Book Recommendations

LukeSettle · 10 Jun 2008

Hello everyone!

I'm looking for some things to read that are written in japanese with beginner intermediate level kanji. Here are some manga that i have already read in english-

ブリーチ [Bleach]
クレイモア [Claymore]
エウレカセブン [Eureka 7]
デスノート [Death Note]
アイシールド21 [Eyeshield 21]
Fullmetal Alchemist
D. Gray Man

Does anyone know how hard these would be to understand?
Would i be better off with [a] different book?
I've heard that "Breaking into japanese Literature" is a good start.
I'd really like to know how you guys immersed yourself in the Japanese written language.
Thanks so much!

P.S.
Im very sorry for making a new thread for this.
I searched for a thread similar to this one but none exactly covered what i wanted to know.
If this is in the wrong area please move it!
Once again, Thanks!

Ashikaga · 11 Jun 2008

I don't know how faithful the translations were to the original Japanese versions but since you HAVE read them and know the stories, why not pick up one of them and see if you can follow what's going on in it?
I am only familiar with Death Note from your list. It tends to be rather wordy but none of the main characters seems to have any eccentric manner of speech. Although the subject matter is extraordinary, it does take place in the present day Japan and it features everyday folks who talk like such. I think that's a plus.
Another possibility is what they call "youth literature" that is written for upper-elementary & junior highschool readers. Seeing that you're in California, I'm not sure about the availability of such books, though.
Happy reading!

LukeSettle · 11 Jun 2008

ASHIKAGA said:
I don't know how faithful the translations were to the original Japanese versions but since you HAVE read them and know the stories, why not pick up one of them and see if you can follow what's going on in it?
I am only familiar with Death Note from your list. It tends to be rather wordy but none of the main characters seems to have any eccentric manner of speech. Although the subject matter is extraordinary, it does take place in the present day Japan and it features everyday folks who talk like such. I think that's a plus.
Another possibility is what they call "youth literature" that is written for upper-elementary & junior highschool readers. Seeing that you're in California, I'm not sure about the availability of such books, though.
Happy reading!

Thanks Ashikaga!
Youth Literature? Do you mean Japanese Youth Literature or American/English Youth Literature translated to Japanese?

Ashikaga · 11 Jun 2008

Japanese youth literature （児童文学）. amazon.jp has a decent collection of such books from books by Japanese authors to the Japanese translations of those Harry Potter books.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/s/ref=nb_ss_...%8Aw&x=15&y=15

It says they ship worldwide.

epigene · 11 Jun 2008

Ashikaga-san's post reminded me of the Japanese translations of Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner. The translator Ishii Momoko is a renown writer of children's books and is highly regarded for the quality of her writings. Her translations are also superb.

The Amazon Japan link: http://tinyurl.com/5u6roo

List of Ishii Momoko works at Amazon.jp:
Amazon.co.jp : �Έ䓍�q

LukeSettle · 12 Jun 2008

Japanese youth literature （児童文学）. amazon.jp has a decent collection of such books from books by Japanese authors to the Japanese translations of those Harry Potter books.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/s/ref=nb_ss_...%8Aw&x=15&y=15　

It says they ship worldwide.

Thanks so much!
JimmySeal, on another post, said that the series of unfortunate events books are easier. Do you know if this is right? Honestly I found that series harder to read than Harry Potter when i was younger.

Ashikaga-san's post reminded me of the Japanese translations of Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner. The translator Ishii Momoko is a renown writer of children's books and is highly regarded for the quality of her writings. Her translations are also superb.

The Amazon Japan link: http://tinyurl.com/5u6roo

List of Ishii Momoko works at Amazon.jp:
Amazon.co.jp : �Έ䓍�q

Ah Great! Thanks!
I was thinking of reading a kids book.
Ah but shipping is alot ne?
Ill check it out. Also, i was recently looking at Khatzumoto's Blog and i saw a review of a J-J Dictionary, here's the link.
Has anyone used this dictionary? Would you recommend getting it to start converting to using a J-J Dictionary? I'm probably going to get it anyway, just wanted to see if anyone has it here.

