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In Praise of Shadows
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Kokoro
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 159
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The subject of Kokoro, which can be translated as 'the heart of things' or as 'feeling,' is the delicate matter of the contrast between the meanings the various parties of a relationship attach to it. In the course of this exploration, Soseki brilliantly describes different levels of friendship, family relationships, and the devices by which men attempt to escape from their fundamental loneliness. The novel sustains throughout its length something approaching poetry, and it is rich in understanding and insight.
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The Book of Tea is much more than a book about tea. It's a celebration of the arts and culture of Japan, and a portrait of tea ceremony, the "Way of Tea", as the pinnacle of Japanese spirituality and artistic life. Written in 1906 by Kakuzo Okakura, curator of Chinese and Japanese Art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and a noted scholar and art critic, this modern classic traces the history of tea from its early medicinal uses in China, through the development of Chinese tea culture, and finally to the role of tea in Japanese Zen, culture, and politics.
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A moving narration of The Book of Tea
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Kitchen
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Mikage is an orphan raised by her grandmother, who has passed away. Grieving, Mikage is taken in by her friend, Yoichi, and his mother (who is really his cross-dressing father), Eriko. As the three of them form an improvised family that soon weathers its own tragic losses, Yoshimoto spins a lovely, evocative tale with the kitchen and the comforts of home at its heart.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Really quick read.
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Thousand Cranes
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With a restraint that barely conceals the ferocity of his characters' passions, one of Japan's great postwar novelists tells the luminous story of Kikuji and the tea party he attends with Mrs. Ota, the rival of his dead father's mistress. A tale of desire, regret, and sensual nostalgia, every gesture has a meaning, and even the most fleeting touch or casual utterance has the power to illuminate entire lives - sometimes in the same moment that it destroys them.
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Painfully beautiful
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A hopeless stutterer, taunted by his schoolmates, Mizoguchi feels utterly alone until he becomes an acolyte at a famous temple in Kyoto. But he quickly becomes obsessed with the temple's beauty, and cannot live in peace as long as it exists.
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5 out of 5 stars
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If you liked
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No Longer Human
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4 out of 5 stars
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Reassuring in its bare-boned humanity
- By Michael - Audible Editor on 07-19-17
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Kokoro
- By: Natsume Soseki
- Narrated by: Matt Shea
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 172
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 159
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 159
The subject of Kokoro, which can be translated as 'the heart of things' or as 'feeling,' is the delicate matter of the contrast between the meanings the various parties of a relationship attach to it. In the course of this exploration, Soseki brilliantly describes different levels of friendship, family relationships, and the devices by which men attempt to escape from their fundamental loneliness. The novel sustains throughout its length something approaching poetry, and it is rich in understanding and insight.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Heart Of Things, Relationships & Feelings
- By Sara on 04-27-15
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The Book of Tea
- By: Okakura Kakuzo
- Narrated by: Ken Cohen
- Length: 2 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 48
The Book of Tea is much more than a book about tea. It's a celebration of the arts and culture of Japan, and a portrait of tea ceremony, the "Way of Tea", as the pinnacle of Japanese spirituality and artistic life. Written in 1906 by Kakuzo Okakura, curator of Chinese and Japanese Art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and a noted scholar and art critic, this modern classic traces the history of tea from its early medicinal uses in China, through the development of Chinese tea culture, and finally to the role of tea in Japanese Zen, culture, and politics.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A moving narration of The Book of Tea
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Kitchen
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- Narrated by: Emily Zeller
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 19
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 17
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Story4 out of 5 stars 16
Mikage is an orphan raised by her grandmother, who has passed away. Grieving, Mikage is taken in by her friend, Yoichi, and his mother (who is really his cross-dressing father), Eriko. As the three of them form an improvised family that soon weathers its own tragic losses, Yoshimoto spins a lovely, evocative tale with the kitchen and the comforts of home at its heart.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Really quick read.
