#Japanese literature

[bsd-bibliophile]

Oda wanted to die. . . . I, above all other men, felt and understood deeply the sadness of Oda. The first time I met him on the Ginza, I thought, "God, what an unhappy man," and I could scarcely bear the pain. He gave the vivid impression that there was across his path nothing but the wall of death. He wanted to die. But there was nothing I could do. A big-brotherly warning - what hateful hypocrisy. There was nothing to do but watch. The "adults" of the world will probably criticize him smugly, saying he didn't have enough self-respect. But how dare they think they have the right! Yesterday I found record in Mr. Tatsuno [Yutaka]'s introductory essay on Senancour the following words: "People say it is a sin to flee by throwing life away. However, these same sophists who forbid me death often expose me to the presence of death, force me to proceed toward death. The various innovations they think up increase the opportunities for death around me, their preaching leads me toward death, and the laws they establish present me with death." You are the ones who killed Oda, aren't you? His recent sudden death was a poem of his final, sorry resistance. Oda! You did well.

Dazai’s published eulogy for Odasaku. I found it in The Saga of Dazai Osamu: A Critical Study and Translation by Phyllis I. Lyons, pages 49-50.

[metamorphesque]

—Haruki Murakami, 1Q84

[That’s what the world is, after all: an endless battle of contrasting memories.]

[feral-ballad]

Yosano Akiko, tr. by Sam Hamill & Keiko Matsui Gibson, from River of Stars: Selected Poems of Yosano Akiko

[Text ID: “Picking wild roses, / some to weave into my hair / and some for the hand, / I then waited for hours, / I waited for you all day.”]

[lets-get-lit]

I was always hungry for love. Just once, I wanted to know what it was like to get my fill of it -- to be fed so much love I couldn't take any more. Just once.

- Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

[mournfulroses]

Kōtarō Takamura, tr. by Hiroaki Sato, from Chieko & Other Poems; "Two Under the Tree,"

[elysiumaze]

Mieko Kawakami in, Heaven.

[0wikipedia0]

I’m sorry?? What?

Was reading a Wikipedia article on Mori Ōgai and apparently his daughter Mari was the “creator” of the YAOI GENRE?!?! I’m reeling.

Wtf

[ryukatz]

⋆ ♱ PORT MAFIA LITERARY REFERENCES ♱ ⋆

[hiyutekivigil]

haruki murakami, kafka on the shore, p. 11

[miscellaneous-03]

You’ll find your own way to discuss what happened to you. You’ll have to, if you ever want to be close to anyone. But your life—no matter what you think, you have nothing to be ashamed of, and none of it has been your fault. Will you remember that?

- Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life

[infinitiumme]

Yukio Mishima with his cats

[bsd-bibliophile]

Human beings are never satisfied with themselves just as they are. The desire to become a dashing prince, a knight, or a lovely princess is the most common in the world, so it is fair to say that the heroes and heroines who appear in popular literature are created to satisfy those aspirations. Children’s dreams are more daring.

Edogawa Ranpo, “A Desire for Transformation” essay (1954) from The Edogawa Rampo Reader

[metamorphesque]

— Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

[feral-ballad]

Yosano Akiko, tr. by Sam Hamill & Keiko Matsui Gibson, from River of Stars: Selected Poems of Yosano Akiko

[Text ID: “I want, suddenly, to suck / your feverish lips with mine.”]

[literaturecravings]

— Sputnik Sweetheart, Haruki Murakami

[mournfulroses]

Kōtarō Takamura, tr. by Hiroaki Sato, from Chieko & Other Poems; "To General Kuribayashi,"