《姑獲鳥之夏》 promotional video

This is the first time I have come across a video clip used to promote a novel. All I can say is that the promo clip succeeds in creating a creepy atmosphere, not unlike a J-horror films – this is rather misleading as the book is a detective thriller and not a very good one at that! I believe the clip was produced by the Taiwanese publisher in promotion of the Chinese edition of the novel.

Click to view [via bubu's blog]

Rating novels I have read in 2007

By request, here is how I feel about some of the rest of the novels I have read this year. Click on the links to see previous posts about these novels.

Title	Author	How I liked them
惡魔前來吹笛	橫溝正史	★★★
嫌疑犯 X 的獻身	東野圭吾	★★★★★
寂寞獵人	宮部美幸	★★
Daywatch	Sergei Lukyanenko	★★★★★
Nightwatch	Sergei Lukyanenko	★★★★★
如焉@sars.come	胡發雲	★★★
隱劍孤影抄	藤澤周平	★★★★
A Case Of Two Cities	Qiu Xialong	★★★
When Red Is Black	Qiu Xialong	★★★

     

多情浪子癡情俠 : decent but not groundbreaking

Earlier this year I came across a brand new Chinese martial arts novel. Apparently a web site in China organized a competition to find new martial arts writers. 多情浪子癡情俠 by the female writer 鄭丰 won the top prize and was voted the most popular entry by web readers. 中華書局 published this novel in a 4 volume set, with the last two volumes debuting at the Hong Kong Book Fair. According to the blurb on the inside cover, the author was born in Taiwan, and received her university education in the US; she married and moved to London, before migrating to Hong Kong as a full time banker. She wrote the novel in London, a period when she did not have to work.

多情浪子癡情俠 focuses on two heroes : 趙觀 and 凌昊天. The former is clearly modeled on Louis Cha’s 韋小寶, a wily and smooth talker who wins over the ladies. The latter is a top swordsman with few peers but falls in love with his elder brother’s fiancee. The novel follows these two characters from the beginning when they are just kids to the end when they become saviours of China (against invaders) and torchbearers of the new generation. 趙觀 is the more fascinating character as he must navigate through the dangerous waters of the secret societies in the hope of avenging the death of his mother.

Written for initial “publication” online, the novel comprises of short chapters and the plot progresses very rapidly. This is a pro and a con : positive in that novel draws readers in quickly, but negative because too many plot points are glossed over. As a debut novel, I found it very readable. Prose is simple, crisp and unpretentious. Despite a large cast, characters were generally likeable if not particularly developed in depth.

Most martial arts novelist live under the shadow of the three greats – Louis Cha 金庸, Gu Long 古龍 and Liang Yusheng 梁羽生. How does this new novel fare in comparison? Well, it cannot claim to be being a masterpiece despite publicity dubbing the author a female Louis Cha. The novel does not break any ground stylistically (unlike Gu Long’s works) and the plot can hardly be deemed original,as it clearly owes more than a little debt to Louis Cha’s works. But considering that the author is basically an amateur novelist and this is her first work, let’s not be too harsh on the novel. After all, decent new martial arts novels are VERY rare. And while 多情浪子癡情俠 isn’t a seminal work, it does deliver good entertainment.

Recommended.

Link to review at 以書會友

Recently read books : Japanese fiction

Recently, I have read quite a few Japanese novels translated into Chinese. Most of these novels were decently entertaining, with the exception of the rather pretentious and long-winded 姑獲鳥之夏.

The surprise was 砂之器 by 松本清張. I read his so-called seminal Points And Lines in English translation more than five years ago and found that book very dull with too much details involving train schedules. I found 砂之器 to be significantly more interesting.

Having watched a fair number of ninja movies and anime, I was delighted to come across 伊賀忍法帖 by 山田風太郎. The cult movie Ninja Wars actually managed a rather faithful adaptation of this novel – but the novel is nonetheless the better read. Very amusing stuff.

