Monkey Brain Sushi: New Tastes in Japanese Fiction

Book Overview

Cyberpunk, sci-fi and erotica all meld together in this collection ofutting-edge short stories. The authors tend towards near-zero emotionalhill, stunned urbanity and a shiny kind of violence. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 4770015437
• ISBN13: 9784770015433
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Kodansha USA Inc
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.27 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Buy It!!!

What a cool book! I highly recommend it; it has some of the most amusing short stories - hard to put it down.

Surreal, surprising Japanese sampling

Who could resist the title of this collection? I stumbled across it in a bookstore one day, and I had to have it. Even if it turned out to be horrible. Of course, lucky for me, it turned out to be... an unbelievable surprise. The editor of this collection of short stories by contemporary Japanese authors stressed in his introduction that these are not at all the traditional sort of Japanese tales we (having read traditional Japanese lit) have come to expect. The newest generation of Japanese writers is not bound by the same sort of literary tradition and cultural "preservation" that past writers have been. The tone of the entire book is somewhat irreverent. Themes that prevail in this collection include: the disintegration of traditional values/ disconnection from family, from people, from life, from self (obsession with television and video games), alienation, looking for something to hold onto or relate to (shopping as religion, creating one's own religion), and even a lesbian relationship between a middle aged woman and a younger woman truck driver. This book explores post World War II Japan on a level that is quite telling, somewhat disturbing and kind of surreal. I also see that a lot of themes that recur can be mirrored in American society, this disconnection and seeming desire to belong. I particularly enjoyed the story by Masahiko Shimada; his book Dream Messenger, which is also quite surreal and good, is widely available in English.

highly recommend

I particularly liked "Momotaro in a Capsule","Japanese Entrance Exams for Earnest Young Men" and "Mazelife". All of them were incredibly funny, but still had something interesting to say about life. The serious stories didn't affect me as much, though."Peony Snowflakes" was pretty good. All of the stories were very accessible to Americans (I don't presume to speak for others), and made Japan seem like a really cool, interesting place.

Check out what's happening in Japan now.

If Kobo Abe made our ideas of Japanese literature twist and metamorphosize before our eyes like live prawn in hot sauce, then check out these short stories and novel excerpts (including a graphic short novel) from some inventive yet accessible Japanese writers. Note their connection to the rest of the world, the use of Marquez, the notation to Saul Bellow. See where things are going, and you will enjoy them along the way