Tokyo Doesn't Love Us Anymore

Tokyo Doesn't Love Us Anymore
Author: Ray Loriga
Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2007-12-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0802199461

This dreamlike dystopian novel “shines a dark spotlight on the modern allure of pharmaceuticals’ seeming power to assuage all ills” (Booklist). Set in the very near future, this is the story of a traveling salesman floating from arid Arizona parking lots to steamy Bangkok bars and beyond to peddle the hottest new commodity for a group known only as The Company. What he has is a drug that erases memory. You can choose your oblivion, be it one mistake or a lifetime of pain. But things become hazy when our hero begins sampling the goods and reaches the point where he can’t even remember what it is he cannot remember. A pitch-perfect piece for our times filled with hypnotic prose, Tokyo Doesn’t Love Us Anymore is both a riveting story and a thoughtful exploration of the drug culture that surrounds us, the nature of forgetfulness, and the implacable tyranny of emotions—questioning what it means to be human when everything, including human identity, can be bought. “Part crime novel, part political allegory, part love story . . . Compelling.” —The New York Times Book Review

No Longer Human

No Longer Human
Author: 太宰治
Publisher: New Directions Publishing
Total Pages: 196
Release: 1958
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780811204811

A young man describes his torment as he struggles to reconcile the diverse influences of Western culture and the traditions of his own Japanese heritage.

Norwegian Wood

Norwegian Wood
Author: Haruki Murakami
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2010-08-11
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307762718

From the bestselling author of Kafka on the Shore: A magnificent coming-of-age story steeped in nostalgia, “a masterly novel” (The New York Times Book Review) blending the music, the mood, and the ethos that were the sixties with a young man’s hopeless and heroic first love. Now with a new introduction by the author. Toru, a serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before. As Naoko retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman. Stunning and elegiac, Norwegian Wood first propelled Haruki Murakami into the forefront of the literary scene.

Contemporary World Fiction

Contemporary World Fiction
Author: Juris Dilevko
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 554
Release: 2011-03-17
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1598849093

This much-needed guide to translated literature offers readers the opportunity to hear from, learn about, and perhaps better understand our shrinking world from the perspective of insiders from many cultures and traditions. In a globalized world, knowledge about non-North American societies and cultures is a must. Contemporary World Fiction: A Guide to Literature in Translation provides an overview of the tremendous range and scope of translated world fiction available in English. In so doing, it will help readers get a sense of the vast world beyond North America that is conveyed by fiction titles from dozens of countries and language traditions. Within the guide, approximately 1,000 contemporary non-English-language fiction titles are fully annotated and thousands of others are listed. Organization is primarily by language, as language often reflects cultural cohesion better than national borders or geographies, but also by country and culture. In addition to contemporary titles, each chapter features a brief overview of earlier translated fiction from the group. The guide also provides in-depth bibliographic essays for each chapter that will enable librarians and library users to further explore the literature of numerous languages and cultural traditions.

The Affinity of the Eye

The Affinity of the Eye
Author: Ignacio L—pez-Calvo
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2013-06-06
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0816525986

López-Calvo uses contemporary Nikkei texts such as fiction, testimonies, and poetry to construct an account of the cultural formation of Japanese migrant communities, and in so doing challenges fixed notions of Japanese Peruvian identity.

Geocriticism

Geocriticism
Author: B. Westphal
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2011-05-23
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0230119166

Geocriticism provides a theoretical foundation and a critical exploration of geocriticism, an interdisciplinary approach to understanding literature in relation to space and place. Drawing on diverse thinkers, Westphal argues that a geocritical approach enables novel ways of seeing literary texts and of conducting literary studies.

