Japanese "Eeeee Eee Eeee" (Kawade Shobo, 2009)

Kawade Shobo is publishing Eeeee Eee Eeee this month. They asked me to make a 30-second promotional video. They "embedded" my 30-second promotional video into a longer promotional video they made. I feel maybe Japanese people will appreciate that I seem embarrassed in the video. I feel I was "just" "being myself." If any Japanese people are reading this blog post I would like to say that I co-wrote a book called Hikikomori in 2006.

I like Japan. I don't remember when I first felt that I liked Japan. Maybe when I first played Nintendo. Japan is maybe "by far" my favorite country. Japan seems to have a long life expectancy, a low obesity rate, and a social phenomenon that seems related to things I like to read or write about such as loneliness, depression, boredom, confusion, social anxiety, and meaninglessness. Japanese people seem on average more calm, embarrassed, nervous, "humble," and shy than people from other countries, I feel (based on my experiences in concrete reality, watching TV and movies, and reading books). Seems like Japanese people "shit talk" less. I went to Japan when I was 8 or 9. Here is a poem about my trip to Japan.

To "commemorate" Japan publishing Eeeee Eee Eeee I will now blog about every Japanese book I remember having read.

The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe

I think I have read it twice. Having problems remembering if I read this once or twice. I like the ending, seems "very" consoling. Seems powerful in "reminding" me that happiness is "relative" and that I can probably "come to accept," and be able to feel "happiness" or "pleasure" in any situation that I am put into, no matter how "horrible" it may seem from other perspectives.

The Box Man by Kobo Abe

I think I read the first 20-80 pages maybe three times. I think I have not ever finished the entire book. The first 20-80 pages seem funny, emotional, and consoling to me. It is about people who leave their apartments and put refrigerator boxes over themselves, and live inside the refrigerator boxes, walking around with the refrigerator boxes over them and sitting down inside the refrigerator boxes and eating and sleeping in them, with small openings so they can see outside the box. I think after 80 pages the book becomes some kind of "meta" thing that focuses on "sexual fetishes"/"narrative reliability issues" and less directly on loneliness/social alienation.

Inter Ice Age 4 by Kobo Abe

This can maybe be considered a "science fiction" novel. I think this is the earliest Kobo Abe novel translated to English. I think he has two novels before this not translated to English. I think Kobo Abe has almost the same tone in everything I have read by him. I view Kobo Abe tonally as I view Kafka or Joy Williams, in that these people have maintained a distinct tone throughout their careers, to some degree, it seems. Kobo Abe's tone seems confident of itself and can be described as "funny," "humorously logical," or "not unlike Kafka." Inter Ice Age 4's main "thing" is maybe a machine that can predict the future by processing the existing data of the past. If the prediction is "made public" the machine then "must" do another prediction that includes the data of the effect of the initial prediction being released, which if then released requires another prediction, and the "average" of those predictions becomes the final prediction of the future, I think. The book eventually becomes, to me, about acceptance, relativity, and acknowledging then "internalizing" different perspectives as a means to feel more accurately insignificant in order, among other things, to make oneself feel "less depressed." It is maybe similar to The Woman in the Dunes re the sentence before this sentence.

Kangaroo Notebook by Kobo Abe

This is a "surrealistic"/"magic realist" novel maybe. The narrative seems to progress based on a logic or thought process that is "not realistic" but that is consistent and, to me, "funny"/"interesting." This book seems to maybe "showcase" Kobo Abe's creativity and sense of humor in the way, I feel, that The Quick and the Dead "showcases" Joy Williams' creativity and sense of humor. I feel I would commit to reading the entire book if I owned it. I have read maybe 40 pages of it while "at work" in a library that had it. This book is rare maybe, not sure. I feel I will read it in entirety within 1-2 years. I look forward to reading it.

The Ark Sakura by Kobo Abe

I have read maybe 30 pages. I have it in "giant" hardcover edition. If I had a softcover edition I feel I would read it in entirety within 1-2 months. I feel committed to reading it in entirety at some point. I feel that I would read anything by Kobo Abe due to his relatively consistent tone that I already know I like. I feel interested in reading non-fiction by Kobo Abe. He wears "hipster glasses" in his author photos from I think the 50's or 60's or 70's.

Norweigian Wood by Haruki Murakami

I think I liked this. I think it was highly readable and contained moments where the narrator was "depressed"/"lonely" without being dramatic about it. I don't remember what happened in it. I remember one part where the narrator was lonely in college maybe. I think it is about a relationship.

A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami

I'm not certain if I read this in entirety. I don't remember what happened in it. I think I remember one part where some kind of "authority," like an FBI person, is standing in a room with the narrator and a sheep or something. I'm currently experiencing "weird feelings" that I somehow "copied" this book in the animal sections of Eeeee Eee Eeee.

Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami

I'm not certain if I read this in entirety. I don't remember what happened in it. I think this is a sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase or that A Wild Sheep Chase is a sequel to this. I seem to have images of sheep in this book, but maybe that is just the title or the cover. I think the cover of this has a "ram" on it.

Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami

I remember reading this and feeling like I was reading a fantasy novel. I think it had a map in it that reminded me of Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior on "regular Nintendo." It alternates chapters between two "separate" books that I think vaguely connect in the end, or at times, but not enough to make it "not 'literary.'" Seems like a successful gimmick in inducing feelings of "this world we are in isn't real" or "there are other, alternate worlds that maybe influence this one or just exist." I remember imagining the landscape of the "End of the World" parts as like in the movie Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami

I remember feeling excited reading the story about a couple "robbing" a McDonald's late at night. I think after reading it I told my mom to read it. I also remember a story where the narrator talks about how the only question he had, in his head, after meeting a girl, or something, was whether or not he was going to "have sex" with the girl. I felt "alienated" from that "sentiment" at the time in my life when I read that quote; I do not necessarily feel "not alienated" from that "sentiment" currently, I haven't thought about it currently.

South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami

I think I remember the narrator owning a jazz club or something. I feel that I liked this novel. I feel that I like his short, "realistic" novels more than his other novels. I think I read all his books before I had read any of the books I currently like most, for example any K-mart Realism except probably Raymond Carver.

Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami

I remember one scene where the narrator looks out his window and sees something in a building across the street. It is "himself" naked and doing sexual things to another person. I remember feeling "really scared" alone in my room in Florida after reading that scene. I was afraid to look out the window because I thought I might see myself naked and doing weird things. Currently it seems not scary at all, maybe I am remembering the scene wrong. I feel like this novel contains a girl being sent into space in the style of monkeys that were sent into space in the 60's. I'm certain that isn't in the book.

After the Quake by Haruki Murakami

I liked the stories in here. I think they were all, but the last one, "realistic," and more than 20 pages. I feel that Haruki Murakami said the stories in this book were inspired by Raymond Carver, not entirely sure about that. I think I know that Haruki Murakami is Raymond Carver's Japanese translator. I have "actually" read a biography of Haruki Murakami by his "main" English translator, Jay Rubin. I don't remember anything specific from the biography.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

I think I read maybe 80 pages of this. After reading maybe 80 pages I felt myself not having a strong desire anymore to read more books by Haruki Murakami. Previously I felt enough desire to calmly and even "excitedly" "commit" to entire books by him. I think after 80 pages of this I became aware that I like translations of Haruki Murakami by Philip Gabriel more than Jay Rubin, who seems to use many cliches/idioms like "screamed at the top of my lungs" or "felt it at the bottom of my heart," whereas I seem to remember that Philip Gabriel did not use many cliches/idioms. Wonder if Haruki Murakami is aware of this. Here is a YouTube video of Haruki Murakami, "lol."

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

I remember the narrator of this book being "emo." I think there is a passage in the book where the narrator says he is "no longer human" due to extreme detachment or inability to feel happy or something. I have memories of the narrator trying to kill himself, maybe more than once. I have memories of the narrator looking at his child or something and feeling "nothing" or maybe feeling "confused." I don't remember what "actually" happens in this book. I think I remember feeling that the author had a complex/layered sense of sarcasm/irony that I "suspected" wasn't conveyed completely due to translation.

The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai

I don't remember how much of this book I read. I think I remember some parts about the main character being a child and feeling alienated. I may have not read this book. I think I read it.

Rashoman and Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa

I remember feeling that the stories in this book were like "fables, or something," in that the author seemed to have "what if" ideas and then write stories to actuate the ideas, for example thinking "what if someone was never satisfied with their wife's looks" or something then "sitting down" and writing that story until the "what if" question seemed answered.

Sayonara, Gangsters by Genichiro Takahashi

I remember initially thinking this book was "too whimsical" or something for me to like it, but after maybe 50 pages I felt I liked it. This book has a Jonathan Safran Foer blurb, seems funny. I liked this book. It seems not available anywhere. I read a copy from New York University's library. I remember feeling emotional at one "chapter" while also feeling aware that I was being manipulated, but being okay with being manipulated.

The One-Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka

This book is about organic farming and the arbitrary, relative, "meaninglessness" nature of the universe. The author says when he was around 25 he felt, suddenly, or something, that everything was "meaningless," which made him happy. After that he went somewhere and started a farm. The book discusses how types of farming (or other things involved in food production) that use chemicals and unnatural fertilizers are causing certain effects that most people would view as "undesirable" in terms of health, "happiness," people's "worldviews," sustainability, the environment, future generations, and other things. I like this book. It has pictures from the 60's or 70's or 80's that I think show Masanobu Fukuoka wearing "hipster glasses."

Snakes and Earrings by Hitomi Kanehara

I think this is ~15,000 words. It is about a "depressed"/"detached" girl that is "into" piercings and then later drinks a lot of alcohol every day. I remember at the end the girl feels really depressed then for no reason feels less depressed, then feels happy and "hopeful for the future," or something. It seemed funny. I think she wrote it when 18 or 19. In Japan I think the "major" literary prize is the Akutagawa Prize, which is given "annually" to one person, but in 2003 it was given to two people, Hitomi Kanehara and Risa Wataya, who were both 19 or 20, which were the youngest ages to whom the prize had been awarded (feeling uncertain re grammar in this sentence.) I would like to read Hitomi Kanehara's other books but I think they aren't translated. One is available in the UK maybe. Seems like almost none of the books that win the Akutagawa Prize are translated to English.