Journal Entry 1 by kittiwake on Friday, November 21, 2008

First, Kenji told us, this dusty slightly run down house belonged to a rich family. "Who else could afford such luxury? Also," he said, "it is a kind of ghost house."
"What makes it a ghost house?"
"Well, as you will see in a moment, there is a well."
"So?"
"The well is a very animistic thing. It is a hole to another world, to ghosts and spirits. A Japanese viewer sees that well and immediately understands that this will be a story about spirits."

When Peter Carey's 12-year-old son became interested in anime and manga, his father took him on a trip to Japan, with the promise that they wouldn't be wasting their time on the 'real Japan' of old temples and boring museums. It could have been quite an interesting book, but I wasn't really enamoured of it, mainly because Peter Carey comes across as a bit of a git.

But at least I now know the significance of the well in "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle". I just hope I still remember when I get round to re-reading it!

Journal Entry 2 by jazz-ee2 from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Saturday, December 20, 2008

Picked up at the Nottingham meet. I do like Peter Carey's work, and was interested to hear this is a non-fiction account of his travels with his son to Japan, which made it more appealing to me. I look forward to reading this one. 

Journal Entry 3 by jazz-ee2 from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Monday, December 29, 2008

I really enjoyed this book, loved the fact that everything Carey thought he knew about Japan - despite intensive research - is actually based on myth, a bit like Chinese Whispers which morph (at least in the West) as reality. I loved the different explanations, loved the image of the Otaku (bit of an anorak really) and the transexuals, and all the fascinating characters they meet on the trip. I also loved how the image and experience of World War II is so intrinsically linked to Japanese culture, influencing also the infamous Manga stories, an immensely powerful force still, after all these years.

I've passed it on now to MrJazz who I think will like it, being both a fan of Peter Carey's writing and a military history buff, and then I think I might even get my 20 year old son - who is really into Manga and military history - to read it. I did catch him picking it up and reading the back... 

Journal Entry 4 by MrJazz from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Sunday, January 25, 2009

I enjoyed this book, very interesting. I've even bought a copy of the Grave of the Fireflies on DVD so I can see it for myself. 

Journal Entry 5 by jazz-ee2 from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Sunday, June 28, 2009

I enjoyed this book so much I have offered it as a Bookring...


INTERNATIONAL BOOKRING

Please journal the book when you receive it and contact the next person on the list for their address.

Try to read the book within a month.

Journal the book when you've read it.

Release the book via the "Controlled Release" location or make a journal entry when you've passed it on.

People in the bookring are:

rapturina - Netherlands
Calissa - Australia ==> book is here
thegoaliegirl - USA (pref USA, Canada)


 

Journal Entry 6 by rapturina from Yantai, Shandong China on Tuesday, September 01, 2009

It's here! Thanks for sending it across the pond, jazz-ee2! This looks really fascinating. I'm right in the middle of another book, but this one is up next. 

Journal Entry 7 by rapturina from Yantai, Shandong China on Monday, September 14, 2009

I just finished reading this and thought it was enjoyable. I also liked how everything Peter Carey assumes about Japanese culture and the meaning of things (such as the robots) turns out to be wrong. It's an interesting exploration of how different people/cultures look at things in a different way, and in that respect I really liked the idea of the sword maker, "Be careful, half knowledge is sometimes much worse than complete ignorance."

I also thought it was interesting how the main story seemed to be about understanding Japan from an Australian's point of view, but at the same time the father and son were constantly trying to understand each other. The father always trying to make the cultural trips attractive to his son by comparing them to manga, and the son trying to talk his father into going to Sega World by pointing out it's close to something he had read about in a travel guide. Also the father's amazement at the son's ease in dealing with the ticket machines. I thought it was an interesting parallel story and goes to show that there is no such things as "Japanese" or "Australian" culture, there's always a lot going on within a particular culture, which also questions everything they learned "about Japan" during their trip. The recurring discussion about the "Real Japan" also alludes to this.

So all in all, I thought it was a very interesting book, on a cultural-philosophical level.

I have Calissa's address and will be sending on this book later today. 

Journal Entry 8 by Calissa from Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Australia on Monday, September 21, 2009

This book arrived safe and sound in my letterbox this morning. It is only a slight book, so I managed to finish it off pretty quickly.

I have to say that the more I read, the less I liked Peter Carey. He is clearly not much of a people person--his interactions with others are uniformly awkward and I was rather appalled by the way he treated his son's friend, Takashi. He seemed more intent on rushing around, trying to achieve some purpose that wasn't even clear to himself.

The book reminded me a bit of Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel. That too is about a foreigner in Japan struggling to come to terms with the culture through some particular aspect. I felt that Herrigel did it with far more grace, though to be fair Herrigel was actually living in Japan at the time rather than just there for a quick visit. Herrigal didn't demand answers in the way that Carey did or seek to extract the essence of a culture by interrogating its forms.

The non-answer to Carey's interview questions by those in the anime and manga industry reminded me a lot of Zen and Buddhism--the teacher isn't there to give you the answers, you must arrive at your own.

Despite my dislike of Carey, it was quite a fascinating book. I loved that he highlighted the generational gap in Japan as well as between himself and his son. That in turn resonated with the culture gap.

Hearing about the bombing of Japan was quite eye-opening and made me realise that there is indeed a focus on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, when the devestation was really more widespread. There were other facts scattered throughout that made me stop and think as well (13 year-old samurai being one). Miyazaki came across to me as being as much a breath of fresh air as I'm sure he did to Carey. And being quite an anime fan, I appreciated the references.

All in all, an interesting book. 

Journal Entry 9 by thegoaliegirl from Spokane, Washington USA on Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Book arrived in my mailbox today! Since I just started another book, I'll put it aside and read this one. I've wanted to read this one for some time. 

Journal Entry 10 by thegoaliegirl from Spokane, Washington USA on Saturday, October 10, 2009

I am not really sure what I expected. Overall, I really liked this book, even though it felt like a very short fast glimpse into a different view of Japan. I really liked the discussion about My Neighbor Totoro as I really enjoy that movie. I saw it on a whim and was captivated by it. I have never gotten into anime/manga, so that part wasn't a huge attraction for me. I felt embarrased at times for his son and his friend at times, but then what dad (or parent) doesn't embarrass their child at some point?

The bombings were a real eye opener, especially with the death counts. You never hear about it. I remember that we bombed Hiroshima but that is about it. It makes you wonder how we could do that. What makes people want to do something like that. I'm going to try to find Grave of the Fireflies. Also, Godzilla being a response to the bombings? I had no idea.

Overall, I'd have to say this book was a real eye opener! 

Journal Entry 11 by thegoaliegirl at Doubletree Hotel - 10100 College Blvd. in Overland Park, Kansas USA on Saturday, October 24, 2009

Released 2 yrs ago (10/24/2009 UTC) at Doubletree Hotel - 10100 College Blvd. in Overland Park, Kansas USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Left in the book buffet at the UnConvention
 

Journal Entry 12 by solittletime from Portland, Maine USA on Saturday, October 24, 2009

Caught at the Kansas City UnConvention book buffet. 

Journal Entry 13 by solittletime from Portland, Maine USA on Saturday, October 24, 2009

Reserved for Azuki.