currently reading: stuff
next to read: gah!

04.20.2004	[ To Kill A Mockingbird ]
		Good book.

02.26.2004	[ Identity ]
		Not as incredible as other books I've read by Kundera, but
		a good one nonetheless. I read it in too many sittings, and
		I may have to go over it again for some digestion.

02.07.2004	[ Raise High ]
		Finally finished this up after goofing around with a few
		other books in the meanwhile. The first story, Raise High
		the Roof Beam, Carpenters, is fantastic. The second
		story... err, writing, is good as well; just, it's not a
		story, and my brain is liking stories lately. It's a funny
		read, though, once I can keep up with the writing and stay
		in tune with it.

01.02.2004	[ Raise High ]
		I love you Salinger. You make me laugh with your subtle
		humor! I laugh proud and loudly amongst the silent who dare
		not express themselves clearly!

12.03.2003	[ Goodbye Tsugumi ]
		I finished it and now I feel sad. I finally decided to
		spend more time reading while I'm here in Kyoto.

07.27.2003	[ Flaubert's Parrot ]
		It's like... I've finished reading the book and yet I
		haven't. What did I just read? There are some very funny
		tidbits, though. Maybe I'll read this again after I've
		learned french and after actually reading Madame Bovary.

05.19.2003	[ Family ]
		Had to read this for my Chinese Civilization class. I'm a
		few weeks behind. Actually, my final essay about this and
		another book (that I haven't finished yet) is due
		tomorrow... Hmm. :P

03.09.2003	[ After the Quake ]
		All God's Children Can Dance. Super-Frog Saves Tokyo.
		Moving stories for me. Gotta keep on dancin', ne? Honey
		Pie.

01.22.2003	[ All She Was Worth ]
		Slightly slow, informative, and economically haunting. The
		second half is good. Makes me scared of using my credit
		card.

01.10.2003	[ Confessions of a Mask ]
		Man, that Mishima was one sick puppy. I love the discussion
		about the prince that wouldn't die when eaten by a dragon.
		Hilarious. :P

01.07.2003	[ Monkey Brain Sushi ]
		Peony Snowflakes of Love is heartwarming. Japanese Entrance
		Exams for Earnest Young Men is funny and reminds me of
		taking the SAT (I wonder if those strategies actually
		work!). Girl is freakin' psycho weird--strange images in my
		head! The Yamada Diary is funny in a
		oh-crap-I-hope-that's-not-me way. Another book consumed!

01.06.2003	[ Rashomon and Other Stories ]
		Akutagawa writes in a fable-like manner. It felt like each
		story had an overriding moral to it, and yet I get a sense
		that the lessons are not so clear cut. The stories are
		simple, entertaining, and haunting. There always seems to
		be a lingering feeling of greed and selfishness of mankind.

01.03.2003	[ Kokoro ]
		First book finished in the New Year! Sort of reminds me of
		Crime and Punishment with a Japanese style to it.
		Well-written (but I wish the chapters were shorter, I'm
		picky like that)--I like what Soseki did with the third
		part.

		What's up with this use of K as an anonymous sort of name
		in Japanese? What is 'K' translated from? Ku?

12.25.2002	[ Monkey Brain Sushi ]
		Just finished reading Kyoji Kobayashi's Mazelife.
		Sci-fi-like and thrilleresque. There's a certain obtuse
		ordinariness to the world he writes, and it makes it funny
		in that way.

12.25.2002	[ Monkey Brain Sushi ]
		Christopher Columbus Discovers America. Freakin'
		incomprehensible!

12.25.2002	[ The Elephant Vanishes ]
		I'm not too fond of reading short-story collections: I find
		myself having a hard time starting new stories, so reading
		short pieces can be troublesome. Nonetheless, I needed to
		get my Murakami fix.

		TV People was a bit overly-weird! It seemed as though
		Murakami was *trying* to be weird. I liked The Silence.

