The Six Degrees of Separation meme is hosted by Kate at booksaremyfavoriteandbest. The idea behind the meme is to start with a book and use common points between two books to end up with links to six books, forming a chain. The common points may be obvious, like a word in the title or a shared theme, or more personal. Every month Kate provides the title of a book as the starting point.
The starting book this month is Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki. Just based on the subtitle, I want to read it. It is described at Amazon as: "A highly fresh and original novel following a journalist in contemporary Japan as she investigates a serial killer convicted of luring wealthy men in with her cooking classes only to seduce, murder, and rob them, and a gripping exploration of misogyny, obsession, and the pleasures and pressures of food." That sounds pretty interesting.
1st degree:
Another Japanese mystery that focuses on a serial killer is The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Sōji Shimada. I have not read that one but my husband has, and I may read his copy someday. That book has also been described as a locked-room mystery.
2nd degree:
My next link is to a book by Japanese author Keigo Higashino. Malice features one of Higashino's series characters, Detective Kyoichiro Kaga. A best-selling novelist is found murdered in his locked office, inside his locked house. However, in this book the focus is less on solving the locked-room problem than on the relationships between the dead man and the suspects, and the motive behind the killing.
3rd degree:
I recently read Newcomer, another mystery by Higashino which also featured police detective Kyoichiro Kaga. This one has a very different structure and mood. A woman who has recently moved to the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo has been murdered in her apartment, and it appears that she knew her murderer. Each chapter features a location at which Kaga interviews various witnesses or suspects who can give him information leading to the solution of a crime in the neighborhood. Information is doled out bit by bit as a picture of the murder and the circumstances surrounding it are revealed.
4th degree:
For my fourth book I will stay with Japan and Japanese authors, but move to another genre. The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa is a fantasy about a cat and a boy who is left alone after his grandfather dies. This is another one my husband has read, and I will read it soonish, since it is a book about books.
5th degree:
The previous book leads me to another Japanese novel about a cat, The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa. The cat and a man take a journey together. That is all I know about the story and all I want to know before I read it.
6th degree:
Next I am featuring a book about travelling, but this time it is a book about time travel. Tales from the Café by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is about a café in Tokyo which has been serving a special coffee for more than one hundred years. Visitors to the café can also take advantage of a special service; they can travel back in time under specific conditions. This is the second in a series of books about time travel in a Japanese café; I read the first one and I enjoyed it very much. This one is on my list of 20 Books of Summer.
I did not travel very far in my Six Degrees for June. I stayed in Japan. But I did cover various genres. Have you read any of these books?
If you did this month's Six Degrees, where did your list take you?
The next Six Degrees will be on July 6th, 2024 and the starting book will be Jenny Erpenbeck’s Kairos (translated by Michael Hoffman), which won the 2024 International Booker Prize.
26 comments:
All Japan! Nice chain!
Forty years ago I read a bunch of Japanese novels that a friend recommended after a year in Japan. But they were all pretty dark. These sound like more fun.
I knew you liked Japanese mysteries but I am impressed you could do a whole chain about them!
Interesting how some of these publishers really managed to create covers that conveyed Japanese culture. Malice works especially well but my favorite is The Cat Who Saved Books.
I have not read these but I like how cats are often represented in Japanese Lit. I grew up with lots of cats but have none now, just two dogs. Do you think cats are widely admired in Japan? I like how you linked all these books.
Davida, I have a long list of Japanese novels, crime related and otherwise, that I want to read soon, so it was easiest to stick with Japan.
Oh, this is a great list of books, Tracy, and a great chain. I haven't yet read Butter, but I want to. And I thought Malice was an excellent book with a strong past/present link. Your other choices look good, too.
Patti, I have read some darker Japanese mysteries, but I prefer the more traditional ones. I like the variety in Higashino's mysteries because I never know what to expect.
Constance, I liked the covers on all of these. I have read mixed reviews of The Cat Who Saved Books but the cover is great.
Susan, I had not given much thought to the importance of cats in Japanese culture. My son reads manga and has much more knowledge in that area than I do. We do have some Maneki Neko (cat figurines also called Lucky Cats) on out book shelves. Anyway, per my brief bit of research, I think the answer is yes, they are admired in Japan. (My husband and I have had two dogs and two cats, but one at a time.)
Margot, I like this list because I can use it to remind me to read these books... the ones I haven't read yet. I had not even heard of Butter before now, and I don't like serial killer novels, but I definitely will give it a try. I agree, Malice is a very good book, one of my favorites by Higashino.
This was a fascinating post!! I am obviously missing a great deal and must catch up with these Japanese titles. I have read a few, and frankly, have never been disappointed.
So interested that the next go-round starts with Jenny Erpenbeck's (Am I misspelling now??) Anyway, I'm reading her book this summer, and am interested where all of this will lead you!
Happy reading!
Judith
Love the Japan theme! It's odd how often cats turn up in Japanese books.
Love your Japanese theme this month!
I finished with Tales from the Cafe too, but our journey to get there was different!
I had The Cat Who Saved Books tagged at my Libby Library, but I think they removed it from their collections before I got a chance to read it! It sounded fun.
I have to read Japanese fiction and I have Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advise For Murderers on hold, its a long wait but I am pretty sure I will enjoy it. In the meantime a very short wait for The Cat Who Loved Books and as I understand the author is very popular.
Thanks, Judith. It was fun to list Japanese books and especially those I am hoping to read this year. I wish I could read faster. I know very little about Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, so it will be interesting what direction the Six Degrees posts go.
FictionFan, it seems cats in Japanese literature goes back a good ways. I found several articles about that. Sometimes the covers of Japanese books will have a cat on them when they don't show up at all though. Very strange.
Marg, I did go heavy on the Japanese books in this chain. I checked out your chain to see how you got to Tales from the Cafe.
Kelly, I hope I get to The Cat Who Saved Books this year. I figure with a cat and books, there has to be something I will like in the book.
Kathy, I am sure you will like Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice For Murderers. It was perfect for me. I am eager to hear your opinion of The Cat Who Saved Books. You will probably get to it before me.
I love how you went with all Japanese fiction with this one. Several of those mysteries I now want to read. And I thought The Cat Who Saved Books was a quirky but fun little book. I read it last year, and loved what it had to say about the importance of books in people's lives. The rude cat in it made me laugh. :D
Lark, I tried to veer away from Japanese books in the middle but it just didn't work. I am encouraged to hear a positive report on The Cat Who Saved Books. I can easily imagine a rude cat; our cat is very rude.
awesome! I have read 2 and 3, Higashino is so good. The others are on my TBR, except the last one, because I'm afraid it might be too similar to book 1 in the series for me - though I did enjoy that one very much!
Well done. I really like the way you stayed with Japanese authors and novels all the way through. I've read a few from Japan and have seldom been disappointed by one. They seem to always leave me with a clearer picture of what real Japanese culture is today than anything else I see about the country. Sometimes I think my perception of Japanese culture is frozen in time, so it's nice to be shaken and stirred every so often.
Emma, Higashino is my favorite Japanese author. I just started reading Tales from the Cafe yesterday, and have read the first of the four sections. It does seem like more of the same, but I enjoyed it. It has been two and a half years since I read the first book.
Thanks, Sam. I have enjoyed all the Japanese novels I have read, although some are better than others, of course. There are several authors I haven't tried yet.
Post a Comment