Title	Author	How I liked them
宿命	東野圭吾	★★★
池袋西口公園2	石田衣良	★★★★
動機	橫山秀夫	★★★
某《小倉日記》傳	松本清張	★★★
雪國	川端康成	★★
砂之器	松本清張	★★★★
危險的童話	土屋隆夫	★★★
姑獲鳥之夏	京極夏彥	★
伊豆的舞孃	川端康成	★★★
伊賀忍法帖	山田風太郎	★★★★

     

Freebie postcards at Commercial Press bookstore

I picked up a set of postcards for free at the Commercial Press’s new flagship bookstore in Tsim Sha Tsui. The 4 postcards depict locations that are mentioned in the detective stories of Tsuchiya Takao 土屋隆夫. Very nice for a freebie.

Yokomizo Seishi : deserves his rep as a master

In my journey towards discovering more Japanese detective fiction, I came across the fiction of Yokomizo Seishi 橫溝正史. Noted for creating the extremely popular character Kindaichi Kosuke 金田一耕助, Yokomizo remains one of the most widely read authors in the genre today. Yokomizo plays an important role in the development and popularization of detective fiction in Japan. He became a professional writer before the start of World War II but fame came after the war ended. Publishing his works in serialized format in weekly magazines, Yokomizo quickly established a large following. A large number of his novels have been adapted into films including the famous Village of Eight Tombs 八墓村.

Japanese detective fiction can be sub-divided into many sub-genres, and Yokomizo is considered by critics and readers to be one of the masters of the “orthodox” or “classic” school 本格派. The detective fiction of writers from the “orthodox” school largely resembles the works of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle – murders take place, detectives strive to unravel alibis or motives of key suspects and the novel ends with a scene in which all the mysteries are explained. This narrative format continues to be popular today in Japan as can be seen in the popularity of the Detective Conan manga and cartoon series.

For my first Yokomizo novel, I chose the decently lengthy 惡魔前來吹笛 [literal translation would be something like "When the Devil Comes, He Plays the Flute"]. Originally published in 1951, I found the novel a very entertaining book and it did not feel dated. The story starts off with the death of a wealthy aristocrat, but as the investigation progresses, Kindaichi discovers the hideous truth behind relationships within the victim’s family. Some authors of Japanese detective fiction opt for preposterous plot mechanisms (I finished reading one last week*, and the ending REALLY pissed me off), but Yokomizo’s novel remains grounded in plausible plot elements. A fast read despite its close to 500 page length, the novel starts off interestingly, takes a detour and ends on a high note in the typical Agatha Christie a gather-in-the-living-room-for-the-truth moment. Overall, a recommended read.

* Natsuhiko Kyogoku’s 京極夏彥 Ubume No Natsu 姑獲鳥之夏. Considered to be “new orthodox school” 新本格派 author, his mysteries tend to feature seemingly supernatural occurrences, which he then debunks. Although the myths, yokai 妖怪 and folklore he writes about is fascinating, I found the novel slow and bogged down by pseudo philosophizing about religion and perception. The ending was horrendous – apparently the narrator suppressed what he saw and all along the reader (i.e. ME) had been presented simply with a unreliable account of what happened. And I hate it when the murderer turns out to be committed by a person with 3 split personalities, thus making it easy to explain away the motives of killing.

嫌疑犯 X 的獻身 : one of the best mysteries I’ve read

Higashino Keigo’s 東野圭吾 Yogisha X No Kenshin 嫌疑犯 X 的獻身 is the first full length Japanese mystery novel I have read. A sensational hit in Japan, the novel won numerous critic and reader polls, immediately turning the author into one of the island nation’s most successful writers after years of mediocre sales (though he did win a Rampo Award with his debut in 1985). Higashino is relatively unknown in the West as few of his books have been translated into English. Luckily, there is an abundance of Chinese translations of the author’s works, and I managed to pick up a copy of this novel a few weeks ago.