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Thousand Cranes
- By: Yasunari Kawabata
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 3 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 99
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 87
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Story4 out of 5 stars 87
With a restraint that barely conceals the ferocity of his characters' passions, one of Japan's great postwar novelists tells the luminous story of Kikuji and the tea party he attends with Mrs. Ota, the rival of his dead father's mistress. A tale of desire, regret, and sensual nostalgia, every gesture has a meaning, and even the most fleeting touch or casual utterance has the power to illuminate entire lives - sometimes in the same moment that it destroys them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Painfully beautiful
- By Erez on 12-02-10
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The Temple of the Golden Pavillion
- By: Yukio Mishima
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 122
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 108
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 109
A hopeless stutterer, taunted by his schoolmates, Mizoguchi feels utterly alone until he becomes an acolyte at a famous temple in Kyoto. But he quickly becomes obsessed with the temple's beauty, and cannot live in peace as long as it exists.
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5 out of 5 stars
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If you liked
- By Douglas on 04-29-16
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No Longer Human
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- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 4 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 170
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 161
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 161
Portraying himself as a failure, the protagonist of Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human narrates a seemingly normal life, even while he feels himself incapable of understanding human beings. Oba Yozo's attempts to reconcile himself to the world around him begin in early childhood, continue through high school, where he becomes a "clown" to mask his alienation, and eventually lead to a failed suicide attempt as an adult. Without sentimentality, he records the casual cruelties of life and its fleeting moments of human connection and tenderness.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Reassuring in its bare-boned humanity
- By Michael - Audible Editor on 07-19-17
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Wabi Sabi
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 5
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
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Story5 out of 5 stars 5
Wabi sabi (wah-bi sah-bi) is a captivating concept from Japanese aesthetics, which helps us to see beauty in imperfection, appreciate simplicity and accept the transient nature of all things. With roots in Zen and the way of tea, the timeless wisdom of wabi sabi is more relevant than ever for modern life, as we search for new ways to approach life's challenges and seek meaning beyond materialism.
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The Seven Basic Plots
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 6
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6
This remarkable and monumental book at last provides a comprehensive answer to the age-old riddle of whether there are only a small number of "basic stories" in the world. Using a wealth of examples, from ancient myths and folk tales via the plays and novels of great literature to the popular movies and TV soap operas of today, it reveals that there are seven archetypal themes which recur throughout every kind of storytelling.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Narration forced me to return it.
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The story of the doomed love affair of a wealthy sophisticate, Shimamura, and the geisha Komako, at a mountain hotspring resort in western Japan, one of the snowiest regions on earth.
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The Tragedy...
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 39
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A classic of Japanese history, this audiobook is the preeminent work on the history of Japan. Newly revised and updated, A History of Japan is a single-volume complete history of the nation of Japan. Starting in ancient Japan during its early pre-history period, A History of Japan covers every important aspect of history and culture through feudal Japan to the post-Cold War period and collapse of the bubble economy in the early 1990s. Recent findings shed additional light on the origins of Japanese civilization and the birth of Japanese culture.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Content great - pronunciation not so much
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Part narrative, part business book, Architect and Entrepreneur is filled with contemporary, relevant, fresh tips and advice from a seasoned professional architect building a new business. The guide advocates novel strategies and tools that merge entrepreneurship with the practices of architecture and interior design.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very worthwhile and full of practical advise
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Ninth Street Women
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Set amid the most turbulent social and political period of modern times, Ninth Street Women is the impassioned, wild, sometimes tragic, always exhilarating chronicle of five women who dared to enter the male-dominated world of 20th-century abstract painting - not as muses but as artists. From their cold-water lofts, where they worked, drank, fought, and loved, these pioneers burst open the door to the art world for themselves and countless others to come.
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After missing the last bus home following a day trip to the seashore, an amateur entomologist is offered lodging for the night at the bottom of a vast sand pit. But when he attempts to leave the next morning, he quickly discovers the locals have other plans. Held captive with seemingly no chance of escape, he is tasked with shoveling back the ever-advancing sand dunes that threaten to destroy the village. His only companion is an odd young woman. Together, their fates become intertwined as they work side-by-side at this Sisyphean task.
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Bought this book on pewds suggestion. Liked it.
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 125
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Story4 out of 5 stars 127
Spring Snow is set in Tokyo in 1912, when the hermetic world of the ancient aristocracy is being breached for the first time by outsiders -- rich provincial families unburdened by tradition, whose money and vitality make them formidable contenders for social and political power. Among this rising new elite are the ambitious Matsugae, whose son has been raised in a family of the waning aristocracy, the elegant and attenuated Ayakura.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An extraordinary work.......
