Reading Club

[Harisenbon]

So, it's been in the talks for a while, but I think we should have a reading club to complement the translation club that coco started. The thread would be less about translating each sentence, and more about looking at problem phrases, or interesting word choice, etc.

Mukade suggested the book 夜のくもざる by Murakami Haruki.

It's a collection of 2-page short stories by Murakami, with accompanying illustrations by Anzai Mizumaru. It was originally a series of billboard ads commisioned by a stationary or pen company (I can't remember which), that was later collected into book form.

I was thinking of doing a leveless group, with each 2 page story being covered in one week intervals. During that week, people can post things that they didn't understand, things that they thought were cool, or just anything about the story.

With clay's blessing/permission we'll be getting the books through the JapanesePage, so we can all get them direct, and help out TJP while we're at it.

Any takers?

[Sachi]

I'd love to, as I've said before, but the different reading levels really is a problem for me. I'm still pretty new. So, for me, I'd probably have to say no for now :p But hopefully sometime in the future! I'd like to see how this turns out ^-^

[richvh]

I'd be interested.

[Justin]

Count me in as well.

[aKuMu]

Id buy the book too. if the mailing costs to germany arent going to be too high
-edit-
well if i looked right, the mailing costs would be like almost 10$ and thats too much for me i think. dont wanna pay as twice as much as the price for the book :/(

otherwise i would really like to take part

[clay]

http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4101001448
I believe that is the amazon link. I am not sure what is best. My normal import method is by boat which is much cheaper than air, but also takes a long time.

Since there may only be 10-20 interested parties and some of you live in Japan now, how about all of us buying from Amazon Japan? I am not sure if Amazon charges exorbadent shipping charges for overseas orders but if so I can buy 10 or so and have a friend in Japan ship for me to anyone who wants one. This would be of course no charge other than what it costs me. This may be the cheapest and fastest method to get books into people's hands. He is set up for international shipping so it would be no extra hassle for him to help out. (I will need to confirm with him, though, before volunteering him too much!)

The book is 700 yen (tax included) and shipping to my friend would be free if I ordered 10 of them. Provided he is wiilling to help out, shipping a single book by airmail may only be a few hundred yen. So we may be looking at a total cost of 1000 yen per book (about $10 US)

Sounds exciting! Things are moving along!

If this sounds good to eveyone (the book choice, the buying and shipping arrangements...) we can get started.

Clay

[ss]

Well, since this book is recommended, please reserve one for me, Clay-san. Thanks.

[spookychee]

Count me in as well. I'm a Murakami fan but I haven't read that one yet. So, I'd love the chance to read it and discuss it with you all.

[AJBryant]

Count me in.

Tony

[aKuMu]

well, if its not more than 10$ in total, count me in, too

[zengargoyle]

わたしも！

[Frumious Boojum]

I'd like to be a part of this... this maybe moreso than the translation.

I'm still rather beginner, so if we could go with books written in as much kana or furigana as possible, that would be very good.

[Kates]

I think this sounds neat~ Count me in~

[clay]

sounds good. I wonder would it be a good idea before buying the books if someone who currently owns the book wouldn't mind scanning a page or so to give people an idea of the language level and content?

I will buy 10 to start with and have a friend ship it to people individually. If we need more, I can order more then.

[Harisenbon]

Clay,
Why don't we set a deadline for people to request the first round of books (this coming monday 20) so we can get a good idea of how many people want the books. Then the first round of people can start discussing it as soon as they get them.

I'll go to the store today and pick up a copy. I won't post a whole two page story, but maybe a paragraph or two so that people can get an idea of the Japanese level.