Advanced Japanese Book Club // Reading 虐殺器官 - Genocidal Organ

Ah, thank you :blush:.

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For me it worked with fine with a Japanese adress as the main one and a vpn, so unfortunately I don’t know otherwise if that doesn’t work, though maybe there’s someone else that does :slight_smile: (what I did was basically just google it and follow along with the first guide I found, so I don’t remember that much about exactly what I did)

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There are a number of posts on the forums that describe the process, e.g.

https://community.wanikani.com/t/x/10603/151

Or the excellent

Just keep in mind that they might be outdated… In that case your help to get them up-to-date will be appreciated! :wink:

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Is poll closed? I’m excited. I’ve wanted to read this one for years.

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Yes, the poll is closed and the winner is 雪国. I’ll edit the OP when I have access to a computer.

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Yay! I’ve set up a home thread for it: 雪国 - Snow Country ⛄️❄️ (Advanced Book Club)

Also, we need to determine a reading schedule. I’ve started a discussion about this in the book’s home thread.

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Thank you! I have updated the OP with the current info.

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I’ve added a reading schedule to the Snow Country home thread. Now only one question remains: When do we want to start reading? The last week of Honsuki runs until Oct 23th, so here are some options:

  • Start on Oct 24th (no break)
  • Start on Oct 31th (1 week break)
  • Start on Nov 7th (2 week break)
  • Start on some other date (please explain)

0 voters

Honzuki :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Were you able to continue buying without a VPN after the first time? I used a VPN the first time but havent tried again after.

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I personally haven’t needed to use one anymore after the first few purchases :slight_smile:

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@Kyayna Would you also be ok with starting on Oct 31th ? Because that’s the middle ground that the vast majority can agree on… (but I don’t really want to overrule your vote without at least checking back with you)

I honestly don’t mind, it’s a preference, but either way isn’t a problem (I wish there was an option like that in the poll :sweat_smile:)
But yeah, any date is fine really, but thanks for checking, appreciate it :blush:

I made the poll multi-select so I thought just ticking all the options would do to express “either way is fine”, but maybe a more explicit option might be preferable? Anyways, thanks for your flexibility!


This means it’s decided: We will start reading 雪国 on October 31st!

(EDIT: I will add the dates to its home thread as soon as Discourse stops acting up…)

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First three volumes of くま クマ 熊 ベアー are 90% off on BookWalker until 2020/11/30

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On BookLive, volumes 4-10 are 50% off as well.

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The current book will be finished in a bit less than two months, and so I figured it might be about time to think about the next poll.

We currently have 16 proposals (12 fast and 4 hard ones), which is a very good number, but nonetheless I would like to ask whether anybody would like to propose another book? (We will only accept 20 proposals in total, though, as this is the maximum number that the poll can hold.)


Having said all that, I actually would like to propose a book :nerd_face:

人間失格

Author : 太宰治 (だざいおさむ)

Summary

Japanese

「恥の多い生涯を送って来ました」。そんな身もふたもない告白から男の手記は始まる。男は自分を偽り、ひとを欺き、取り返しようのない過ちを犯し、「失格」の判定を自らにくだす。でも、男が不在になると、彼を懐かしんで、ある女性は語るのだ。「とても素直で、よく気がきいて(中略)神様みたいないい子でした」と。だれもが自分のことだと思わせられる、太宰治、捨て身の問題作。
(Source: BookWalker)

English

No Longer Human is told in the form of notebooks left by one Ōba Yōzō (大庭葉蔵), a troubled man incapable of revealing his true self to others, and who, instead, maintains a facade of hollow jocularity. The work is made up of three chapters, or “memoranda”, which chronicle the life of Ōba from his early childhood to his late twenties. The story is bookended with two other, shorter, chapters from the point of view of a neutral observer, who sees three photos of Ōba and eventually tracks down one of the characters mentioned in the notebooks who knew him personally.

The novel, narrated in first person, contains several elements which portray an autobiographical basis, such as suicide, a recurring theme in the author’s life. Many believe the book to have been his will, as Dazai took his own life shortly after the last part of the book (which had appeared in serial form) was published.

Length : 131 pages (BookWalker standardized page count) / 192 pages (Amazon paperback bunko)
Category : Hard

Availability

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/product/4101006059/ref=as_li_tf_tl
BookWalker: 人間失格 - 文芸・小説 太宰治(新潮文庫):電子書籍試し読み無料 - BOOK☆WALKER -
(There are also other editions on BookWalker and probably also physical. I’d like to choose this one as reference.)
Aozora: https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000035/files/301_14912.html

Personal Opinion

Insert why you think this book would be good to read, personally and for the book club here.

Pros and Cons for the Book Club

Pros

  • It is considered Dazai’s masterpiece
  • It ranks as the second-best selling novel ever in Japan
  • Many translations are available for reference
  • Good price (~300 Yen both digital and physical, free on Aozora)

Cons

  • Deals with suicide, so might not be for everyone

Pictures

First Three Pages of Chapter One


Additional Pages


Difficulty Poll

How much effort would you need to read this book?

  • No effort at all
  • Minimal effort
  • Moderate effort
  • Significant effort
  • So much effort my head might explode
  • I don’t know

0 voters

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I really want to read 人間失格 but I’m not sure if I can. I will need look up these pages when I have time. Reading that book was in my plan but not on the short therm ha ha

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I love the fact that 荒い is highlighted in your screenshot :stuck_out_tongue:
Other than that, books by 太宰 play an important role in the ビブリア series, so I’ve been thinking about reading some of them for a while. I keep seeing 人間失格 at my local bookstore, thinking “maybe I should buy it”. Then, everytime, I see the price and remember that it’s free on aozora… and end up doing nothing about it.

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I was interested in it, although I heard the book is pretty heavy and depressing. Keep in mind the author killed himself soon after finishing this book… I’m not sure I want to read it in the current world situation :wink:

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