Yogisha X No Kenshin 嫌疑犯 X 的獻身 follows the classic murder mystery formula and starts off with a deadly crime very quickly. But the novel is not a whodunnit – we know who the criminals are. Instead of pursuing suspects, readers become engrossed with how the killer(s) establish their alibis and mislead the police inspectors. Both parties have alliances. On the side of the investigators, is a perceptive physics professor; on the side of the murderer, is a meticulous and intelligent mathematics teacher. The battle of wits between these two individuals (who happen to be college classmates) provides the novel with a riveting centre of action.

Overall, I found the novel very satisfying: the prose (translated into Chinese) is brisk and despite the structure of the novel, the ending still manages to pack a twist. Higashino Keigo once remarked that apart from being a mystery, the novel is about love and sacrifice (a very rough translation of the title would be “The Devotion of Suspect X”). And indeed, especially towards the end, there is a sense of pathos in the lengths the maths teacher is prepared to go to protect the murderer. Highly recommended.

Info about the author : I found a nice article about the author here.

Edit : hyperlink to external author article updated

寂寞獵人 : My first Miyabe Miyuki collection

Lately, I’ve become fascinated with Japanese detective novels 日本推理小說. Perhaps “detective” is not the most accurate adjective as the genre covers a wide range of crime fiction. One of my first forays into this particular genre was Miyabe Miyuki’s 宮部美幸 collection of short stories under the title 寂寞獵人. This volume follows the adventures of a elderly second hand book store owner and his grandson. I found 寂寞獵人 interesting for several reasons. 1) The author seems more interested in books than in crime and most of the cases lead back to stories or specific editions of books. 2) Rather than imitating an Agatha Christie style of solving mysteries, the cases presented in this collection don’t come across as cryptic but are in many cases rather touching in that they explore human weaknesses and loneliness. 3) The most fascinating part of the collection is following the changing relationship between the book store owner and his teenage grandson. Perhaps the only negative aspect of the collection is that I found it to be a rather slow read.

Info about the author – Miyabe Miyuki is one of the most successful and prolific writers in Japan. Her fiction covers a wide range of genres from science fiction to mysteries and period novels. She has won a number of literary prizes including the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize in 1993 and the Naoki Prize in 1998.

Rough Guide Book Of Playlists : nice intro to music

Subtitled “500 irresistible playlist ideas for your iPod or MP3 player”, the pocket sized The Rough Guide Book of Playlists consists of lists compiled according to artists, genres, and themes; basically, you could say the book is a collection of top 10 lists on pop and rock music arranged alphabetically. Throughout the guide, celebrities musicians like Robert Plant, Al Green, Michael Stipe (REM), Elvis Costello and many others offer their takes on songs that influenced them.

Browsing through the guide brought back memories of many songs I had long forgotten, and revisit albums I had put into storage. I also found the book useful in discovering new music, as it gives up some indication about which songs / albums to start off with. Overall, a pleasant browse.

Nightwatch : excellent sci-fi from Russia

I learnt about Sergei Lukyanenko’s Nightwatch series of novels reading online reviews of the equally successful Russian movie adaptation. Film distributors didn’t release the movie in Hong Kong, but luckily the Hong Kong International Film Festival gave it a screening a few years ago. I liked the movie enough to become interested in the novel, and when I came across the English translation, I was more than thrilled.

Nightwatch the novel is the first in a series about the conflict / truce between the Light Others and the Dark Others. Possessing super-human powers, these being have two “police” forces that keep their counterparts in place: the Nightwatch refers to the Light Others unit that patrols the Dark Others during the night. Anton, the protagonist in this first novel in the series, is a relatively novice in this world, but he plays a crucial part in the delicate balance between these two forces.

