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Book #6 from the "Women in Translation" rec list was Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki, translated from Japanese by Polly Barton. This novel is about a journalist seeking to score an exclusive interview with convicted 3-time murderer Manako Kajii. Kajii is in prison for killing three of her lovers, all older, well-off, lonely men, and with her retrial coming up soon, journalist Rika Machida thinks it's the perfect time for another focus feature on the famous murderess. However, the more time she spends with Kajii, the more she wonders if maybe Kajii is the only one seeing the situation clearly.
This book has been billed in some places as a crime thriller or murder mystery, but it's not really, so if you go into it expecting that, I fear you'll be disappointed. The core of the book isn't really whether Kajii killed her lovers or not. What this book really was is to interrogate societal attitudes in Japan, which it does through a lot of introspection on the part of Rika.
A few months ago I got really into this game called Limbus Company. The details aren't too important - what's relevant is that most if not all the major characters are based on classic literature (many of them are named after protagonists and other characters). I decided to start reading some of this source material (I guess you could call it that), starting with Yi Sang. Forgive me if I'm doing some kind of faux pas, first-time poster. More under the cut.
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- Mood:
content - Music:Mili - Fly, My Wings
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! by Satoru Yamaguchi
Parallel reading on manga and light novel -- which means light novel #2 and manga #2,3, and 4. Spoilers ahead for the earlier volume -- and each one may spoil the manga before.
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Parallel reading on manga and light novel -- which means light novel #2 and manga #2,3, and 4. Spoilers ahead for the earlier volume -- and each one may spoil the manga before.
( Read more... )
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! #1 by Satoru Yamaguchi
As an aesthetic experiment, I was reading and comparing the light novel and the manga. Both, of course, in translation. The central idea here is the Japanese heroine was reborn in a dating game. As the villainess. Apparently a rather popular subgenre.
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As an aesthetic experiment, I was reading and comparing the light novel and the manga. Both, of course, in translation. The central idea here is the Japanese heroine was reborn in a dating game. As the villainess. Apparently a rather popular subgenre.
( Read more... )