(https://www.znaksagite.com/diskusije/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vertical-inc.com%2Fimage%2Fauthor%2Fface_kyogoku-natsuhiko.jpg&hash=d0e75bc6476d683983ca9d227d8bb526696d7b68)
Ako neko od japanskih pisaca važi za poznavaoca njihovog folklora i sveta natprirodnog, onda je to Kyogoku. Pre mesec dana pojavila se prva njegova knjiga na engleskom, u izdanju Verticala: The Summer of the Ubume. Danas sam lenj, pa ću kopirati šta izdavač kaže na sajtu:
QuoteBorn in 1963, Natsuhiko Kyogoku is an expert in Japanese folklore with a special interest in supernatural entities called "yokai." Having never published before, he brought the manuscript of The Summer of the Ubume to publishing giant Kodansha on his own. The unusual nature of how The Summer of the Ubume got published and its subsequent success inspired the creation of the Mephisto Award, which honors new mystery and fantasy writers. The Summer of the Ubume is the first in a series of nine novels, the second of which earned Kyogoku the Japan Mystery Writers Award in 1994. Kyogoku would go on to win the prestigious Naoki Award for his book Requiem from the Darkness in 2004.
O samoj knjizi:
Quote
A bizarre set of mysteries have befallen the Kuonji household. Kyoko Kuonji is said to be with child for the last twenty months, and her husband Makio disappeared a few months prior to the prgnancy. The odd circumstances have left the family with no one to turn to for help, until a freelance writer asks his exorcist friend to take on the case. The catch—the exorcist does not believe in ghosts. To Akihiko "Kyogokudo" Chuzenji, the supernatural is as much metaphysical and mental as it is unearthly.
The Summer of the Ubume was the debut work by the Neil Gaiman of Japanese mystery fiction —Natsuhiko Kyogoku. Weaving together intrigue and Kyogoku's passion for Japanese folklore, particularly the paranormal and preternatural, this Summer gives birth to a new form of Japanese fiction.
(https://www.znaksagite.com/diskusije/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F410joiJ8D4L._SS500_.jpg&hash=b806218c85529cbd39c71a0d52ee00c49439f105)
Mystery / Horror
Paperback, 320 pages, 5.5 x 8.25 inches
(Šta je to sa ovim Ringu-olikim naslovnim stranama? Japanska je potpuno drugačija!)
A evo šta kaže Andrew Cunningham, jedan od najboljih poznavalaca moderne japanske popularne i žanrovske književnosti:
QuoteA lot of us are big fans of the Moryo no Hako (Goblinska kutija ili Goblinske kutije) anime, for good reasons, and I can attest to the original novel being every bit as impressive. The novel was actually the second in a series, and The Summer of the Ubume is the first. It's a rougher, more imbalanced work than Moryo no Hako, but definitely worth a read.
Vertical's website mysteriously calls Natsuhiko Kyogoku the Neil Gaiman of Japanese mystery novels, which is hilariously wrong; he's the Neil Stephenson. He does a fuckton of research, and tends to put it all into the books, which can make them a bit dry at times, but nonetheless fascinating.
Cunningham je takođe dobrim delom pisao unos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natsuhiko_Kyogoku) na wikipediji, tako da je ovaj prilično pouzdan.
U jednoj od sledećih narudžbina ide i to.
Evo šta kaže Wabisabi, jedna divna žena koja živi u Hong-Kongu, savršeno govori japanski, kineski i engleski, i vodi blog (http://www.iwanihana.info/):
QuoteThe entire second quarter at work was crazily busy, but recently I finally got more time to rest and recharge. Some part of my brain was yearning for period drama plus some sort of supernatural detective story (summer is traditionally the season for supernatural thrillers in Japan), so I went down to a bookstore and swept off the entire Kyougokudou series (京極堂シリーズ) by Kyougoku Natsuhiko (京極夏彦), of which Mouryou no Hako (魍魎の匣) was the second book. I have been curious to find out more about the onmyouji-detective character Chuuzenji Akihiko (中禅寺秋彦) ever since I watched Madhouse's excellent anime adaptation of Mouryou no Hako.
Anyway, I wish they had put some sort of health warnings on the novel covers – the stories are not only lengthy (they are thick as dictionaries) but also highly addictive (you just can't bring yourself to put them down); they can cause considerable eye strain and destroy your sleep pattern. But I am glad that I read them – it has been ages since I got sucked into detective thrillers, not since Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum which I read back in university, I think. The Kyougokudou novels are full of interesting ideas, which will take some time for my brain to properly sort them out. The stories themselves are like creepy kaidan tales from the Edo period, beefed up with logic in the style of Sherlock Holmes, and completed with psychological analysis of the Jungian school. The only thing I wish to say for now is that it became apparent to me that there is a distinct difference between horror (ホラー) and kaidan (怪談). Horror is creepy and the visual presentation often aims to turn your stomach – think the horror manga of Umezu Kazuo (楳図 かずお); but kaidan is always both creepy and beautiful in some dangerously attractive and eerie sense, or ayashii [妖しい]. I think an example of this would be Mononoke.
Sledi razmišljanje (http://www.iwanihana.info/2009/08/17/the-creepy-and-beautiful/) o značenjima reči i njihovoj specifičnosti, koja ih vezuje samo za Japan.
