What are you reading today?

Japanese Reading
5138

Whoops, I paused it cuz it was hard (I got up to like 22 lookups per (font size 2 Kindle) page, on some pages), and instead restarted:

I was able to get my bearings relatively well, cuz I remembered it from the manga. So far I’m just through the plot setup. Met the love interest, and briefly the villain. Anyway much easier, and half the reading time (8 hrs left vs 16). Hopefully

@earwen about how the female chars in 処刑少女 are described: I only got up to MC and her kouhai taking out the 5 soldier/assassins, planning the castle invasion, and dressing in a maid suit, and so far the description has been entirely normal - more than I’d expect. Sry I can’t report more rn

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5139

My 積読 (TBR) pile is so large at the moment, and it doesn’t help I’m moving in two weeks. lol

This week, I decided to pick up 辻村深月’s ツナグ.

She is the first author I read in Japanese, and I loved various works by her like かがみの孤城, 闇祓, 善良と傲慢, 島は僕らと, and この夏の星を見る. It goes without saying I’m a big fan of hers and I can see why she’s enjoyed much success in the J-literature world.

I haven’t watched any of the live-action movie adaptations for her books yet, so if anyone here would recommend I watch ツナグ’s movie, please let me know!

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5140

Basically, really long descriptions of things or overly complex similes/metaphors, especially if they are there just for the sake of the description itself and not for important worldbuilding. I’m not sure I have specific examples right now.

“I know big words” isn’t the same as flowery to me. For me, it’s more about the sentence structure and length than the words themselves. Plus, how long the author takes to describe a single thing.

I’m not going to attempt coming up with my own example, because I’m not capable of writing well myself. :sweat_smile: But like, if you spend half a page describing the scent of a flower or two pages describing the field of grass we’re walking through, it better actually be important.

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5141

I have the unpopular opinion that I do not like Tolkien’s writing. He’s a great example of this. :sweat_smile:

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5142

I also agree re:tolkien. Though I wouldn’t call his writing flowery, just descriptive :thinking:
I would say I generally dislike descriptive writing. I find it hard to conjure the images in my mind so it feels pointless.
But flowery to me implies poetic language where descriptiveness is part of it but so is a lot of allegory, figurative language, even the sounds of the words etc. I can like or dislike this. For example I read angela carter recently and really disliked her writing, which I would call flowery. But I really like caitlyn r kiernan’s prose who I also have seen being called flowery, but I find the images she conjures very vivid and striking.

Though for japanese sadly I don’t feel like at the level where I can judge writing styles quite yet. But something I find interesting is that most literary jp novels I read in translation feel like they have a similiar writing style. Distant, simple prose. This is definitely not the case in anime-adjacent translated works. I wonder if it’s some technique literary jp translators use, or just a certain type of book being chosen for translation.

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5143

I actually like descriptive writing concerning places, whole-scale panoramas or action, because it produces images in my mind. These images are also a great help to check whether my understanding of a scene is right, like if something doesn’t fit, e.g. people turn right instead of left which I expected, it’s immediately clear that I understood something wrong before.

But descriptive parts are harder to read, which I don’t like :sweat_smile:. I remember e.g. おおかみこどもの雨と雪 | L30 which was extreme in this respect.

People who watched the movie, probably remember the scene where they first come into their new home on the country side, with those special windows and sink, and some construction of beams etc. Seeing those in the movie is a thing of probably below one or two minutes, but reading about them took me ages, though iirc it were just two pages, but with about 30 look-ups each.

And of course :smile: I like Tolkien‘s LotR books, I read them at least three times already.

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5144

Well-written does not necessarily mean difficult, in my experience. To me it also means “the plot makes sense overall” or “the author doesn’t use the same word or expression three times per page, on every page” :face_vomiting:.

Checking my book list, the easiest one I would recommend (and that even won the Akutagawa Prize) is むらさきのスカートの女 | L27 but there are quite a few other authors in the range up to L30 that write in a very digestible style.

Re: flowery; I really am a sucker for beautiful phrases and mental images. One of the most beautiful images I can remember off of the top of my head is this one:

甲虫の一種が僕らの硬くなった指の腹にしめつけられてもらす粘つく分泌液のような、死者の臭いが鼻孔に回復してくるようなのだ。

This is Oe Kenzaburo, and he deserved to get the nobel prize for this story.

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5145

In the “lower level but well-written” department (roughly in order of remembered/perceived well-written-ness) I have those four to offer:

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5146

NO. 6 〔ナンバーシックス〕#1 | L32 also felt like it fell into that rare well-written category for me.

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5147

So I made a list, why not.

