Chansons Populaires De L'ère Showa (1994) - Plot & Excerpts
This is the first novel of his I've read, & it hit my sweet spot. The pitch black glee is hilarious, & seems it's what I've been looking for. I didn't know anything about his writing, but I've been bingeing on Japanese-to-English novels, & I think that I've found just what I wanted. It reminds me of the film Gummo, filtered through a Japanese cultural lens. Most will take that as a negative, but its just what I was looking for. I haven't laughed so hard at a novel in a very long time. read this in one sitting. it's just that kind of book.ok - so at first i thought this would be just some more ryu murakami trash like 'in the miso soup' and 'piercing', but i was pleasantly surprised. sure, it's just as sensationalist and ridiculous, but there's something cool and less off-putting about it. the book grows on you as you read it. by the end, i found myself wanting to get drunk and bomb some old bitch after singing some karaoke in drag. i was obviously on the guys' team's side. ok and that ugly girl from flo-ju made me shit my pants. maybe it was just my mood, but that was some funny shit.now the criticism: the translator was pretty inconsistent, especially when one compares the tone between the first chapter and the last. i'm not knocking the translator, though - it's just an observance (i actually really liked mccarthy's rendition of dazai short stories). i thought some of the translation was clunky this time. then again, i was reading an advance reading copy as part of the early reviewers club - so hopefully some of this will be smoothed out prior to appearing on shelves.let's go with four stars for now and i'll change it to four and a half if i see improvements between my copy and the final release. btw totally gonna d/l everyone of those songs now and put them on my ipod to listen to while i plot terror. and what?
What do You think about Chansons Populaires De L'ère Showa (1994)?
je l'ai fini car il n'est pas bien gros mais franchement je me suis ennuyée du début à la fin!!
—aly
Insane and raucous. Couldn't put it down. Reminded me of a grisly spy vs spy cartoon.
—Debra
This is the most disturbing book I have ever read.
—HHolm
