Kevin's Watch

Oh, they're around. I just never picked it up when I saw it in the past. Maybe I'll hold off on Noble House until I find it.

--A

If I got my facts straight when he's writing in the category conventionally known as 'techno-thriller' (think Crichton and Clancy) he uses the 'van Lustbader' name; that means, Bourne books are attributal to vL. I'm pretty sure he has written pretty standard fantasy yarns, perhaps for Baen press, and for those he's simply known as Lustbader.

I would have mentioned Eric van Lustbader, because his stuff is usually set in Asia. Ninja is in Japan, and is one of my favorite books of all. Just too damned much fun! I talk about it a little here:
kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=108779#108779

But it's not feudal, it's modern. His Sunset Warrior books are fantasy. Kinda post-apocolyptic. Also great stuff, with a lot of ninja-esque elements. Again, not feudal.

I shudder to think what Montresor would say about how "Japanese" his stuff really is. But it seems to be at least a serious attempt to give us an idea of the culture and mindset.

You'll find him in V in some stores, L in others, maybe both in some. Heh. I think he say it should be L, but nobody knows. Steve Miller Band should be S, because that's the name of the band. But it's usually M, for the name of the band's leader. What are ya gonna do?? heh

Just read interview with Michael Dirda, former Book World editor from Washington Post, in Locus, November 2009 issue, and Dirda calls Genji Monogatari along with Remembrance of Things Past the greatest pieces of prose ever.

Fist and Faith wrote:I would have mentioned Eric van Lustbader, because his stuff is usually set in Asia. Ninja is in Japan, and is one of my favorite books of all. Just too damned much fun! I talk about it a little here:
kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=108779#108779

But it's not feudal, it's modern. His Sunset Warrior books are fantasy. Kinda post-apocolyptic. Also great stuff, with a lot of ninja-esque elements. Again, not feudal.

I shudder to think what Montresor would say about how "Japanese" his stuff really is. But it seems to be at least a serious attempt to give us an idea of the culture and mindset.

Lustbader? Yeah, completely shit-house (I mean from a cultural perspective) Typical pulp stuff inspired by the most superficially obvious elements of Japanese history/culture. Falls into the 'samurai this, ninja that' category. People like them, though, so who am I to naye-say?

Anyway, for a different recommendation, take a look at Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Things Strange. Hearn was a Greek-American who became a Japanese citizen and wrote one of the great masterworks of 20th C Japanese fantastic fiction. Kwaidan is essentially a compilation of various folk tales which lend themselves to horror. Very good. The '60s film adaptation is also very good.

I second Clavell's Shogun. One of the few Westerners who wrote fiction about Japan that actually had an in-depth knowledge of the nation and its history.

Currently reading Clavell's Gai-jin that this thread encouraged me to try again, after being very disappointed on first read.

I think my disappointment was due to my exceedingly high expectations after reading his other books. I'm enjoying it this time round. It's set in Japan in 1862, a generation down the line from the events in Tai-pan and a few hundred years after Shogun.

'Rashomon and other stories' by Ryunosuke Akutagawa (Penguin classics). Yes, that Rashomon (Kurusowa) (OK, sort of, basis of etc...) Includes some works that have a very different morality about them.

Lafcadio Hearn

(1850 - 1904) was the real deal, he migrated to Japan around 1890 or so, and found himself totally enamored with the place. Getting to Japan around 20 or so years after the end of bakufu[/u] meaning he arrived just as Westerners are learning anything about Japan. For your information, a lot of Hearn's text available through Project Guttenberg.

Shusako Endo wrote some beautiful books. And 'The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet', by David Mitchell is not be missed ofcourse.