Book 89: "Wrong About Japan" by Peter Carey
Friday, November 21st, 2008 12:47![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittiwakeFirst, Kenji told us, this dusty slightly run down house belonged to a rich family. "Who else could afford such luxury? Also," he said, "it is a kind of ghost house."
"What makes it a ghost house?"
"Well, as you will see in a moment, there is a well."
"So?"
"The well is a very animistic thing. It is a hole to another world, to ghosts and spirits. A Japanese viewer sees that well and immediately understands that this will be a story about spirits."
When Peter Carey's 12-year-old son became interested in anime and manga, his father took him on a trip to Japan, with the promise that they wouldn't be wasting their time on the 'real Japan' of old temples and boring museums. It could have been quite an interesting book, but I wasn't really enamoured of it, mainly because Peter Carey comes across as a bit of a git.
But at least I now know the significance of the well in "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle". I just hope I still remember when I get round to re-reading it!
Nottingham Round the World Reading Challenge - JAPAN - TOKYO
"What makes it a ghost house?"
"Well, as you will see in a moment, there is a well."
"So?"
"The well is a very animistic thing. It is a hole to another world, to ghosts and spirits. A Japanese viewer sees that well and immediately understands that this will be a story about spirits."
When Peter Carey's 12-year-old son became interested in anime and manga, his father took him on a trip to Japan, with the promise that they wouldn't be wasting their time on the 'real Japan' of old temples and boring museums. It could have been quite an interesting book, but I wasn't really enamoured of it, mainly because Peter Carey comes across as a bit of a git.
But at least I now know the significance of the well in "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle". I just hope I still remember when I get round to re-reading it!
