Shion Miura
Auteur van The Great Passage
Over de Auteur
Fotografie: Amazon.com Author Page
Reeksen
Werken van Shion Miura
ロマンス小説の七日間 1 exemplaar
哪啊哪啊~神去村 1 exemplaar
沒有愛的世界 1 exemplaar
腐興趣～不只是興趣！ 1 exemplaar
Corri col vento 1 exemplaar
Tagged
Algemene kennis
- Gangbare naam
- Shion Miura
- Officiële naam
- 三浦しをん
- Geboortedatum
- 1976-09-23
- Geslacht
- female
- Nationaliteit
- Japan
- Geboorteplaats
- Tokyo, Japan
- Opleiding
- Waseda University
- Beroepen
- novelist
- Prijzen en onderscheidingen
- Naoki Prize (2006)
Booksellers Award (Japan, 2012) - Korte biografie
- Shion Miura, the daughter of a well-known Japanese classics scholar, started an online book-review column before she graduated from Waseda University. In 2000, she made her fiction debut with Kakuto suru mono ni mar (A Passing Grade for Those Who Fight), a novel based in part on her own experiences during her job hunt. In 2006, she won the Naoki Prize for her linked-story collection Mahoro ekimae Tada Benriken (The Handymen in Mahoro Town). Her other prominent novels include Kaze ga tsuyoku fuiteiru (The Wind Blows Hard), Kogure-so monogatari (The Kogure Apartments), and Ano ie ni kurasu yonin no onna (The Four Women Living in That House). Fune o amu (The Great Passage) received the Booksellers Award in Japan in 2012 and was developed into a major motion picture. She has also published more than fifteen collections of essays and is a manga aficionado.
Leden
Besprekingen
A gentle tale about a team working to publish a new dictionary. I grew so fond of them all and the ending was perfect. Also a bravura work of translation by Juliet Winters Carpenter. Translating something written in Japanese about Japanese, and creating something that reads so naturally, is a serious achievement.
“A dictionary is a ship that crosses a sea of words.”
Here is a book about people who are in love with words, here is a book about the making of a dictionary. It’s heart-warming, geeky, poignant, funny. There are lots and lots of cool details about Japanese language, meanings of various words, and the process of editing and publishing a dictionary. My inner geeks and nerds were very happy.
When Aroki the editor has to retire and needs a successor, he knows that “my task is to find someone who loves dictionaries as much as I do – no, more.” Enter Majime, a walking definition of nerdiness and geekiness. Here he is, at a welcome dinner with his new colleagues:
“What’s your hobby, Majime?" Nishioka boldly asked, searching for a friendly ouverture.
“If I had to pick something, I guess it would be watching people get on the escalator.”
Silence descended on the table.
(There is an excellent explanation for this fascination with escalators, don’t you worry.)
For Majime, this is a story of finding his calling, his agency, a life he loves. Watching it happen is a pleasure. The romance is understated and cute. When it turns out that there is a potential love interest for Majime (Kaguya – she is a chef, and she is not letting anyone “interfere with her world”), the editorial team has to go and check her out. What if she doesn’t understand the lifestyle of dedication that lexicography needs? I really don’t know what this says about these people… ahem. By the way, Majime, when a girl you adore asks you out, you don’t start thinking about the deeper meanings of two similar verbs so that you forget to answer. Just a thought.
I like it when an annoying and obnoxious character becomes someone you can root for, just because the author switches POV.
“Majime was incapable of flattery. Since Majime had said it, Nishioka could believe it: he was needed. He wasn’t a deadweight after all. He felt a burst of joy and pride.
Majime had turned back to his desk with an unconcerned look on his face, little suspecting that he had been Nishioka’s salvation.”
Of course, there are deeper things at play here than just the process of dictionary-making. Words and language define us, connect us, define the world around us, and influence how we see the world. In the end there is sadness and joy, tragedy and a sense of accomplishment, and work that has neither a beginning nor an end.
“Words gave things form so they could rise out of the dark sea.”
P.S. Three five star books in a row, amazing! Not that I am complaining...… (meer)
Here is a book about people who are in love with words, here is a book about the making of a dictionary. It’s heart-warming, geeky, poignant, funny. There are lots and lots of cool details about Japanese language, meanings of various words, and the process of editing and publishing a dictionary. My inner geeks and nerds were very happy.
When Aroki the editor has to retire and needs a successor, he knows that “my task is to find someone who loves dictionaries as much as I do – no, more.” Enter Majime, a walking definition of nerdiness and geekiness. Here he is, at a welcome dinner with his new colleagues:
“What’s your hobby, Majime?" Nishioka boldly asked, searching for a friendly ouverture.
“If I had to pick something, I guess it would be watching people get on the escalator.”
Silence descended on the table.
(There is an excellent explanation for this fascination with escalators, don’t you worry.)
For Majime, this is a story of finding his calling, his agency, a life he loves. Watching it happen is a pleasure. The romance is understated and cute. When it turns out that there is a potential love interest for Majime (Kaguya – she is a chef, and she is not letting anyone “interfere with her world”), the editorial team has to go and check her out. What if she doesn’t understand the lifestyle of dedication that lexicography needs? I really don’t know what this says about these people… ahem. By the way, Majime, when a girl you adore asks you out, you don’t start thinking about the deeper meanings of two similar verbs so that you forget to answer. Just a thought.
I like it when an annoying and obnoxious character becomes someone you can root for, just because the author switches POV.
“Majime was incapable of flattery. Since Majime had said it, Nishioka could believe it: he was needed. He wasn’t a deadweight after all. He felt a burst of joy and pride.
Majime had turned back to his desk with an unconcerned look on his face, little suspecting that he had been Nishioka’s salvation.”
Of course, there are deeper things at play here than just the process of dictionary-making. Words and language define us, connect us, define the world around us, and influence how we see the world. In the end there is sadness and joy, tragedy and a sense of accomplishment, and work that has neither a beginning nor an end.
“Words gave things form so they could rise out of the dark sea.”
P.S. Three five star books in a row, amazing! Not that I am complaining...… (meer)
4.5 stars. Who knew a story of love, friendship and a quest to publish a dictionary would be so delightful?
Lijsten
Prijzen
Misschien vindt je deze ook leuk
Gerelateerde auteurs
Statistieken
- Werken
- 45
- Leden
- 938
- Populariteit
- #27,380
- Waardering
- 3.6
- Besprekingen
- 33
- ISBNs
- 65
- Talen
- 8
Overall, though, I was sort of bored reading this and even did a little skimming to finish this short book. It has a very simplistic tone and had a bit of a YA feel. A nice enough book, but I won't be running out to read the second one.… (meer)