The novel consists of three independent but connected stories with Anton as the narrator. The stories are titled “Destiny”, “Among His Own Kind” and “All For My Own Kind”. As the stories progress, Lukyanenko serves up well rounded and interesting characters – and gradually we the readers become aware that the conflict between the Nightwatch and the Daywatch is not a clear-cut justice versus evil scenario. The three story structure makes it easier for readers to become acquainted with a sizeable cast of characters and the mythology of the series, a wise strategy on the author’s part. Nightwatch is a fast read and all three stories are excellent, my personal favourite being the third one. Overall, this promises to be an excellent series. Oh, and the book is much more fascinating than the film (as usual).

As a side note, the Nightwatch the movie is pretty much based on the first story, and Daywatch the movie on the second story in the first novel. Both of these movies also borrow minor elements from other stories in the series; for example, the prologue to Nightwatch the movie is lifted from the first part of Daywatch the novel.

Donald Richie’s account of Japanese cinema engrossing but flawed

Dubbed “the dean of Japan’s arts critics” by Time magazine, Donald Richie is renowned for his authoritative writings on Japanese cinema. In 2001, Richie published “A Hundred Years of Japanese Film, a concise history, with a selective guide to DVDs and Videos”. The revised and updated 2005 edition I just finished features a still of Kitano “Beat” Takeshi as Zatoichi on the front cover. Japanese cinema experienced a resurgence worldwide with the success of J-horror pictures in the mid-1990s, and with the gradual re-release of classic Japanese films on DVD, I began my building a library of samurai and cult classics. I bought Richie’s book to learn more about the Japanese cinematic tradition, and while the book was definitely informative, it wasn’t what I really expected it to be.

Subtitled “a concise history”, the book provides a solid socio-political background on which to understand the development of Japanese cinema. Richie explains in the introduction that he will look at Japanese films via a presentational / representational axis. By the “presentational” ethos, Richie believes content is presented via stylizations with no assumption that raw reality is displayed. He feels that Japanese cinema is more closely associated with being presentational. In contrast, the “representational” ethos is associated with the West and assumes reality is being shown, i.e. it is a more realistic approach to cinema. Richie bases his argument on the differences in perception of the origins of cinema in the East and the West. The Japanese, he claims, saw film as an expansion, a new form of theatre, and thus were more open to formalistic presentations on film from the very start. The West, however, treated cinema as moving pictures – that is an upgrade, if you will, on photography – and thus a more elaborate and enhanced method of capturing reality. Via this approach, Richie analyses the ebbs and flows of Japanese cinema from its advent to the present.

What’s good about Richie’s book is that it is very informative and well written. It offers plenty of anecdotes on directors, and insightful commentary on how the studio system affected the choice of content and style of direction of films. The chapter on post-WWII cinema elucidates how the American agenda affected censorship during the occupation years. In these early chapters, Richie delivers in-depth analyses of the careers and films of key directors including Ozu, Naruse, Kurosawa and Mizoguchi.

My complaints? The front cover of the book shows a still from the recent Zatoichi remake. Readers will tend to buy the book for a concise history of what they imagine to be key Japanese popular cinema. But Richie has chosen to omit discussion of genre pictures in general; the book barely mentions the pioneering and influential yakuza films of Kinji Fukasaku (though Seijun Suzuki is luckier and gets a few pages). The book also totally disregards chambara films – explained in the glossary as low-class samurai pictures – and cinema circa 1960s up till the present only gets a cursory mention in the final chapter. Richie has opted to concentrate on “high-brow” cinema and the book is a bad choice for readers who want to learn more about the popular Japanese cinema made cool by Quentin Tarantino.

I found the selective film guide available on DVDs and the glossary of terms included at the back of the book very useful. In short, despite its shortcomings, I would still recommend this book to any serious fan of Japanese cinema.

Midnight Eye’s review of the book.

Fujiwara Shuhei : outstanding Japanese samurai fiction

Last week, I finally finished reading a collection of Fujisawa Shuhei’s short stories. Since the success of period film Twilight Samurai, there has been a resurgence of Japanese samurai novels in translation. These books were hard to find in Chinese translation in Hong Kong and English translations are even more rare. Recently, however, high quality paperbacks of these novels and short stories have reappeared. I managed to lay my hands on a couple of different authors and I have been most pleased with Fujiwara’s works so far.