Surrender

Surrender
Author: Ray Loriga
Publisher: HarperVia
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2020
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1328528529

"[A] riveting, and original, achievement."--WIRED From award-winning Spanish author Ray Loriga comes a dystopian novel about authority, manipulation, and the disappearance of privacy that "calls to mind The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood [and] Blindness by José Saramago" (Alfaguara Prize Winner Citation). Ten long years have passed since war first broke out, and one couple still does not know the whereabouts of their children, or what their country is even fighting for. They follow orders and their lives go by simply, routinely, until--one day--a mute boy walks onto their property. When the authorities announce that the area needs to be evacuated and that everyone must relocate to "the transparent city," the three leave together. At first, the city proves to be a paradise: a stunning glass dome of endless highways, buildings, trains, and markets. Everything its inhabitants need is provided to them--food, protection, shelter--and the family quickly, unquestioningly, settles into their new life. But, soon, a sinister underlay begins to emerge. Neither secrets nor walls are permitted here, and strict order, authoritarian calm, and transparency must always reign supreme. In a society in which everything private is public, the most chilling portent of our future emerges. Surrender is an urgent novel about dignity and rebellion and the lengths we go to preserve love, hope, and humanity. "Loriga envisions in this gripping tale an unsettling dystopia in which all secrets are forbidden...This memorable page-turner will appeal to fans of Brave New World."--Publishers Weekly

The Dystopian Imagination in Contemporary Spanish Literature and Film

The Dystopian Imagination in Contemporary Spanish Literature and Film
Author: Diana Q. Palardy
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2018-07-27
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3319928856

This study examines contemporary Spanish dystopian literature and films (in)directly related to the 2008 financial crisis from an urban cultural studies perspective. It explores culturally-charged landscapes that effectively convey the zeitgeist and reveal deep-rooted anxieties about issues such as globalization, consumerism, immigration, speculation, precarity, and political resistance (particularly by Indignados [Indignant Ones] from the 15-M Movement). The book loosely traces the trajectory of the crisis, with the first part looking at texts that underscore some of the behaviors that indirectly contributed to the crisis, and the remaining chapters focusing on works that directly examine the crisis and its aftermath. This close reading of texts and films by Ray Loriga, Elia Barceló, Ion de Sosa, José Ardillo, David Llorente, Eduardo Vaquerizo, and Ricardo Menéndez Salmón offers insights into the creative ways that these authors and directors use spatial constructions to capture the dystopian imagination.

The Complete Review Guide to Contemporary World Fiction

The Complete Review Guide to Contemporary World Fiction
Author: M.A. Orthofer
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 423
Release: 2016-04-19
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0231518501

A user-friendly reference for English-language readers who are eager to explore contemporary fiction from around the world. Profiling hundreds of titles and authors from 1945 to today, with an emphasis on fiction published in the past two decades, this guide introduces the styles, trends, and genres of the world's literatures, from Scandinavian crime thrillers and cutting-edge Chinese works to Latin American narco-fiction and award-winning French novels. The book's critical selection of titles defines the arc of a country's literary development. Entries illuminate the fiction of individual nations, cultures, and peoples, while concise biographies sketch the careers of noteworthy authors. Compiled by M. A. Orthofer, an avid book reviewer and the founder of the literary review site the Complete Review, this reference is perfect for readers who wish to expand their reading choices and knowledge of contemporary world fiction. “A bird's-eye view of titles and authors from everywhere―a book overfull with reminders of why we love to read international fiction. Keep it close by.”—Robert Con Davis-Udiano, executive director, World Literature Today “M. A. Orthofer has done more to bring literature in translation to America than perhaps any other individual. [This book] will introduce more new worlds to you than any other book on the market.”—Tyler Cowen, George Mason University “A relaxed, riverine guide through the main currents of international writing, with sections for more than a hundred countries on six continents.”—Karan Mahajan, Page-Turner blog, The New Yorker

Spanish Literature: A Very Short Introduction

Spanish Literature: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Jo Labanyi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2010-08-26
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 0199208050

This title explores the rich literary history of Spain which resonates with contemporary debates on transnationalism and cultural diversity. It introduces readers to the ways in which Spanish literature has been read in and outside Spain explaining misconceptions, outlining insights of scholarship and suggesting new readings.