14-16/50 and a non-update
Ick. I'm so behind on the books project. None of my classes this semester is reading books; it's all articles and chapters. I've had a busy semester, too, so not much time for outside reading. Unfortunately, I don't have time to update properly right now, but I want to at least get the books down.
14. The Maid by Tsutsui Yasutaka
15. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time by Tsutsui Yasutaka
14 and 15 go together. I'm working on getting together my reading lists for qualifying exams (next year... but they're coming up fast). One exam will be related to modern Japanese literature, and I never read all that much Japanese literature. On top of that, modern Japanese lit exams usually have a lot of what is to me older literature (early- to mid-twentieth century). Since my focus is on contemporary works, those aren't as useful to me as later literature. However, I'll have to make a strong argument to do anything different. That brings us to 14 and 15. Tsutsui is a fairly well-regarded contemporary author, and there are a lot of tie-ins to what I study. His Paprika and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time have both been adapted into anime. I picked up The Maid while I was in Japan this summer, and I think it's a solid possibility. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time probably won't make it onto my reading list, but it is an interesting book. What makes The Maid (which is about a telepathic housemaid) most interesting for me is the way Tsutsui depicts the inner worlds of his male and female characters. Because depicting subjectivity was a big thing in early twentieth century Japanese literature, I can also make a solid argument for including it in my reading lists. After all, it clearly shows change in how subjectivity is depicted in Japanese literature, right? Right.
16. Phantasmagoria by Lewis Carroll
A long poem or short book by Lewis Carroll, Phantasmagoria tells the story of a man coming home late and meeting a ghost in his home. It's a cute book, and I enjoyed it. Nothing earth-shaking, but a quick, amusing read. I read it because I'm writing a paper on Alice in Wonderland adaptations and I thought I should check on whether other Carroll works get adapted the way the two Alices do.
Hopefully I'll get a real update on here soon, but for now I need to get ready for a doctor's appointment.
14. The Maid by Tsutsui Yasutaka
15. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time by Tsutsui Yasutaka
14 and 15 go together. I'm working on getting together my reading lists for qualifying exams (next year... but they're coming up fast). One exam will be related to modern Japanese literature, and I never read all that much Japanese literature. On top of that, modern Japanese lit exams usually have a lot of what is to me older literature (early- to mid-twentieth century). Since my focus is on contemporary works, those aren't as useful to me as later literature. However, I'll have to make a strong argument to do anything different. That brings us to 14 and 15. Tsutsui is a fairly well-regarded contemporary author, and there are a lot of tie-ins to what I study. His Paprika and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time have both been adapted into anime. I picked up The Maid while I was in Japan this summer, and I think it's a solid possibility. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time probably won't make it onto my reading list, but it is an interesting book. What makes The Maid (which is about a telepathic housemaid) most interesting for me is the way Tsutsui depicts the inner worlds of his male and female characters. Because depicting subjectivity was a big thing in early twentieth century Japanese literature, I can also make a solid argument for including it in my reading lists. After all, it clearly shows change in how subjectivity is depicted in Japanese literature, right? Right.
16. Phantasmagoria by Lewis Carroll
A long poem or short book by Lewis Carroll, Phantasmagoria tells the story of a man coming home late and meeting a ghost in his home. It's a cute book, and I enjoyed it. Nothing earth-shaking, but a quick, amusing read. I read it because I'm writing a paper on Alice in Wonderland adaptations and I thought I should check on whether other Carroll works get adapted the way the two Alices do.
Hopefully I'll get a real update on here soon, but for now I need to get ready for a doctor's appointment.