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Wrong About Japan
 
 

Wrong About Japan (Hardcover)

by Peter Carey (Author)
2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 124 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber (2 Dec 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0571224075
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571224074
  • Product Dimensions: 18.8 x 13.4 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 513,339 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description

In a stunning memoir-cum-travelogue Peter Carey charts this journey and his own re-evaluation of Japan through his attempt to understand its culture of animated film and cartoon. With an appeal that spans the generations, these cartoons are violent and disturbing but also inherently concerned with Japan's rich history and heritage. Led by their adolescent guide Takashi, father and son look for the puzzles and meanings hiding within manga and anime, searching for what they call their own 'real Japan'. From Manhattan to Tokyo, and Commodore Perry to Godzilla, by way of the Atomic bomb, Wrong about Japan is a fascinating and personal exploration of two very different cultures.


About the Author

Peter Carey was born in 1943 in Australia and lives in New York. In 2001 he became only the second author to win the Booker Prize twice, with True History of the Kelly Gang.

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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
2.8 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars The Carey gang insult Japan, 3 Jun 2005
By Zenkoji (York, England) - See all my reviews
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'.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars "Enter[ing] the mansion of Japanese culture through its garish, brightly lit back door.", 6 Sep 2006
By Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Wrong About Japan (Paperback)
When Charley, the twelve-year-old son of Booker Prize-winning author Peter Carey, announces that someday he wants to live in Japan, Carey decides the time is right for a father-son trip to Tokyo. Charley is a passionate fan of Japanese manga and anime film, and he has recently become an internet friend of Takashi, a fifteen-year-old Japanese "visualist" who is as committed to these arts as Charley--and who plans to to meet him in Tokyo. As Charley goes to Japan to experience the youthful cartoon culture (making his father promise that there will be no museums or temples on their itinerary), Peter Carey goes to Japan full of expectations and preconceived ideas for a book--most of which, he tells us in the title, prove to be wrong.

Using contacts made by his literary agent in Tokyo, Carey sets up appointments for himself and Charley to meet some of the great Japanese directors, authors, anime creators, and traditional artists (including a sword-maker, a sculptor, an architect). Charley, on the other hand, sets up meetings with Takashi for Sega World in Akihabara--"Electric Town"--the gaudy, neon shopping area filled with electronic magic--robots, video games, miniaturized washing machines, solar-powered pogo sticks, and wild new inventions to meet needs you didn't know you had.

As Carey works to see connections between manga illustrations and old ukiyoe prints, he also looks at the heroes of manga and anime to see if they connect with the samurai tradition and the bushido code of honor. He examines contemporary Japanese culture for echoes of the A-bomb, the firebombing of Tokyo, and the American occupation, hoping to discover "the way a proud and isolated society has waged war, suffered war, and emerged from war." And he discovers that in almost every case he is wrong in his assumptions.

A charming story of a father's attempt to connect with his son, the book provides a very basic introduction to manga, anime, and contemporary Japanese film, along with brief notations about the history of Japanese cultural traditions. Not a book for the already committed fan of manga and anime or a student already familiar with Japanese culture, the book, nevertheless, provides some fascinating glimpses into the lives of the Japanese creators of film and other arts. An excellent, easy introduction to some aspects of Japan which tourists may find helpful, the book's biggest limitation is that while Carey admits that his assumptions are wrong, he does not leave the reader with any other useful framework for better understanding this fascinating culture. Mary Whipple
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7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Wrong about this book, 15 Feb 2005
By Jane Parker (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This book may not provide quite the insight people might be looking for into Japan, but it is still definitely worth reading. Yes, it focuses a lot on Manga and anime in general, but Carey's writing is also raw and introspective as he reveals his own failings as a father. Thoroughly enjoyable.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Not about Japan but about someone's interaction with Japan
There is some fairly vitriolic stuff written about this book. I am not sure it deserves that. It is well-written in terms of its language (you'd sort of expect that from the... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Gaius Baltar

1.0 out of 5 stars Just plain wrong
Lightweight nonsense.
Wrong about everything all the way through.
This is like "Lost in translation" in book form. Read more
Published on 30 May 2007 by Griff

4.0 out of 5 stars short, sweet and not too deep
I read the other reviews and found them rather harsh. Yes, it is a fast read, no it doesn't go into massive depth but it isn't glib and Carey wears his ignorance on his sleeve, as... Read more
Published on 7 Mar 2007 by M

4.0 out of 5 stars Wrong About Japan Review
To really appreciate this book you have to enjoy the classic anime and manga. The story is of the author, Peter Carrey and his son Charley going on a trip to Japan. Read more
Published on 23 Sep 2005 by Jennifer

3.0 out of 5 stars Hmmm
I'm not sure what to think of this book. I read an article about Carey's trip by Carey in the Guardian and was so horrified about what he was saying I refused to read the actual... Read more
Published on 14 Jun 2005

1.0 out of 5 stars What I did on my Holidays
Very disappointing and shallow, never rises above a 'What I did on my Holidays' school style essay. Lacks humour and any sort of insight into Japanese culture.
Published on 7 Jan 2005 by MJ

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