None in the first third of 夜行 either…
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I find it kind of insane that his most boring book (premise-wise at least) is also his most famous for some reason.
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I’m about halfway through the first volume of サザンと彗星の少女 and it’s one of the most accessible Manga reads I’ve had andalso a ton of fun with some gorgeous full-color artwork. Give it some love!
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What do you think his most interesting book is? 
I’ve only read 夜は短し歩けよ乙女 and bounced back and forth between “this is silly and I love it” and “this is silly and not how women work and I don’t love it!”, but I want to try something else from him since I did have fun reading it in the end.
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I just noticed that that kanji combination looked familiar, and it turns out that I’ve actually read two of 筒井 康隆’s books – 家族場面 | L30?? and にぎやかな未来 | L30??, both picked up second hand on a whim IIRC. Neither of them made a huge impression on me, though. I can’t even remember what the first one is about, and the second one I think is SF short stories.
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Oh that sounds super interesting 
Regarding the discussion about the author: One of my language partners also recommended him to me, so he seems to be popular in Japan (she doesn’t read much, so I guess it says something that she read a book of his). He also won quite a number of prizes in the past 50 
or so years 筒井康隆 - Wikipedia
For 時をかける少女, I read it back in the day with the book club on WK, and the general notion in the club was that we were not impressed. The story is interesting, for sure, but the writing style and especially the pacing was a bit off-putting, with nothing happening for a long time, and then everything was very rushed. Also somewhat deep scientific explanations
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This reminds me a lot of the premise of Ella Minnow Pea. I haven’t read it, but the concept sounded intriguing (and similar). Let us know how it goes!
I think I have read Salmonella Men on Planet Porno in translation ages ago, but I have no recollection of it other than the title (so maybe I haven’t read it after all?). And I have watched (and loved) Paprika, although I’m not sure I’d love it as much as a book.
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I wonder why 時をかける少女 is so popular with learners? Perhaps because it has a movie adaptation so people are more familiar with it? Or is the language level really accessible (I haven’t read it myself)?
残像に口紅を and 旅のラゴス by him appear to be way more popular and well known by the general public in Japan (and indeed I’ve seen the covers of both tons of times on social media/in book stores) but 旅のラゴス isn’t even on natively yet! It’s funny which books get popular in the language community vs. what’s popular in Japan.
Maybe after I finish 残像に口紅を I’ll start a new trend and make that the must read book instead of 時をかける少女. 
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By which I mean just one more book…
I actually really enjoy the series so far. We did get some spicy sections in this volume, but I don’t really feel like calling them fan service, mostly because I do like the main character, so it’s not weird to me that he would get attention from the opposite sex. Also, the author doesn’t the weird thing you see in the like of DanMachi where somehow, no matter how high the sexual tension is getting, the situation always gets de-escalated.
What IS weird is that the main character is 11 while said women are in their 20s. I really don’t like that, honestly. it’s kinda hand waved away since he is reincarnated so his past age + current age makes him an adult somehow… Anyway, I have decided to just stop thinking about his age. but I don’t like it.
Edit: when I look at the sample of volume 3, there are some clear differences in terms of plot with the web novel… so maybe something was done about that too?
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I think it’s pure luck honestly. A learner picks up a book that happens to be quite easy, it’s easily accessible online or as used copies, recommends it, other learners looking for easy content gravitate to it, etc. Looking at the most popular books on Natively, I can say that コンビニ人間, 時をかける少女, 君の名は, 君の膵臓をたべたい* and ペンギン・ハイウェイ were all books I read because they were popular/I’d heard about them in the language learning community, not from Japanese sources.
I’ve since stopped reading books purely on popularity because I didn’t actually like any of those books very much I’ve been trying (lazily) to popularize すべての神様の十月 | L28 as a learners’ book instead because I thought it was wonderful and it’s in that sweet spot of below level 30 but still an actual novel / not for children.
* I didn’t finish this one because I disliked it so much
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There’s definitely a lot of that, but I do think also that for 時をかける少女 and 君の名は the existence of the anime is also helping to boost their popularity. Similarly I bet https://learnnatively.com/book/a93506cde2/ wouldn’t have over a hundred “read” on natively if the Miyazaki anime didn’t exist.
(Hey, why didn’t that url autoformat?)
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I have never known about this dictionary and today I was absolutely blessed with this knowledge thanks to your post
I thank thee, with all my heart and with each cell in my body
I would also like to inform you that this knowledge has now been passed down several forums and discord servers, all of which appreciate you
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I’m going through a similar thing at work atm as well so hoping that you’re doing ok and things don’t stay as bad as they sound atm. Fingers crossed for you getting that lottery win if you play, at least that would be one less stress for you.
Virtual hugs
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Thank you; I really appreciate it, CatDQ. 
I hope things look up for you as well; we’ll hang tough together! 
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Wait, why are you talking about a book by a completely different author here? I am so confused.
Anyways, today I read NHKにようこそ! | L32. It was the first Japanese full novel that I read cover-to-cover in 1 day. I love it so much it was difficult to put it down at all, especially near the end…
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I love and hate when that happens… on the one hand, it means the book is really captivating, but on the other, I had other plans for the day! What made it impossible to put down? Do tell do tell!
