/jp/ - Otaku Culture

[Anonymous No.]

What are some good Japanese literature?

[Anonymous No.]

> literature

Do you always apply that term to drivel written for adolescents? It even has an ABe manga-style drawing on the cover, for goodness' sake.

[Anonymous No.]

>good Japanese
>literature
Oxymoron.

[Anonymous No.]

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810417
Don't judge a book by it's cover.

[Anonymous No.]

video games

[Anonymous No.]

Try Kobo Abe, Osamu Dazai, Shusaku Endo, Murakami if you want something more modern, Yasunari Kawabata.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810425
I don't read translated shit.

[Anonymous No.]

Shitty recommendation thread?
Shitty recommendation thread.
b-b-bump

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810454
I read translated and untranslated games. What will you do now?

[Anonymous No.]

http://4chanlit.wikia.com/wiki/Recommended_Reading#Japanese

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810433
I judged it by its contents too. Wish fulfilment bullshite from an author who admits in the afterword he was just trying to make a quick buck.

[Anonymous No.]

night on the galactic railroad
no longer human
kokoro

[Anonymous No.]

Accel World light novel

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810496
B-but it's a story about my hikki lifestyle. Surely it can't be that bad.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810517
You know what, fuck it. I'm just being silly. I read it (in English) and it was actually a very enjoyable book. Better than the anime and far better than the manga, in my opinion.

Sorry /jp/, I don't know what I was going for.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810517
You arent the main character though. Its shit, stop being such a stupid nerd.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810523
>I read it (in English)
>(in English)
Kill yourself

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810531
No, you.

I didn't read Planet of the Apes in French, I didn't read Crime and Punishment in Russian, and I didn't read Harry Potter in British. Translations exist for a reason.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810554
Translations are for betas. If you're a real man, you'd learn those languages yourself instead of depending on translators who get paid by the word.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810531
translations are the cancer killing literature

[Anonymous No.]

In my opinion it is best to read translations unless you 1.) have a high degree of understanding in a given language, or 2.) intend to achieve a high degree of understanding in a given language. Why? Because the translator likely knows the language better than you, and if you haven't reached the point that you can read and understand the language without translating it back into your mother tongue, you're just going to be translating it in your head. And guess what? Your translation is going to be shitty, and below the level of a professional. So if you're willing to put in the huge amounts of time necessary to really learn the language, go for it. Otherwise I think you're just wasting your time.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810601
You must be shit with languages, then. Whenever I read something in a foreign language, I read it how it is. I don't translate it in my head. If there is something I don't know, I look it up, but generally I can understand certain things without converting it into English. Translations remove some poeticness that the writer originally intended to have in his literature. If I read translated text, it usually feels very stiff in comparison the original text. You should never treat a foreign language as if it was a foreign language. You should just treat it as an extension to your own native tongue, almost as if you simply speaking another dialect of English.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810634
I think you're full of shit.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810640
I think you're not a linguist.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810648
Are you? I think if so then you're helping my point about how most people shouldn't bother.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810649
These things can be applied to anyone. You don't have to translate languages into your native tongue in order to understand them. Any human language can be understood by simply listening or reading it, even if you have only a little bit of knowledge in that language.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810672
>You don't have to translate languages into your native tongue in order to understand them.

Of course you don't. But that is how languages are often taught, and how most people end up learning them. Translate into English exercises and such.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810634
Which is why there is so much literature dedicated to the method and ethics (if you could call it that) of translation. The whole point of translation is that you get the same experience a native reader or listener would. Even if you know what "itadakimasu" means, to you it's "a Japanese tradition", to the Japanese it's part of their everyday lives. If instead you read, "Thanks for the food!" or, "Let's dig in!" then it flows more naturally in your brain because it's something you're used to.
I would seriously argue that being fluent in a language isn't enough to understand it. Even if you get all the idioms and references, I think you would need to spend some time in the culture or country the media/language is from before you get the proper experience you're striving for. Obviously you can look stuff up and remember it, and people write stories in foreign settings, but a book aimed at a Japanese audience is simply going to have things that aren't familiar or typical to a Western reader.

[Anonymous No.]

ぼくのメジャースプーン
ロミオとロミオは永遠に
蛇行する川のほとり

are some books I've liked.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810696
Thanks, I'll look into these.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810683
How much cock do you have to suck and how many Apple products do you have to own in order to be fluent in English?

[Anonymous No.]

Saya no uto

[Anonymous No.]

Bakemonogatari and Fate /Zero

[Anonymous No.]

>>9821436
>Bakemonogatari

[gubthgiN elggirW No.]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Country

you're doing a serious disservice to yourself by not reading it in japanese

[Anonymous No.]

>>9821453
Yes.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9821436
loling atm HARD

[Anonymous No.]

>>9821457
No. It's the shittiest of all contemporary shit.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9821460
Where do I find this book untranslated? I only can seem to find the translated version.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9821518

[Anonymous No.]

>>9821533
Oh shit, is that the one in san fransisco?

[Anonymous No.]

>>9821571
Yeah looks like it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9821533
I don't want to get out of my house to find it. Is there somewhere online?

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810554
>I didn't read Harry Potter in British
uwot m8?

[Anonymous No.]

>>9821601
Did you not read the American translation where Harry shoots Voldemort and then flies away in a F-16?

[Anonymous No.]

>>9821598
http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/indexohb.cgi?AREA=03
Generally not good to order from unless you're getting over $100 worth of stuff, in which case shipping is completely free.

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810683
>いただきます
>Thanks for the food!
>Let's dig in!
So you say that flows 'more naturally'? I'm glad that you came into this thread to comment but shouldn't you be using your trip gg?

[Anonymous No.]

>>9821624
ruba dub dub thanks for the grub!

[Anonymous No.]

>>9821609
Blimey mate, I did read that translation. Isn't that the one with HarryxRon pairing?

[Anonymous No.]

>>9821635
In beautiful America we translate "konbanwa" to "Good day there fellas!"

[Anonymous No.]

>>9821601
They actually did make some localisation changes. Seanus was Irish in the original and said things like "me mam", but in the American edition he was given a Southern accent and said "my ma".

[Anonymous No.]

>>9810672
>Any human language can be understood by simply listening or reading it, even if you have only a little bit of knowledge in that language.

Nope, nope, nope. gb2linguistics101

[Anonymous No.]

>>9821684
Wasn't the American version of the first book also called "The Sorcerer's Stone" or something like that?

[Anonymous No.]

Fate /Zero