P.S. Znam da će mnogobrojna japanska imena uplašiti većinu ljudi, ali nije to toliko teško. Kada, recimo, vidite
ou, to je samo dugo
o, tako da nije teško za čitanje.
QuoteBeauty in Japan is traditionally associated with three mental states – one is sadness, one is madness and the other is fear. I believe it is only after the post-war period that it comes to be more popularly associated with the "joy" per se. Think the cherry blossom. The association of beauty with sadness in that area is well-documented and greater minds than I have attempted to answer the question of "why do beautiful things inevitably bring sadness instead of joy?" What intrigues me more is the cultural motif that the the beauty of the cherry blossom drives people insane, that it is dangerous to stand under cherry trees as you may lose your mind etc. In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom (桜の森の満開の下) written by Sakaguchi Ango (坂口安吾) is one of many examples of this. I have read the short story and also seen the 1975 film adaptation by Shinoda Masahiro (篠田正浩) many years ago. In the story, it is said that those who pass under cherry trees would hear uncanny voices and succumb to madness. Even austere monks passing under the cherry trees would throw off their hats in a state of dementia and mysteriously disappear in the midst of the showering petals...
Even now, when you ask Japanese people what they really feel about the beauty of the cherry blossom, not a few would reply that they are afraid of it (恐ろしい) or feel insecure (不安) about it. The cherry blossom is ayashii.
:o
Pojavili su se prve recenzije knjige The Summer of the Ubume. Preneću deo sa Popcultureshock-a:
QuoteNatsuhiko Kyogoku weaves an absolutely amazing and enthralling tale throughout, but the real treat isn't the mystery, it's the way Kyogoku uses the the story to introduce ideas about our memories, reality, language and the supernatural, which blur the lines between cutting-edge science and the occult. Examples of this can be seen in his use of exorcisms as therapy, language as magic, and the like. Of course, none of this would be readable or understandable if it wasn't for tremendous job that Alexander O. Smith, Elye J. Alexander and Amanda Jun Katsurada did in handling such complex and heady material. The book, while dealing with concepts that are universal in some regard, relies heavily upon Japanese folklore, explaining the myths and legends behind things such as the Ubume, a bloody female spirit of a mother who died during childbirth, with the cold rational eye of modern man. A number of footnotes are included, helping to expand on some of the myths, regions and historical figures referenced throughout the novel. Natushiko Kyogoku is clearly a well-read author and it's nice that Vertical found a trio who are more than capable of translating and explaining the references to US readers.
:shock: Troje prevodilaca??? Kao da im Alexander O. Smith, jezički wunderkind (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_O._Smith), nije bio dovoljan???
Ali, tako nešto je i Wabisabi nagovestila:
QuoteIf you can read Japanese (preferably some archaic Japanese and a lot of difficult kanji at that)
No, dobro, ovde (http://www.iwanihana.info/2009/10/10/book-the-summer-of-ubume-ubume-no-natsu/) je njen opis knjige (japanskog izdanja) sa mnogo spojlera. Dobio sam zaduženje ( :!: :D xrotaeye) da pročitam knjigu kako bismo mogli da diskutujemo. Verovatno ću to i uraditi do Nove godine. A šta ću onda? Ona će takođe nastaviti sa opisima svih knjiga u seriji, ali kako engleskih izdanja više nema, ostaje mi samo književni japanski, vrlo težak uz to (must learn... xnerd).
Najavljen je još jedan Kyogokuov roman u Americi: Loups-Garous (A Werewolf in Tokyo). Studio Production Ishikawa-Goto je najavio anime-adaptaciju za iduću godinu, pa pretpostavljam da je to razlog za objavljivanje ovog romana.
QuoteVirtual reality. Murder. Werewolves. And teen girls! In a future where nothing is as it seems, can old legends come true? In the near future, humans will communicate almost exclusively through monitors, making real interaction a rarified and weak occurance for those living in a near totalitarian society. In this new world of communication, children are only allowed to interact personally on school grounds. So when a serial killer starts slaughtering junior high children the communication routes go under futher surveillance...
Meni samo nije jasno zašto Amerikanci stavljaju svoje naslovne ilustracije, potpuno drugačije, kad Kyokogu sam dizajnira svoje knjige i uvek izgledaju bolje. I Summer of the Ubume koristi popularnost Ringua da bi privukao publiku, ali to čini nepravdu samom delu.
(https://www.znaksagite.com/diskusije/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51OL522pP4L._SL500_AA240_.jpg&hash=5a4a9287a31b11c60a4a19929420de96bc0f5043) (https://www.znaksagite.com/diskusije/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.osawa-office.co.jp%2Fwrite%2Fpopup%2Fkyogoku%2Fimg%2Flugaru.jpg&hash=a0b567858cb64c9c35fa46ff82d37c1b95afeafd)
Neću reći ništa više, jer Kyougoku je deo jedne šire priče koja će biti prezentovana javnosti sledeće godine, i u vezi s tim uvešću termin
neo-kaidan, koji će domaća horor-kritika oberučke prihvatiti, pošto nema odgovarajući.
xjap
(https://www.znaksagite.com/diskusije/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.osawa-office.co.jp%2Fwrite%2Fpopup%2Fkyogoku%2Fimg%2Fnozoki_bun.jpg&hash=e6ef29aa96e9d26e7e41130ae66ea84afcd10f8c)