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Product Description
Product Description
In 2002, twice Booker-winning author Peter Carey travelled to Japan, accompanied by his twelve-year old son Charley, on a special kind of pilgrimage. In a stunning memoir-cum-travelogue Peter Carey charts this journey, inspired by Charley's passion for Japanese Manga and anime, and explores his own resulting re-evaluation of Japan. Although graphically violent and disturbing, the two mediums are both inherently concerned with Japan's rich history and heritage, and hold a huge popular appeal that crosses the generations. Led by their adolescent guide Takashi, an uncanny mix of generosity and derision, father and son look for the hidden puzzles and meanings, searching, often with comic results, for a greater understanding of these art forms, and for what they come to refer to as their own 'real Japan'. From Manhattan to Tokyo, Commodore Perry to Godzilla, kabuki theatre to the post-war robot craze, Wrong about Japan is a fascinatingly personal, witty and moving exploration of two very different cultures.
About the Author
Twice winner of the Booker Prize, Peter Carey's most recent novel Parrot and Olivier in America was described by the New Yorker as 'a comic masterpiece' and by the Sunday Times as 'an exhilarating tour-de-force'. It was shortlisted for both the Man Booker Prize and a National Book Award in 2010.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The Carey gang insult Japan,
By Zenkoji (York, England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wrong About Japan (Hardcover)
There are precious few indispensable books by Westerners about Japan. The best of these are by people who have lived there for a worthwhile period. This list is headed by the wonderful, and deeply missed Alan Booth; but Will Ferguson's Hokkaido Highway Blues is a more recent essential book, full of humour and insights. Carey's book sadly does not join the ranks. In fact, it tells us far more about a kind of lassitude and corruption in the publishing world than it does about Japan. Carey, famous novelist whose every word must be worth its weight in gold (at least to a craven publisher) spends a week (yes, a week) in Tokyo (yes, just Tokyo), armed with a novice's interest in Manga, and a rather indolent, and one suspects, spoiled son in tow. Although he has a number of inane theories which his Japanese hosts are far too polite to rubbish, he delivers no insights. Along the way, he manages to treat appallingly badly a Japanese youth who had struck up a friendship with his son over the Internet; but it's all right because the Careys leave a gift with his grandmother. The book takes about four hours to read, which is perhaps its one saving grace. But I recommend that you spend your money on The Roads to Sata or Looking for the Lost. The Careys got their free trip to Tokyo, and their meetings with the key players in Anime and Manga: don't give him any more money. Mr Carey: I would suggest that you learn at least two words of Japanese, and that to young Takashi, you utter a deeply felt 'Gomen Nasai'.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Manga, Anime & Samurai for beginners,
By
This review is from: Wrong About Japan (Paperback)
I liked this book. It describes the bitter sweet process of learning about another culture as a tourist; as an outsider. And Japan seems superbly strange to Westerners.
The author and his son seek to avoid the real Japan, and even though they only do this by focusing on Japan's modern culture, this book does find something beyond the pat. Prompted by the son's Manga/Anime infatuation they meet some of the main players in the Manga industry. Yet even when they meet a master forger of Samurai swords, the old guard is more modern than expected. The real Japan is seen through the prism of the found object, or within the surprisingly familiar gesture (that you might have seen in a town anywhere). In conclusion: an excellent short read that goes well with longer tomes such as The Image Factory: Fads and Fashions in Japan or The Missionary and the Libertine: Love and War in East and West.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining yet irritating,
By Jim (Hereford, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wrong About Japan (Paperback)
While this book is a mildly enjoyable light read, you may find yourself thinking that you would never wish to be stuck in a foreign country with Mr. Carey. From the outset he presents his opinions on Japan (although this book really never covers anything other than a few superficial Japanese elements) as being some kind of astute observation, never acknowledging that he is completely ignorant of the culture in which his experiences take place. The way Mr. Carey writes reeks of arrogance that I found quite offputting.
Don't buy this book, but if you see it in the library it is worth a flick through.
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