Magical realism books from Japan
Recommended magical realism books (10)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you are into magical realism here are some magical realism books from Japan for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.
1.
A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami EN
Description:
Haruki Murakami's third novel, A Wild Sheep Chase is the mystery hybrid which completes the odyssey begun in Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973. The man was leading an aimless life, time passing, one big blank. His girlfriend has perfectly formed ears, ears with the power to bewitch, marvels of creation. The man receives a letter from a friend, enclosing a seemingly innocent photograph of sheep, and a request: place the photograph somewhere it will be seen. Then, one September afternoon, the phone rings, and the adventure begins. Welcome to the wild sheep chase. 'Mr. Murakami's style and ima... continue
2.
After Dark by Haruki Murakami EN
Description:
From the New York Times bestselling author—a gripping novel of late night encounters that’s “hypnotically eerie, sometimes even funny, but most of all … [a book] that keeps ratcheting up the suspense” (The Washington Post Book World). Now with a new introduction by the author. Nineteen-year-old Mari is waiting out the night in an anonymous Denny’s when she meets a young man who insists he knows her older sister, thus setting her on an odyssey through the sleeping city. In the space of a single night, the lives of a diverse cast of Tokyo residents—models, prostitutes, mobsters, and musicians—co... continue
3.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold : Tales from the Cafe by Toshikazu Kawaguchi EN
Description:
Summary: In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time. In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café's time-travelling offer, in order to confront the lover who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has begun to fade, see their sister one last time, and meet the daughter they never got the chance to know. But the journey into the past does ... continue
4.
Before We Say Goodbye by Toshikazu Kawaguchi EN
Description:
Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s poignant Before we say goodbye, translated from Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot, explores the age-old question: what would you do if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?
The regulars at the magical Cafe Funiculi Funicula are well acquainted with its famous legend and extraordinary, secret menu time travel offering. Many patrons have reunited with old flames, made amends with estranged family, and visited loved ones. But the journey is not without risks and there are rules to follow. Travellers must ... continue
5.
Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi EN
Description:
The third novel in the international bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, following four new customers in a cafe where customers can travel back in time.On the hillside of Mount Hakodate in northern Japan, Cafe Donna Donna is fabled for its dazzling views of Hakodate port. But that's not all. Like the charming Tokyo cafe Funiculi Funicula, Cafe Donna Donna offers its customers the extraordinary experience of travelling through time.From the author of Before the Coffee Gets Cold and Tales from the Cafe comes another story of four new customers, each of whom is hoping to take advantag... continue
8.
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata EN
Description:
From the beloved author of cult sensation Convenience Store Woman, which has now sold more than one million copies worldwide and has been translated into thirty-three languages, comes a spellbinding and otherworldly novel about a woman who believes she is an alien Sayaka Murata's Convenience Store Woman was one of the most unusual and refreshing bestsellers of recent years, depicting the life of a thirty-six-year-old clerk in a Tokyo convenience store. Now, in Earthlings, Sayaka Murata pushes at the boundaries of our ideas of social conformity in this brilliantly imaginative, intense, and abso... continue
9.
Kafka am Strand by Haruki Murakami DE
Description:
Der Held in diesem Entwicklungs- und Liebesroman heisst Kafka Tamura und ist fünfzehn Jahre alt. Er läuft von zu Hause fort, um der stärkste 15-Jährige der Welt zu werden. Eine kafkaeske Reise voller Mythen und Mysterien beginnt.
10.
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami EN
Description:
A teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction and now is drawn toward Kafka for reasons that, like the most basic activities of daily life, he cannot fathom.