Into the Forest discussion

We have a 2 way tie between the Japanese and Greek themes!
This has never happened before with themes!
What we will do is

July 15-September 14 the theme will be Japanese: retellings of, books based on or inspired by Japanese Mythology
September 15-November 14 the them will be Ancient Greece: retelling of, books inspired by or based on Greek Mythology

In this thread every group member can make 3 nominations:
one Original or Traditional tale or a collection of shorter tales
one Young Adult Novel
One Adult Novel
The novels should be either retellings of traditional tales, or have several tradition tales worked in them or somehow be inspired by Japanese Folklore and or Mythology

Please only nominate books that you wish to read yourself or have already read, but wish to discuss! It's also helpful if you choose books that are readily available!

The poll for the books will go up July 7

So nominate away!

Edited to add Please only nominate for This Group Read Japanese
We will have a separate nomination for Greek Themes later!

For the Japanese Mythology:

Traditional: "Japanese Tales" by Royall Tyler

YA: either "Shadow of the Fox" by Julie Kagawa, or "Dragon Sword and Wind Child" by Noriko Ogiwara

Adult: either "The Sword of Kaigen" by M.L. Wang, or "Stormdancer" by Jay Kristoff


For the Greek Mythology:

Traditional: "Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes" by Rick Riordan

YA: "Cursed by the Gods" by Raye Wagner

Adult: "The Immortals" by Jordanna Max Brodsky

Lois wrote: "For the Japanese Mythology:

Traditional: "Japanese Tales" by Royall Tyler

YA: either "Shadow of the Fox" by Julie Kagawa, or "Dragon Sword and Wind Child" by Noriko Ogiwara

Adult: either "The S..."

Looks great!
However please nominate just 1 book for each catagory and Only for Japanese Themed books.
We will have a separate thread for Greek Mythology in August!

Here are my nominations:

Adult: The Woman in the Dunes Kōbō Abe

YA: Half World by Hiromi Goto

Traditional: The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore by Michael Dylan Foster

Updated Nominations:

Traditional: "Japanese Tales" by Royall Tyler

YA: "Shadow of the Fox" by Julie Kagawa

Adult: "The Sword of Kaigen" by M.L. Wang

Adult: Kappa by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.

Ya: Dragon Sword and Wind Child by Noriko Ogiwara . I'm tempted to nominate Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi, but from what I remember anime is much better. However, Balsa is awesome heroine in both mediums.

Traditional or original: Tales of Moonlight and Rain by Ueda Akinari. Ghost stories penned by classic Japanese writer.

Adult Novel:
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Niledaughter wrote: "Adult Novel:
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami"

Oh good, I didn't realize Murakami had folklore/mythology influenced work. I still haven't read a book-length work by him.

Asaria wrote: "Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi,"

I almost nominated that as well. I recently finished The Beast Player by the same author, and liked it (though didn't love it). But it made me interested in trying more of her work.

Margaret wrote: "Oh good, I didn't realize Murakami had folklore/mythology influenced work. I still haven't read a book-length work by him...."

No problem if you do not to include him , I know he is more oriented towards western culture , and his work is considered by some magical realism . I believe this one was his shift back to Japanese culture .

An Allegory of Return: Murakami Haruki's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
https://www.researchgate.net/publicat...

https://www.jstor.org/stable/40247241...

I read three books for him before , they were surrealistic , magical portrays of modern Japan - I am still trying to figure out the symbolism of cats in his books !

I'm excited about including him!

You know, you're not the first person to mention cats when discussing his work, ha.

Niledaughter wrote: "Adult Novel:
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Oh good! I was considering nominating that one too, ever since I was enchanted by Kafka on the Shore!!
So I second The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle for the adult novel choice!

Margaret wrote: "Oh good, I didn't realize Murakami had folklore/mythology influenced work. I still haven..."

I first discovered Kafka on the Shore because it's on Teri Wendlings Endicott Mythic fiction list. I can't vouch for how much folklore/myths/fairy tales are in The Wind up Bird Chronicle, but I'd give it a try.

As Niledaughter said "I read three books for him before , they were surrealistic , magical portrays of modern Japan - I am still trying to figure out the symbolism of cats in his books "

Going by Kafka on the Shore, the only book I have read of his, his works definitely fit the criteria of this group.
Oh and if any one wants to nominate Kafka I would reread it!