I left No 6 out of it since I feel like if you can read level 32, you’re locked out of some literature but you have most of the rest of the books on the site available to read.

Also I bought it on Bookwalker the other day for like ¥70, so I won’t forget about it when the time comes :joy:

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5148

Here two red level non manga books that I think are good ones. But I am biased as they are among the first I read and I was happy that I could do it:

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5149

No, totally understandable! L32 is a bit out of range. :sweat_smile:

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5150

This month’s Yurihime just came out & it’s the 20th anniversary edition - so it’s packed with stuff I’m reading :smiley: (all but 7 of the series, 2 of which I’ve considered giving a 2nd chance)

Series in this month's magazine I'm reading

If it’s in bold, it means you’ll find comments about it in the next section

  • マユノウタ (New)
  • 私だって青春したいでしょ、本当は。 (New)
  • 今日はカノジョがいないから
  • ささやくように恋を唄う
  • 私の推しは悪役令嬢。
  • 陰キャギャルでもイキがりたい！
  • キミが吠えるための歌を
  • 現実世界でも幸せにして臭いね？
  • 無力聖女と無能王女
  • ぜんぶ壊して地獄で愛して
  • サボりなら保健室でどうぞ？
  • 僕らのアイは気持ち悪い
  • 春の光に呑まれても
  • 踊り場にスカートがなる
  • 彩純ちゃんはレズ風俗に興味があります!
  • ルージュの日記 (Oneshot)
  • カナリアは綺羅星の夢をみる
  • スピカをつかまえて
  • 小春と湊
Impressions of this month's chapters, pt 1 (SPOILERS)

マユノウタ (New)- this was as fun & horror-y as I expected, and I’m surprised it’s more than just a oneshot. I’m really curious to see where it goes. It’s interesting that it’s taking the concept of “motherly love” (in like an “I’ll care for and protect you from the crappy world” kinda way) and playing with it in a pretty dark manner. Pursuing character is basically spider youkai. And we already got a first kiss - which seems to have healing abilities?

私だって青春したいでしょ、本当は。 (New) - 陰キャガール ｘ 陽キャガール ラブコメ was how it was advertised - so I had low expectations… and it exceeded them. MC & love interest end up being the gardening committe members, and have their own “secret garden” type space b/c of it. MC is super uncomfortable with this pairing, but love interest has apparently been watching MC a bit, during morning commute, and they get on awkwardly but well enough. Love Interest is super nice, and MC falls for her. Love interest has a broken heart, b/c the guy she likes is probably going to end up dating her (extremely similar looking) cousin. So MC stumbles in on her crying, and comforts her a bit, and gets to see beyond her public facade, and tells her she can come talk or complain to her about it at any time (all the while feeling her own heartbreak, b/c she just found out the girl she likes likes someone else). Anyway I’m keeping my expectations measured, but cautiously optimistic

今日は彼女がいないから - I get that Yuni just doesn’t know how to deal with her emotions, but freaking out at Fuuko b/c some other girl was coming onto/seemingly assaulting her is so ridiculous (not that I’m particularly sympathetic to Fuuko). I did appreciate her calling her out on the stalking though. Otoh, was disappointed Nanase walked back the “introducing to family” to “my close friend”, and said Yuni could invite a friend (I assume this will end up being Fuuko). I mean the actual disappointment is that neither of them are sensible enough to break up with each other. I might just enjoy the new girl messing w/ Fuuko - a little surprised she’s an ojou-sama - that’s an interesting contrast.

ささやくように恋を唄う - Miki making that slip about wanting to go to the same college as Aki, and then getting all flustered in front of Hima - right after she met w/ Aya in the hallway was gold. Tbh I really like that the author went there. Like Miki (hopefully/seemingly) moving on from Aki means she needs to re-evaluate certain parts of her life that she’s taken for granted till now - and it’s nice to see that portrayed, instead of just “oh I’ve instantly moved on”…

Omg Miki walking in on Hima & Yori kissing in the library stacks cuz they thought nobody was there :rofl: … it was nice to see them actually be physical for once… Followed up by Miki running into Aya right after, and teasing her with the prospect of kissing. Of course the chapter ends with HimaYori being all embarassed :joy: There was a lot of great Miki & Hima conversation this chapter, and some great AyaMiki interactions. I appreciate that Aya is still the more actively pursuing one, but Miki isn’t being all passive or backing down or anything either - even if she’s still not totally over her feelings for Aki (which they both know going in)

彩純ちゃんはレズ風俗に興味があります! - I’ve been Team Nana-chan (well Team Poly really) so far, but the author really sold me on Mai this chapter. Her vibe with Asumi feels surprisingly natural. Though the miscommunication and mismatched assumptions between them are gonna be interesting to watch play out. I really do hope this ends in a triad tho, cuz I’ll feel bad to see either of them get their hearts broken, and it doesn’t really need a love triangle.

