I liked this right from the beginning and never stopped liking it right to the end. I kept waiting for a letdown, because it has not been well receiveI liked this right from the beginning and never stopped liking it right to the end. I kept waiting for a letdown, because it has not been well received by my goodreads friends so far, but the letdown never came. ...more
3.5 stars, actually. That's what it came out to when I averaged my individual ratings of these stories:
5. Milk / Tamaki Daido 5. My son's lips / Shungi3.5 stars, actually. That's what it came out to when I averaged my individual ratings of these stories:
5. Milk / Tamaki Daido 5. My son's lips / Shungiku Uchida 4. Piss / Yuzuki Muroi 4. The unfertilized egg / Junko Hasegawa 3. Inside / Rio Shimamoto 3. Her room / Chiya Fujino 2. Fiesta / Amy Yamda 2. The shadow of the orchid / Nobuko Takagi...more
This is a self-serving political memoir by one of the lyingest liars of all time, and one more book that will make you despair for the future of this This is a self-serving political memoir by one of the lyingest liars of all time, and one more book that will make you despair for the future of this country. But it's not uninteresting or unentertaining to read, and if you don't mind suspending your disbelief about the specifics of who said what and when, etc., you might find this kind of fun to read, as I did. It sure does make you feel like you're in the front row for all of this chicanery anyway....more
Wow, I really couldn't read this. I'm surprised the goodreads reviews were so good (3.61 at the time I read this, with 700 reviews). I don't know if tWow, I really couldn't read this. I'm surprised the goodreads reviews were so good (3.61 at the time I read this, with 700 reviews). I don't know if this comes from the original french or from the translation, but I found this writing really annoying--childish, amateurish, like the writing of someone who has just learned to write. Every noun its adjective, every adjective and verb its adverb. Overly wordy, overly clever. Uggh, I couldn't stand this. And it didn't help that the story was way corny and just getting cornier when I finally threw in the towel on page 44 after this passage: "I threw myself at the blank page convinced that the earth would move. Oddly enough, there was no earthquake. Given the area where we lived, such telluric tranquility was an oddity that might be attributable to certain auspicious circumstances ... The next morning, the punctuality of the Mercedes was equaled only by its white sheen." ...more
Parts I and II of this were good, and I enjoyed them. (The first-person narrator of Part II is a very thinly disguised Donald Richie, by the way, in cParts I and II of this were good, and I enjoyed them. (The first-person narrator of Part II is a very thinly disguised Donald Richie, by the way, in case that might interest you.)
But part III was silly almost beyond belief, and I'm still wondering what could have possibly been the meaning of it, other than maybe to account (very sketchily) for what Ri Koran/Shirley/Yoshiko was doing in those years?
I don't know. But if you're going to read this, believe me, you'll do yourself a favor if you stop after part II. The author would have done himself a favor if he'd stopped there, too, IMHO....more
This was a good book--an entertaining and interesting travelogue and also excellent reporting. I do have a bone to pick with the publisher, however ..This was a good book--an entertaining and interesting travelogue and also excellent reporting. I do have a bone to pick with the publisher, however ... would it have cost so much to put a frickin map or two in here?!! ...more
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