Fujiwara works are more concerned with low ranking samurai’s and the dilemma they face – namely, the delicate balance of maintaining the code of honour of a samurai and being pragmatic in running a household with a meagre pain. He explores the psychology of his characters, how they perceive the feudal system and how they deal with matters of the heart. Fujiwara does not seem to be concerned with swordplay or how his character’s learn their skills; this contrasts sharply with Chinese martial arts novels which often go into great detail how swordsmen gain their amazing skills.

I found the stories collected in this edition very entertaining. The vary in length, but most are around 40 pages long. The author is not overly concerned with historical detail, not does he crowd his stories with too many characters or overly convoluted relationships (again, a common trait of many Chinese martial arts novels). While the stories feature few scenes of action or intrigue, I did not find them boring or slow. In fact, I finished the entire collection rather quickly. Also, while the movies Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade and this year’s Love And Honor (see my short review here) aren’t in any way bad film adaptations of his works, the actual stories offer more depth in character and have less “clean” endings.

Highly recommended!

Inspector Chen tackles corruption in A Case Of Two Cities

I started reading Qiu Xiaolong’s fourth Inspector Chen novel A Case Of Two Cities immediately after finishing When Red Is Black. In this novel, Inspector Chen is assigned to tackle a politically sensitive case and investigate corruption – fubai - among high ranking party members and influential businessmen. The case sees him re-united with his American counterpart Catherine Rohn (from the second novel A Loyal Character Dancer).

I found A Case Of Two Cities a much more engrossing read than When Red Is Black. Partly, this must be because of recently high profile arrests of senior party members in Shanghai. The plot is more tightly woven than Qiu’s previous novel and some of the action even takes place in America. Qiu once again delivers a very satisfactory conclusion to the story – the outcome comes across as plausible and Qiu does not succumb to sentimental solutions with regards to Chen and Catherine Rohn’s relationship.

A very fascinating read.

When Red Is Black – another strong Inspector Chen novel

I first discovered Mainland Chinese author Qiu Xiaolong several years ago. Writing in English, Qiu’s Inspector Chen is an introspective police detective with a penchant for quoting poetry. Although classified as detective / crime fiction, Qiu seems more fascinated with changes taking place in China in the last decade and how the emergence of an affluent group of Chinese is shaping China in the new millennium.

In Qiu’s third novel When Red Is Black, Inspector Chen is offered the chance to make some pocket money by translating a proposal for a property developer. But when a murder takes place in an old-fashioned multi-family house similar to the design outlined in the proposal he is translating, Chen becomes suspicious.

In this novel, Qiu shows how “connections” work in modern China, and especially the booming property market. He does not condemn using these connections as a form of corruption; he sees it as a blade that cuts both ways. Even Inspector Chen relies on connections to procure information to solve his cases – and sometimes these connections can come back to haunt him.

Stylistically, this third novel features more dialogue and is a fast read. My person preference remains Qiu second Inspector Chen novel A Loyal Character Dancer.

Penguin Epics – convenient and portable epic tales

Penguin’s latest series of very portable classics concentrates on epic tales like the fall of Troy, Jason and the Golden Fleece and many other mythological stories. I picked up the thin 137-page volume titled Siegfried’s Murder two weeks ago, primarily as a quick way to learn more about the legends on which Wagner based his music.

Since the paperback is extremely light, I carried it around and read it when I was stuck in traffic. These Penguin Epics are a convenient way to acquaint oneself with mythology and classics, but since they are heavily excerpted, they don’t convey the “epic” scale of the works.

Books on Japanese culture

Books I read recently. I seem to be immensely curious about Japanese culture. The first book cover miscellaneous topics like the Otaku sub-culture and the second one looks at the plight of the Japanese middle class as they begin edge towards a lesser lifestyle and a more cynical outlook on life.