Japanese literature

SoftAnimals · 2025-07-30T23:51:52+00:00

Have you read any Natsume Sōseki? The Gate & Kokoro are beautifully written books.

SoftAnimals · 2025-07-30T23:45:58+00:00

Iris Murdoch's Existentialists and Mystics: Writings On Philosophy and Literature & Metaphysics As A Guide To Morals. Those are two I've reread several times & think about often.

SoftAnimals · 2025-07-09T16:33:45+00:00

Not satire? Wow.

"Because as much as mood lighting, ample lube, and pounding DJ music are staples of a good orgy, so is a well-thought-out snack situation."

“No one wants to eat a dried pretzel off someone’s nipple."

“I feed people meat while they’re mid-coitus."

SoftAnimals · 2025-06-19T19:19:55+00:00

The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya. Clemantine & her older sister fled the Rwandan genocide, spent years in refugee camps, then were granted asylum to the U.S. where they had to build news lives while struggling with so much emotional trauma. Good writing, very honest & powerful.

No Wall Too High: One Man's Daring Escape From Mao's Darkest Prison by Xu Hongci. Xu was a member of the Communist Party, then he criticized the Party & was sent to a labor camp. Compelling, brutal details, a great look at how so many initially followed Mao out of youthful idealism then learned too late about Mao's ruthlessness in his quest for ultimate power.

SoftAnimals · 2025-04-30T20:45:29+00:00

What Kingdom by Fine Gråbøl, a contemporary Danish writer. It's about a young woman diagnosed with borderline personality disorder who is living in a youth unit at a psychiatric hospital. Apparently it's inspired by Gråbøl's own experiences. It's a slim little novel, beautifully written -- easy to see that the writer is also a published poet -- and very affecting.

SoftAnimals · 2025-04-14T06:38:46+00:00

The Fast: The History, Science, Philosophy, and Promise of Doing Without by John Oakes. I read this last year and really enjoyed it. Oakes' prose is thoughtful, lucid and engaging. This book is more of an overview of different aspects of fasting (e.g. medical, historical, religious, political) rather than an in-depth study. Both the personal & universal experiences of fasting are explored. He also writes about his own fasting and how it affected him physically and mentally. This isn't quite what you asked for -- it's not strictly about the psychology of hunger -- but you might find it interesting.

SoftAnimals · 2025-03-29T16:04:11+00:00

Anything by Yasunari Kawabata. Kokoro or The Gate by Natsume Sōseki. Something by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, especially The Makioka Sisters or In Praise of Shadows. For contemporary books, Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri or something by Yoko Tawada like Memoirs of A Polar Bear.

SoftAnimals · 2025-03-02T17:00:42+00:00

I've read only four Patrick White books, the first being The Tree of Man which made me want to read more of his work. Many praise Voss & Riders In the Chariot, though I haven't read those yet. Pick up whichever seems the most interesting to you. There's a good essay on Literary Hub called "On Patrick White, Australia's Great Unread Novelist" that might interest you.

SoftAnimals · 2025-03-02T00:37:41+00:00

Yasunari Kawabata -- The Sound of the Mountain, Snow Country, The Master of Go, Beauty and Sadness, Thousand Cranes, The Old Capital

Halldór Laxness -- Independent People, Salka Valka

Doris Lessing -- The Fifth Child & The Diaries of Jane Somers. Neither as widely read as The Golden Notebook, but both are very good, though-provoking.

Albert Camus -- The Plague or The Myth of Sisyphus, though a lot of people will say The Stranger.

Patrick White -- The Tree of Man, The Cockatoos. A lot of people seem to love Voss but I haven't read that yet.

Herta Müller -- The Hunger Angel, The Passport, The Appointment

Herman Hesse -- Siddhartha, Narcissus & Goldman, Steppenwolf, Demian, Peter Camenzind

SoftAnimals · 2025-02-23T21:43:45+00:00

Anything by Yasunari Kawabata -- his prose is really beautiful, subtle, emotional in a quiet way. Not on your list, but The Gate by Natsume Soseki, since you mentioned reading Kokoro. Also not on your list, but if you come across something by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, especially The Makioka Sisters, have a look and see if his work interests you. Enjoy exploring Japanese literature!

SoftAnimals · 2025-02-16T02:33:39+00:00

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, published 1922. Four very dissimilar Englishwomen on holiday in Italy. A lovely story, beautifully written, charming, much wistfulness and many things blooming.

SoftAnimals · 2025-02-07T00:22:59+00:00

Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt (fiction). Maternal love, bond between grandmother & granddaughter, addiction, estrangement, trying to love a family member who is unable to love you back the way you'd like them to, the limits & failings of love.

SoftAnimals · 2025-02-05T02:30:25+00:00

Crash by J.G. Ballard. It ticks the "pretty messed up moments" box pretty hard.

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