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It was just really interesting and there wasn’t any filler, so there’s always something happening. Especially near the end, I’m not going to spoil it but it gets really interesting. The only part I kind of had trouble with is like the middle as things slow down and also what was going on was kind of gross, but I powered through it. And I get the feeling about reading a book fast! I actually had school today and was reading it while half-listening, which is probably not the best idea but it was worth it…
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Haha apologies, I thought that’s who was being referred to since there was discussion about him above!
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I had been looking left and right for a specific kind of horror and in the end I found it in a non-horror book. I’m reading 妊娠カレンダー | L32 (learnnatively.com) (just finished the second out of the three stories), and I almost didn’t read to the end of the second story in case it was too scary for just before bed. 
It’s not horror at all, not officially, but there is this vague 違和感 throughout, and it gets more and more suffocating as the stories progress. Perfect, exactly what I was looking for. By the way, I have read these two stories before in translation (in The Diving Pool), but it’s so many years ago I didn’t remember anything but the general feel. I wonder how many of her other books are like this. I’ve also read 博士の愛した数式 | L35 (learnnatively.com) (in translation again), and while it was nice, it didn’t leave as strong an impression.
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I recently watched an interview with her German translator, and she mentioned that there are many eerie elements in her writing, or so I think I remember
[One hour later] Ok I had written some comments in a private chat while I listened, unfortunately in German. I‘ll post that here as well but I will also translate:
German notes
Grad läuft das Gespräch mit der Übersetzerin von Ogawa Yoko. Ich muss hier mal bisschen was hinschreiben, das ist einfach sehr interessant.
Beziehungen sind oft zerstörerisch, Frauen unterwerfen sich (älteren) Männern, etc.
Obsessive Beschreibung von Gegenständen. Oft verrottete, verdorbene Dinge. Vergammeltes Essen. Setting nostalgisch bis morbid. Häufig Mathematik.
Viele Metaphern.
Davon abgesehen klarer und kühler Stil. Als Kontrastmittel idyllische fast kitschige Szenen, damit das Grausame mehr hervortritt.
Markant: Aufzählungen. Entwurf von Interieurs mit Patina. Versehrter Protagonist.
Texte sind vordergründig unemotional, aber viele Leser sagen dass sie sehr emotional aufgeladen empfinden. Emotionen liegen zwischen den Zeilen, durch Suspense hervorgerufen, Leser spinnt weiter.
Oft brutaler Inhalt in sachlich-kühler, fast klinischer Sprache verpackt.
Das Schockierende kommt auf leisen Sohlen.
Beunruhigend, wie man als Leser getriggert wird.
Grausame Stränge, die auch manchmal ins Leere führen, die den Leser zum Weiterspinnen einladen.
Nimmt manchmal Bezug auf Kafka oder Anne Frank.
Wird oft verglichen mit Murakami, wahrscheinlich weil grad beide die Kult-Autoren sind. Aber nicht so viel Ähnlichkeiten. Murakami: Ich-Erzähler, Nabelschau xD und Ogawa mehr sachlich, von außen. Bezug vllt höchstens in magischen Elementen.
Magisches Moment bei Ogawa: Protagonisten suchen manchmal besondere Orte auf (Höhlen etc.) die in andere Dimensionen führen. Fieberphantasie? Psychische Störungen? Kann kitschig wirken.
“Insel der verlorenen Erinnerungen” mit vielen logischen Fehlern. Sie hat sich bisschen übernommen mit der Dystopie. (密やかな結晶)
Gender spielt eine große Rolle. Stark asexuell oder verklemmt. Es gibt auch explizite Szenen, aber selten.
English translation
Currently the interview with Ogawa Yoko is on. I need to jot some things down, it’s very interesting.
Relations are often destructive, women submit to (older) men, etc.
Obsessive description of objects. Often rotten things, food gone bad.
Setting ranging from nostalgic to morbid. Often mathematics. Lots of metaphors.
Apart from that clear and dry style. To contrast this, she uses idyllic, almost kitschy scenes, in order to make the cruel things more prominent.
Remarkable: Enumerations, design of interiors with patina. Protagonist is disabled / maimed.
Texts are superficially unemotional, but many readers say that the perceive them as very emotionally charged. Emotions are between the lines, brought forward by suspense, the reader continues them in their head.
Often brutal contents wrapped in factual/cool, almost clinical language. The shocking elements creep upon you. It’s unsettling how the reader gets triggered.
Cruel threads of narration, sometimes ending nowhere, invite the reader to continue them in their head.
Sometimes references to Kafka or Anne Frank.
Is often compared with Murakami, probably because both are the cult authors right now. But there are not many similarities.
Murakami: I-perspective, navel-gazing 
and Ogawa more factual, from the outside. Relation maybe only with regard to magical elements.
Magical moment with Ogawa: Protagonists sometimes go to special places (caves etc) that lead to other dimensions. Feverish dream? Mental-health problem? Can come across as kitschy.
密やかな結晶 with many logical errors. She bit off more than she could chew with regard to the dystopia.
Gender plays a big role. Strongly asexual or uptight. There are also explicit scenes, but they are rare.
BTW there is a nomination of one of her books in the Intermediate book club. And I noted in the chat that after listening to the interview I considered taking it down
Anyways, enjoy her works! (And maybe it’s time for another author-specific book club? 
)
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