Thanks guys!

JimmySeal · 12 Jun 2008

LukeSettle said:
!
JimmySeal, on another post, said that the series of unfortunate events books are easier. Do you know if this is right? Honestly I found that series harder to read than Harry Potter when i was younger.

Snicket's writing style is a bit more literary and (intentionally) old fashioned than Rowling's and that is reflected in the Japanese translations, but the overal vocabulary in Harry Potter is significantly higher than that of A Series of Unfortunate Events. In the original English versions, it's something like a 6000 word vocabulary in HP1 vs. 3000 words in ASoUE1.

Additionally, the Japanese ASoUE books use furigana more generously than the HP books.

But if you've read both HP and ASoUE in English already, you can probably take on either one.

LukeSettle · 12 Jun 2008

Snicket's writing style is a bit more literary and (intentionally) old fashioned than Rowling's and that is reflected in the Japanese translations

I getcha.
Yeah i definitely noticed that when reading those books for the first time.

In the original English versions, it's something like a 6000 word vocabulary in HP1 vs. 3000 words in ASoUE1.

Oh cool! I imagine the level would be somewhat similar in Japanese.

Additionally, the Japanese ASoUE books use furigana more generously than the HP books.

Yeah, I noticed that ASoUE had furigana on most of the characters in the sample pages on amazon.

But if you've read both HP and ASoUE in English already, you can probably take on either one.

Alright! Thanks so much for your help JimmySeal!

epigene · 12 Jun 2008

Also, i was recently looking at Khatzumoto's Blog and i saw a review of a J-J Dictionary, here's the link.
Has anyone used this dictionary? Would you recommend getting it to start converting to using a J-J Dictionary? I'm probably going to get it anyway, just wanted to see if anyone has it here.

I don't know this dictionary, but it is clearly a dictionary for Japanese elementary school students, which is very useful for beginner learners. I highly recommend it.

Actually, I have stacks of Japanese elementary, junior high and high school textbooks at home that my kids had used but don't have the heart to throw them away. I wish there were a flea market featuring books for Japanese language students!

LukeSettle · 12 Jun 2008

epigene said:
I don't know this dictionary, but it is clearly a dictionary for Japanese elementary school students, which is very useful for beginner learners. I highly recommend it.
Actually, I have stacks of Japanese elementary, junior high and high school textbooks at home that my kids had used but don't have the heart to throw them away. I wish there were a flea market featuring books for Japanese language students!

Great!

That would be an awesome flea market.
And i would totally buy some of those books off of you if my Japanese were better. Couldnt you sell them to a bookstore over there in Japan?

Tomii515 · 13 Jun 2008

I didn't wanna make another thread for this since the thread is already going on, so I hope you don't mind if I ask here...

Would anyone recomend a good novel in Japanese? Something interesting, I would hope. Like, obviously I wouldn't understand like 90% of what was going on, but for future reference, and practicing, I would like to buy a novel that's in Japanese, possibly popular in Japan, and that has a good story line, interesting for a 15 year old, and something a 15 year old (japanese person) would be bale to read normally. Uhm. Yeah, that's basically it.

Any6 ideas? and if there r, woud. i buy this on like amazon, or something..?

LukeSettle · 13 Jun 2008

Hey tomii-san!
ahahaha i dont mind.
I dont know anything about the type of books you might be looking for.
Id try the link ASHIKAGA-san posted for 児童文学; youth literature.

Japanese youth literature （児童文学）. amazon.jp has a decent collection of such books from books by Japanese authors to the Japanese translations of those Harry Potter books.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/s/ref=nb_ss_...%8Aw&x=15&y=15　

It says they ship worldwide.