They have a 20th anniversary anthology an anthology that just came out too - but I already placed my cdjapan order (and it’s proxy stuff, so I can’t modify or merge), so I think I’ll just wait on it till next month.

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5151

Just finished myself! Excellent book; I thought it hit a lot of the same beats as volume 1, and I enjoyed it just as much. It was interesting; according to the author’s note the cover of the bunko volume 1 refers to 紫苑’s view of the inside of No. 6, while volume 2’s cover is referencing West Block.

I’m definitely going to be reading volume 3; not sure when, as I have some other things to finish up, but it’s ready and waiting for me.

さふ!

Those moments definitely redeem him; he’s too good at acting the irredeemable jerk in front of 紫苑. It’s a miracle he puts up with him. :stuck_out_tongue:

I always worry about that in books like these, where the enemy is inordinately more powerful than the heroes.

Also, I’m totally going to use this for my revenge square in bingo. Maybe it doesn’t end up really panning out on that, but a character mentioned their motive being 復讐, so I’m in the clear!!

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5152

Finished 孤狼と月 (講談社文庫 た 95-14 フェンネル大陸偽王伝 1) | L32 - it was fine, but just generally a style of fantasy I’m not very interested in. At least it was concise though.

Started レディ・スクウォッター (電撃文庫 つ 2-1) | L32?? - this was a pickup from browsing Mandarake so going in blind, but I’m always down for early 00s science fiction light novels.

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5153

As a way to bolster up my morale after what I read last, I went with 魔導具師ダリヤはうつむかない ~今日から自由な職人ライフ~ 9 | L29
It was pleasant as usual. It is starting to feel a bit repetitive in the sense that it’s like every volume now simply adds a few more characters and is just spent reading about them, but so far all those people belong to relevant world building elements that were mentioned from the start of the series (maybe not volume 1, but still) so it doesn’t feel forced.

At the same time, there’s just so much status quo I can take between the two main characters. Things rushed to “soooo close to a relationship” very early on, and then just stayed there. I would be okay with that if at least one character was not interested in going further, and that was the case at first, but for more than a few volumes their reason is just that they think the other is not interested (meanwhile everyone around them is screaming inside that they should kiss already). I’ve never been fan of plot points that could be resolved by two (or more) characters simply talking to each other when there’s nothing preventing them to.
Anyway, I’m reaching capacity, but it was still fine.

The last sentences (of the main story) seem to indicate a time skip coming up, and “next” volume is apparently a bunch of side stories. I wonder if they are really plot relevant :confused: If not, I may skip them, depending on interest.

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5154

I’ve been thinking I might see if I can dedicate the month of August to reading manga. It feels a bit counter-intuitive to do so when I’ve been doing so great on reading novels these last couple of months, but I’d really like to work on my manga goal for the year. Plus I just have a bunch of great series waiting for me.

So my plan as of right now is to finish all my in-progress Japanese books before the end of the month to clear up my plate:

:white_check_mark: NO.6 〔ナンバーシックス〕 ♯2 | L32 - Finished today! I only had two chapters left when I thought of this manga plan, so easy to finish up.
FLESH & BLOOD 19 | L35 - Currently 40% of the way through. Should be able to finish within 5 days or so, I think.
異世界でおまけの兄さん自立を目指す 2 | L29 - 50% of the way through. I’m thinking/hoping this should only take two or three days to finish; I read the majority of that 50% in one.

Series I’m thinking I’ll be picking from if I end up doing a mangAugust:

I’ve got plenty of other books to pick from, and this is already a long list, but it’d be great to be able to sit down and just work my through/farther into some of these series.

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5155

I 100% get where you’re coming from with this, Tom Clancy was always a drag for
me to read in high school for this. His stories (along with multiple Japanese authors’ stories tbh) could easily benefit from getting cut in half and still tell the same story.

For some writers, it’s with good intentions they do, as they think it provides necessary
clarity for a concept most readers may or may not know. Other times, it can just be
a waste of space or potentially condescending to be honest lmao

(By the way, is there a LearnNatively Discord? I’ve seen multiple threads mention a
Discord, but I can’t seem to access a valid link?)

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5156

Nope. You’re probably just seeing ppl refer to various discord servers they’re a member of

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5157

I really need to give that series a try one of these days

Good luck on the side stories… I’d probly just read summaries

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