Any of a number of collections by Lafcadio Hearn? I'm not sure what is the easiest to come by. Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things? In Ghostly Japan: Spooky Stories with the Folklore, Superstitions and Traditions of Old Japan?

Miriam wrote: "Any of a number of collections by Lafcadio Hearn? I'm not sure what is the easiest to come by. Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things? [book:In Ghostly Japan: Spooky Stories wi..."

My library has both!

Miriam wrote: "Any of a number of collections by Lafcadio Hearn? I'm not sure what is the easiest to come by. Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things? In Ghostly Japan: Spooky Stories wi..."</i>

<i>Margaret wrote: "...My library has both! "</i>

My library does not have either! And they don't have [book:Tales of Moonlight and Rain either and now since the Conservative party got elected last year they scrapped interlibrary loans. It's so disappointing! If any of these books win and everyone is raving about them I'll go ahead and buy them because they all look amazing!

My library has both The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Half World so I will second these nominations for adult and YA nominations

Margaret wrote: "I almost nominated that as well. I recently finished The Beast Player by the same author, and liked it (though didn't love it). But it made me interested in trying more of her work. "

Moribito series seems her the most popular work. I don't know who is her intended audience in "The Beast Player", I guess children will enjoy Moribito more than grown-ups. Nevertheless, I think Balsa is an intriguing protagonist, thirty-something warrior, who becomes a mother figure to her charge. Cathy Hirano that was responsible for English "The Beast Player" and "Dragon Sword and Wind Child" is the translator of the series' first two books :)

Miriam wrote: "Any of a number of collections by Lafcadio Hearn? I'm not sure what is the easiest to come by. Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things? [book:In Ghostly Japan: Spooky Stories wi..."

Jalilah wrote: "My library does not have either! And they don't have [book:Tales of Moonlight and Rain either and now since the Conservative party got elected last year they scrapped interlibrary loans. It's so disappointing! If any of these books win and everyone is raving about them I'll go ahead and buy them because they all look amazing!

My library has both The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Half World so I will second these nominations for adult and YA nominations"

All Hearn's books are available in public domain :)

Asaria wrote: "Moribito series seems her the most popular works. "

I definitely plan to read them this year! Maybe during the Japanese reads, just to keep the theme going. The Beast Player is YA.

Jalilah wrote: "the Conservative party got elected last year they scrapped interlibrary loans."

This is so infuriating. Scholars especially use interlibrary loans ALL THE TIME!

Margaret wrote: "You know, you're not the first person to mention cats when discussing his work, ha.a."

:D

Jalilah wrote: "Going byKafka on the Shore, the only book I have read of his, his works definitely fit the criteria of this group.
Oh and if any one wants to nominate Kafka I would reread it! ."

I also read Kafka on the Shore, After Dark and Sputnik Sweetheart , they all had the magical atmosphere . I liked Norwegian Wood but it does not fit in the same category .

Miriam wrote: "Any of a number of collections by Lafcadio Hearn? I'm not sure what is the easiest to come by. Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things? [book:In Ghostly Japan: Spooky Stories wi..."

It looks like his stuff is easily accessible online.

Traditional: The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore

YA: none

Adult: The Fox Woman

Miriam wrote: "Any of a number of collections by Lafcadio Hearn? I'm not sure what is the easiest to come by. Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things? [book:In Ghostly Japan: Spooky Stories wi..."

I am happy to know these are available on line? Which one do you want to nominate?

Last call for nominations! Poll will go up Saturday night or Sunday morning. Here's what we have so far:

Adult:
The Woman in the Dunes by Kōbō Abe
The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
Kappa by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
The Fox Woman by Kij Johnson

Young Adult:
Half World by Hiromi Goto
Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa
Dragon Sword and Wind Child by Noriko Ogiwara

Traditional:
Japanese Tales by Royall Tyler
The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore by Michael Dylan Foster
Tales of Moonlight and Rain by Ueda Akinari

Miriam, which Lafcadio Hearn book would you like to nominate?

The book nominations poll is up! Here's the link to vote on which books should be our next group read: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/3...

Miriam, I went with the first Hearn book you listed.

Japanese Group Read polls have ended! Group reads start tomorrow and continue until September 14th. Here are the winners:

A tie for adult: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami and The Fox Woman by Kij Johnson.

Young adult: Half World by Hiromi Goto

Traditional: Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things

Here's a link to the discussions: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Happy reading!