I would also like to ask if anyone has had experience with buying from amazon.jp? Dont know what to expect ^^;

Charles Barkley · 17 Jun 2008

Tomii515 said:
I didn't wanna make another thread for this since the thread is already going on, so I hope you don't mind if I ask here...
Would anyone recomend a good novel in Japanese? Something interesting, I would hope. Like, obviously I wouldn't understand like 90% of what was going on, but for future reference, and practicing, I would like to buy a novel that's in Japanese, possibly popular in Japan, and that has a good story line, interesting for a 15 year old, and something a 15 year old (japanese person) would be bale to read normally. Uhm. Yeah, that's basically it.
Any6 ideas? and if there r, woud. i buy this on like amazon, or something..?

If you read things too far beyond your difficulty level, you won't really get any good practice out of it. Best to find things to challenge you at your current level, not things far beyond it.

Japanese graded readers/picture books of traditional stories for children are interesting. I think that understanding the stories a culture tells its children can be a good way to better understanding that culture, so if you take that perspective, even stories for children become interesting.

Note on the manga: Death note is kind of hard to read in Japanese. If you know the story already, that may help, but there will often be massive blocks of text, such as when there are discussions at the U.N. that will be impenetrable. I also don't remember if there was furigana, but if not, probably a bad idea...

Kirakira1232 · 17 Jun 2008

Yeah there is Furigana in Death note...still doesnt make it any less of a challenge to read lol.

LukeSettle · 17 Jun 2008

Charles Barkley said:
I think that understanding the stories a culture tells its children can be a good way to better understanding that culture, so if you take that perspective, even stories for children become interesting.

Very valid point!

I think ill stick with the easier books for now!

Tomii515 · 19 Jun 2008

Charles Barkley said:
If you read things too far beyond your difficulty level, you won't really get any good practice out of it. Best to find things to challenge you at your current level, not things far beyond it.
Japanese graded readers/picture books of traditional stories for children are interesting. I think that understanding the stories a culture tells its children can be a good way to better understanding that culture, so if you take that perspective, even stories for children become interesting.
Note on the manga: Death note is kind of hard to read in Japanese. If you know the story already, that may help, but there will often be massive blocks of text, such as when there are discussions at the U.N. that will be impenetrable. I also don't remember if there was furigana, but if not, probably a bad idea...

Ohh, i completely understand what you mean. I have these three books from my library that are in japanese, and they seem to be children's books ro something. It's weird, though. It seems (from what i read in the books) that they try to teach you japanese (in japanese). lol. Maybe it's the culture thing you were talking about? cause they have entries in japanese about speicifc holidays and stories and things

But anyways, id just like to buy a book, novel, or w/e for the future, i guess. i know i would be able to read 99% of it, but id like to have one to see if i can understand anything, and so i can have a book for when i do get better. for example, i have anovel thats in Korean. i started learning korean a while ago, and i wasnt good at all xD and i can read it, but i dont understand what im saying except for a couple words. i plan to read this book when i become better in korean years from now

(and omg!! i just realized the smileys on the side have been switched around xd)

LukeSettle · 19 Jun 2008

Hey everyone!

I just realized that amazon.jp doesnt sell the Challenge elementary dictionary so i was wondering where to buy it. Do you know of any other websites that might carry this book? If not ill just go look around for some bookstores in the los angles area.

Thanks!

Buntaro · 19 Jun 2008

Luke,

If you are not familiar with Japanese bookstores in the Los Angeles area, the best bookstore by far is Kinokuniya.

Kinokuniya
Los Angeles Store
123 Astronaut E. Onizuka St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
phone: 213-687-4480/ fax: 213-621-4456
Store hours: 10:00am - 8:00pm
紀伊國屋書店ウェブストア｜オンライン書店｜本、雑誌の通販、電子書籍ストア

Feel free to ask where to park, to get parking validation.

LukeSettle · 19 Jun 2008

Thanks buntaro!

I was just looking at that store online!
Have you heard of Asahiya bookstore?
Its in west l.a. I read some reviews on yelp.com and this bookstore seemed more likely to have this dictionary im looking for.

Thanks in advance

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