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 14
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Performance3 out of 5 stars 14
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 13
Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Tale of Genji in the 11th century to entertain the other women in the court. It follows the romantic exploits of the title character, an emperor’s son, as he navigates life within aristocratic society and eventually outside of it. Praised for its psychological insight into the characters’ motivations, the book greatly influenced Japanese culture and is widely considered the world’s first novel. In 1882, Suematsu Kencho translated a condensed version of the text into English, allowing this classic tale to reach a wider audience.
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2 out of 5 stars
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101 Zen Stories
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 180
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 155
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Story4 out of 5 stars 154
Written in the 13th century by Japanese Zen master Muju. Well-known koans in the collection include "A Cup of Tea", "The Sound of One Hand", "No Water", "No Moon", and "Everything Is Best". Includes the soundtrack The Mysterious Sound of Wind in the Bamboo - a 43 minute collection of Zen-inspired Japanese music by The Matsu Take Ensemble.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Lovely Tales
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The Architecture of Happiness
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- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 196
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 147
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Story4 out of 5 stars 149
One of the great, but often unmentioned, causes of both happiness and misery is the quality of our environment: the kinds of chairs, walls, buildings, and streets that surround us. And yet, a concern for architecture is too often described as frivolous, even self-indulgent. Alain de Botton starts from the idea that where we are heavily influences who we can be, and argues that it is architecture's task to stand as an eloquent reminder of our full potential.
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5 out of 5 stars
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LOVED it!
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 473
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 414
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 411
This is the first book to offer the great master's incisive wisdom in short selections taken from the whole range of his voluminous works. The pithy and powerful readings, arranged according to theme, provide a perfect introduction to Dogen - and inspire spiritual practice in people of all traditions.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Great Pearl of Little Price
- By IndyInAsiaPacific on 06-08-17
Publisher's Summary
"Were it not for shadows there would be no beauty."
In Praise of Shadows is an eloquent tribute to the austere beauty of traditional Japanese aesthetics. Through architecture, ceramics, theatre, food, women, and even toilets, Tanizaki explains the essence of shadows and darkness, and how they are able to augment beauty. He laments the heavy electric lighting of the West and its introduction to Japan, and shows how the artificial, bright, and polished aesthetic of the West contrasts unfavorably with the moody and natural light of the East. Dreamy, melancholic, and mysterious, In Praise of Shadows is a haunting insight into a forgotten world.
The popular translation by Thomas J. Harper and Edward G. Seidensticker is essential listening for anyone interested in Japan and Japanese culture.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mary
- 05-26-18
An interesting pov
I was recommended this book by my Japanese teacher. He told me that it was a perfect example of how Japan (or the generality of it) saw the western world. I can say that I somewhat agree with the author. While it is not an analysis on the western world itself but on the USA specifically, it is a good in-depth pondering on how much damage does the USA inflict on all the societies it comes in contact with. Then again, I am tired and maybe I am rambling. Regardless, I do recommend it
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 03-25-18
How to listen
Listen to story at X75 to get the full effect of the story. Any faster you’ll miss the important key points.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- T. Prizer
- Atlanta, GA
- 11-07-17
Powerful evocation of materiality and its aura
In Praise of Shadows is as powerful an evocation of materiality's mysterious aura as anything ever composed. In breathtaking prose, Junichiro Tanizaki articulates the vital role of shadows (or the lack of direct light) not only in Japan's traditionally austere architectural design, but indeed in the long history of the Orient itself. He beautifully unpacks the power of shadows to render even the most everyday utensils and objects enchanting. Running throughout his essay is a dialogue of West vs. East -- of the harsh luminescence of Western lighting versus the warm embrace of the East's sparse use of light. This is essential reading not simply for those interested in Japanese culture and history, but rather for all who wish to further explore the power and agency of the material world. Sheer brilliance.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Elmira Cancelada
- Portsmouth, NH USA
- 09-22-18
Sophisticated intro into Japanese aesthetics
The Japanese art and design had and still has a huge influence on world. This short superbly written book explains where the Japanese aesthetics in architecture, music, theater, clothing, food has its roots. The answer might surprise you, but now I remember the dark lacquered Japanese bowls with subtle designs or golden flecks and their look makes sense.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Dylan E.
- 11-26-18
outdated, racist and sexist views and comments.
interesting insight into Japanese culture, but hard to listen to with the way the writer talks about race and objectifies women. particularly the innapropriate use of certain words and stereotyping black and Jewish people
0 of 2 people found this review helpful