"Sora ni akogarete, sora wo kakete yuku ano ko no inochi wa hikoukigumo."

[nausicaa83]

And a new entry for the Reading Bingo!



For the "A Book Your Friend Loves" square, I chose Richard Parks' Yamada Monogatari - Demon Hunter, as I first learned of this book thanks to the lovely entangled_now. It's a collection of short stories set in the Heian period in Japan, told from the perspective of a demon hunter. In a way, it reminded me of the Dresden Files, with its marriage of supernatural setting and hard-boiled detective stories. Sadly, it lacks what the Dresden Files have in abundance: a compelling main character. Lord Yamada has no soul. He's good at his job, he drinks to forget, he has a reprobate priest for a friend. This is literally all we know about him. And while the world around him feels real and alive, bursting with creatures and stories and driven characters, Yamada feels no more than a puppet moved around by the writer. In a way, he's merely a shikigami. Which is truly a pity, because Mr Parks obviously knows a lot about Japan, and he's very respectful of the mythology he's writing about. And while I found it a bit annoying when the characters would take time to explain to each other things that are common knowledge in Japan, with dialogue that was obviously meant for Western readers, it was just a minor flaw. The soullessness of the main character is quite the unforgivable sin, though. I struggled to finish the book, even while I was enjoying the various plot twists, and I scoffed loudly more than once at Yamada's frequent self-pity sessions.

Anyway, twenty down, only five left to go!

Comments

[entangled-now.livejournal.com]

In a way, he's merely a shikigami.

I can't argue with this, he really isn't very deep for a main character. It didn't bother me as much because the world-building was so enjoyable, and I thought his distance fit the mood of the stories.

Still a fitting way to describe him - though that shikigami lady in the book was quite lively :)

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

The weirdest thing is that most of the secondary characters are more complex than the main character. I was much more interested in them than in Yamada-san, like the snow demon and her human husband, or the little girl who joins her father in the Underworld.

I really loved all the details he put into it, but I wished he hadn't chosen to stick random Japanese words in the dialogues, it sounded like a very young anime fan talking while in cosplay. I can understand doing it when there's no english equivalent for that particular word, but doing it for "baka" or "anata" was really annoying.

[entangled-now.livejournal.com]

I loved the girl who was determined to join her father, and the way she did it. That was one of my favourite stories!

lol. I rather like the occasional foreign word showing up in my 'not-english-speaking' set books. Just interchanging some words always seems to add to the theme for me.

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

It's probably because I spent all my formative years in manga and anime fandoms, that it grates so much. It makes it sound like it's Anna Mae Sue (http://kevinbolk.deviantart.com/art/Ensign-Two-The-Wrath-of-Sue-16-365930699) talking. I like the occasional original word when the speaker is speaking in a language different from their own, although it baffles me that it's usually very common words.

As in, when they have German characters in movies, they speak in English but pepper it with a 'ja' or a 'guten morgen' every sentence. But when I speak another language, I have to struggle to remember very weird, unusual words, not 'yes' or 'hello'. :D

[entangled-now.livejournal.com]

I watch a lot of anime too but it didn't bother me. I was actually pleasantly surprised that I knew what some of the slotted in words actually meant.

Huh. I always imagined the words you used a lot, instinctively, like 'yes' or 'hello' would slip out in your own language once you were fluent enough to stop really thinking about how to communicate with people.

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

Funny enough, it's the opposite! At the Cabin Pressure convention last month we were from all Europe, and we all talked in English. When I found myself in groups of only Italian fans, I'd go back to talking in Italian, except for words like "yes", "hello" or "thanks", because I'd said them so many times they had made their permanent mark in my brain.

And yet the same evening I couldn't remember the word "vinegar". :D

(You watched a lot of anime? I didn't know it! What are your favourites? I've only recently gone back to anime after a long pause, and it feels so nostalgic! *_____* )

[entangled-now.livejournal.com]

lol. I didn't know that. I did languages in school but have never been fluent enough not to have to stop and think about everything.

I am amused by your need for vinegar though :)

I do, it's mostly modern stuff though, and I'm a huge fan of the anime horror genre so that's most of my collection. I like Hellsing, Hell Girl, Bleach, Trinity Blood, Ghost Hunt, Claymore, D Gray Man Black Butler, Kill la Kill and Attack on Titan.

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

Oh boy, Attack on Titan! I had completely stopped watching anime ever since the moe phase started, and then last summer I started watching AoT, and I was completely blown away. I love everything about it, it's as intense as when I was 18 and discovering shounen anime for the first time. *______*

I'm reading the manga as well, but I don't like it half as much as I adore the anime. Have you seen the latest trailer for the new OVA, the one about Levi's past? It looks amazing! \o/

[entangled-now.livejournal.com]

It was that picture of the boy facing a skinless giant beyond the wall that basically told me, 'yes, you must watch that.' I'm only up to 14 because I've been renting the series. The second half of the first series I think has just become available.

I have this weird thing with anime where I don't really have a preferences, but if I start watching a series with subtitles that's the only way I can watch it. But if I start watching it dubbed I have to finish it like that. I get attached to the character voices.

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

It's the same for me too. For example, for me Full Metal Alchemist's Edward is Vic Mignona, even if I adore Paku Romi and I've seen the japanese version more than once. But the first voice is just the right voice in my mind. ^^

I still have to hear the english voices for Attack on Titan, but from what I read they're really good. The problem with the original dubbing for any anime is obviously that having to read the subtitles, I can't fully appreciate scenes where they talk, because my eyes are staring at the bottom of the screen. I can't wait to watch AoT in the dubbed version mostly because I can't wait to watch all those wonderful landscapes and animation without having to bother with reading subs. *_____*