential pieces of fiction that gets referenced again and again. It's pretty cool, even though I knew a great deal of the plot from having read Murder Most Modern. It's absolutely worth reading itself if you like mystery, or enjoy reading a source text that's received multiple adaptations).
Manga:
Koge-Donbo: Yoki Koto Kiku
(I've read this before, but it was fun to reread it after reading The Inugami Clan, which is what it's parodying. I also dug out volume 7 of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service to read the chapter parodying what I suspect was a contemporary remake of the film. I'm not positive on the dates, but the latest remake of The Inugami Clan was in 2006, and a two-year delay between Japanese publication and English translation is about right).
Taniguchi Jiro: The Ice Wanderer and other stories
(I liked the non-London influenced stories more, particularly the autobiographic bit about the boarding house. There's nothing wrong with Taniguchi's adaptations of London, I just don't have much interest in Alaskan wilderness literature).
Minekura Kazuya: Saiyuki Reload vol. 8.
Takahashi Rumiko: The Return of Lum * Urusei Yatsura
(the more I read of old Takahashi, the better I appreciate how it was that her older, funnier, less dramatic work made her one of, possibly the most successful manga-ka in the world. With age, one begins to appreciate the value of ruthlessly bizarre humor over melodrama. This is the first volume of Urusei Yatsura I've ever read; it will definitely not be my last).
I lost some books. I had a list somewhere of books I had to return to the library before I got around to writing them up. I'm really annoyed about this. I can't remember if there was anything really interesting on it, but this offends my sense of completeness.
Yokomizo Seishi: The Inugami Clan
(this is I think sort of like the Murder on the Orient Express of Japanese mystery, one of those hugely popular, well-known, influential pieces of fiction that gets referenced again and again. It's pretty cool, even though I knew a great deal of the plot from having read Murder Most Modern. It's absolutely worth reading itself if you like mystery, or enjoy reading a source text that's received multiple adaptations).
Manga:
Koge-Donbo: Yoki Koto Kiku
(I've read this before, but it was fun to reread it after reading The Inugami Clan, which is what it's parodying. I also dug out volume 7 of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service to read the chapter parodying what I suspect was a contemporary remake of the film. I'm not positive on the dates, but the latest remake of The Inugami Clan was in 2006, and a two-year delay between Japanese publication and English translation is about right).
Taniguchi Jiro: The Ice Wanderer and other stories
(I liked the non-London influenced stories more, particularly the autobiographic bit about the boarding house. There's nothing wrong with Taniguchi's adaptations of London, I just don't have much interest in Alaskan wilderness literature).
Minekura Kazuya: Saiyuki Reload vol. 8.
Takahashi Rumiko: The Return of Lum * Urusei Yatsura
(the more I read of old Takahashi, the better I appreciate how it was that her older, funnier, less dramatic work made her one of, possibly the most successful manga-ka in the world. With age, one begins to appreciate the value of ruthlessly bizarre humor over melodrama. This is the first volume of Urusei Yatsura I've ever read; it will definitely not be my last).
I lost some books. I had a list somewhere of books I had to return to the library before I got around to writing them up. I'm really annoyed about this. I can't remember if there was anything really interesting on it, but this offends my sense of completeness.