12.15.2002	[ Kitchen ]
		My first Banana Yoshimoto book. Sad with an uplifting
		undertone. I can't tell if it's that my mind is wandering
		because of finals or that she just writes a certain way,
		but I find that I slide around certain sentences--it's like
		a they're forgettable sentences. It might be the
		translation too. And another thing, why am I reading when I
		should be studying?!

12.03.2002	[ Sputnik Sweetheart ]
		This one reminds me of a Kundera book. It actually reads
		like there's a single coherent thought that's being
		conveyed: he seems to touch on life and existence and even
		has analogies to "lightness" and "gravity." It just sort of
		spells Kundera. Not only that, but he talks about the point
		of the novel and writing. But, of course, it's still a
		Murakami, and there are still the common themes of the
		missing girl, the parallel world, and the passive male
		protagonist. I'm not sure if it's the translation or not,
		but Murakami's style is different in this one: less dry
		(but still dry in a good way, of course) and I can sort of
		see how he's sliding in more metaphors (is it because of
		Kundera?) and playing with the third person.

11.30.2002	[ Norwegian Wood ]
		Aah, Thanksgiving weekend. I bought this from work, and I
		had it sitting around, so I just HAD to go ahead and read
		it. There are SO many tidbits that point at Wind-Up Bird.
		Another great story that I just got completely lost in, and
		Murakami just goes on a sexual rampage in this one. And
		another thing, I get the feeling that there are a lot of
		Catcher in the Rye references in the story.

08.02.2002	[ Kavalier & Clay ]
		Some chapters read like they're new stories, but then you
		realize what they really are and then you go, "Ah-ha!" and
		think it's real cool. My problem, however, is the fact that
		these chapters *do* read like new stories because it throws
		my stream of reading all off, and I have to do a shift in
		my mind. This is why I'm not too fond of reading
		anthologies/collections of short stories. It really slows
		down my reading and starts to irk me until I get back into
		the flow of the text.

07.25.2002	[ Kavalier & Clay ]
		Fun-filled and (as advertised) adventerous! Entertaining
		read so far. I need a dictionary next to me when reading
		this, though!

		I was thinking earlier about something I noticed about
		Murakami that's different from other stuff I've read: he
		doesn't really do introductions. He just plops you in the
		story and takes you on the ride to go! Just a thought. :)

07.22.2002	[ Dance Dance Dance ]
		Dance Dance Dancing through another year!

07.19.2002	[ Dance Dance Dance ]
		Whenever reading Murakami, make sure to always allot at
		least an hour block of time. Addictive!

06.21.2002	[ Hard-Boiled Wonderland ]
		Wow! Different! It's like a sci-fi thriller! The ending
		reminds me a lot of Crime and Punishment; it has
		that feeling of revelation to it. Great book! My favorite
		Murakami yet!

06.16.2002	[ Hard-Boiled Wonderland ]
		Possible re-occurring themes/ideas of Murakami:
		communicating without speaking, trapped in a confined
		space, the missing woman, hotel corridors with rooms
		labelled in random order.

06.15.2002	[ Heartbreaking Work ]
		I don't like Eggers' writing style. I think I know what
		he's trying to do, but it's too ramblish to follow (unless,
		he doesn't intend it to be followed, hmm). There *is*
		emotion there; and there *is* the feeling of that
		"heartbreaking." (Where's the "genius," or is he being
		tricky by using the word "staggering," that sly dog!) An OK
		read but not necessarily recommended.... :P

06.03.2002	[ Heartbreaking Work ]
		Hmm, I don't see what the hype is all about. So far, the
		thing reads like a Virginia Woolf novel: blah blah,
		describe, describe, blah blah, more words, etc. There are
		few bits of humor scattered here and there. I skipped all
		of the apologetic mumbo-jumbo in the beginning: I found it
		quite annoying! I read asome of the "Praise For"'s, and one
		of the dudes said Eggers is the next Salinger. Um, maybe I
		haven't read enough yet, but... no, not in my eyes
		(perhaps, yet). Um, no. No.

05.26.2002	[ Wind-Up Bird Chronicle ]
		Whee!