Hey gang. I don’t usually post anywhere so sorry if I don’t do this the right way.
Anyway, I’m both learning to enjoy reading again (haven’t since high school) and learning Japanese through reading, since it really doesn’t feel like anything else works quite as well. It’s challenging. So, I was thinking of trying to find maybe a Japanese version of the last book I read all the way through and enjoyed: The Princess Bride. It’s a classic.
But as one might expect, it’s not translated.
So, book-gurus, does anyone know of a Japanese book with a similar funny-campy-fantasy vibe? Kind of a shot in the dark, but thanks in advance.
The Princess Bride actually was translated into Japanese! You might have some trouble finding it, though; according to Wikipedia, it was published in Japan in 1986, and a super quick survey of my usual secondhand sites doesn’t bring anything back. Here’s a sold-out listening so you can at least see the cover.
Edit: After more research, it looks like it might have been published under a different cover as well. If that is the OG novel (which seems somewhat likely given Amazon lists it at 432 pages), it looks like there’s a few copies in stock there. Here’s another listing on Mercari; it’s bundling the JP and EN version together.
Interestingly, it looks like the book and the movie were localized under two different names: the book as プリンセス・ブライド, and the movie as プリンセス・ブライド・ストーリー. Be careful when looking at used book listings; there’s what appears to be a fairly common book with the latter name that has pictures and scenes from the movie, and doesn’t appear to be the actual book.
Dang. I’m glad I asked. Thank you for researching, you certainly did better at me than finding this. I saw that mercari posting you linked and got on top of it immediately.
It’s probably gonna be like a level 45, or something, but, I’ll give it my best go. Ha
I know that the OP’s actual question was solved, but if anyone has recommendations for Japanese books that are similar to (but aren’t) The Princess Bride… I’d love to hear them!
Not a problem! I love it when people are able to find stuff they didn’t realize existed at first, so I’m really glad it worked out! Let us know how the book goes; I’m a big fan of the original myself as well! I’m amazed it came in so quickly for you as well!
Same here! I have nothing else to offer here in terms of suggestions, sadly, so I’d love to hear some recs as well!
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