Book: キノの旅 1 | L29
Is there an ebook available?: yes
Is there an audiobook available?: no(?)
Is there an all-furigana version available?: yes (but according to the natively page it drops a chapter)
(Optional) Is this book available in Korean?: according to wikipedia, yes (but not sure of the logistics)
Summary - Japanese
世界は美しくなんかない。
「キノはどうして旅を続けているの?」 「ボクはね、たまに自分がどうしようもない、愚かで矮小な奴ではないか? ものすごく汚い人間ではないか? なぜだかよく分からないけど、そう感じる時があるんだ……でもそんな時は必ず、それ以外のもの、例えば世界とか、他の人間の生き方とかが、全て美しく、素敵なものの様に感じるんだ。とても、愛しく思えるんだよ……。ボクは、それらをもっともっと知りたくて、そのために旅をしている様な気がする」 ―――短編連作の形で綴られる人間キノと言葉を話す二輪車エルメスの旅の話。今までにない新感覚ノベルが登場!
Summary - English
Wikipedia:
The protagonist, Kino, accompanied by a talking named Hermes, travels through a mystical world of many different countries and forests, each unique in its customs and people. She only spends three days and two nights in every town, without exception, on the principle that three days is enough time to learn almost everything important about a place, while leaving time to explore new lands.
Anilist:
Destination is a state of mind. A tale of one girl and her bike and the road ahead. Kino wanders around the world on the back of Hermes, her unusual, anthropomorphic motorcycle, only staying in each country for three days. During their adventures, they find happiness, sadness, pain, decadence, violence, beauty, and wisdom. But through it all, they never lose their sense of freedom. They discover that because of the world’s imperfections, it is actually a thing of beauty. “The world is not beautiful, therefore it is.”
Content warnings if known
No idea. Happy to update if anyone knows of any.
Why are you nominating this book: I bought this ages ago from a recommendation as “your first book in Japanese”, which I know at this point is hilariously bad advice. I’d personally like to read it since it’s the Japanese ebook I’ve owned the longest so it feels fitting somehow, but for everyone else, I think the premise sounds interesting (who doesn’t love a travel story? ) and it’s generally well reviewed.
edit: The special link isn’t working for me… I edited it in markdown myself so apologies if it’s weird