Does anyone else love Korean/Japanese Fiction?

[WhatWouldHopperDo]

I have read a few really great books by Korean Authors in the last year. I have also enjoyed some Japanese fiction.

Highlights are

Before the Coffee gets Cold series
Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miyee Lee
Whale by Cheon Myeong-Kwan - this has become one of my all time favourite books. Definitely in my top 5.
Kim Jiyoung Born 1982 by Cho Nam Joo (I have her new book ready to read too)
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

I have enjoyed one Mirukami but find him a bit odd as a writer. Also some Kazuo Ishiguro but didn’t love Never Let me Go.

I’m pleased to see another Korean author on the International Booker short list.

Any other recommendations much appreciated .

I enjoyed
Broken Summer by J M Lee
Lemon by Kwon Yeo-Sun
Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
She and her Cat by Makoto Shinkai

I have a lot more but I haven't read them yet.

What do you like about them OP?

I have just branched out into Three Body Problem, I feel like I've been very limited in what I've been reading. All West writers.

Loved the 'Before the Coffee gets Cold' books - there's a new one due out in September.

Since then I have read 'What You Are Looking for is in the Library' by
Michiko Aoyama. Similar in style, short stories linked by a location/person.

Currently I'm about a third of the way through 'The Memory Police' by Yoko Ogawa. Very different, quite dark sci-fi - I'm loving it (But scared about what might happen to the protagonists).

@WhatWouldHopperDo Have you tried Banana Yoshimoto? She wrote Kitchen and Asleep, among others! Not crime or mystery (I used to love Marukami), just love her style.

Love Japanese literature.

I've read and loved a couple of Yoko Ogawa. The Memory Police is a haunting dystopic novel that I read in two or three days and dreamt about each night. Absolutely incredible, and was listed for the International Booker a few years ago. I more recently read The Housekeeper and the Professor which was a melancholic meditation on love. Delightful.

My favourite Japanese writer is Mieko Kawakami and eagerly await the English translations of her work. I also really rated Banana Yoshimoto's Kitchen which is a novella about grief. Beautiful.

@JaninaDuszejko Breasts and Eggs is my favourite book of the past couple of years.

I haven't read much Japanese fiction since reading Haruki Murakami years ago and have never read any Korean so really pleased to have found this thread.

Saha by Kim Jiyoong author is great

I like some of the grittier fiction - there was a thread a couple of months back which gave loads of suggestions

Another Mieko Kawakami fan here. "Heaven" is brilliant, if very disturbing.

I also like Ishiguro, especially "Klara and the Sun".

I second this- I have read all of her books and they are fantastic.

Kazuo Ishiguro I think of as a British writer, he's been here since 1960 and his style of writing is definitely British. He is a graduate of the illustrious UEA MA in Creative Writing.

It sounds a bit obvious because of the TV series but I loved Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.

I read a lot of Japanese fiction for a few months before visiting my son who was working there. Some novels, for example Box Man by Kobo Abe, were quite bizarre - the theme of feeling isolated from society was pretty common - however I loved The Makioka Sisters Junichiro Tanizaki. It's almost a Japanese Pride and Prejudice and very relatable.

These are great. Thanks for all the recommendations.

Stupidly, I forgot to mention The Cabinet which I finished yesterday.

@Adatewithmyself I find a lot of them just so different from anything I have read before. Lots of really unusual but fascinating/clever plots.

My DD is going to South Korea for a year soon so I’m sort of invested in all things Korea!

Im definitely going to check out Banana Yoshimito.

I loved Pachinko but only the first half of the book. I felt the plot of the last half was a bit lost.

Me too! I've just purchased Convenience Store Woman so I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it.
My recent favourites:
Out by Natsuo Kirino
Butter by Asako Yuzuki
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

There’s a lot of really good feminist fiction coming out of Japan and Korea at the moment

I highly recommend all three of Julie Otsuka's novels, esp The Swimmers

I've read and loved a lot of the suggestions. I'll add:

Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi
Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

Place marking to come back with my recommendations later! 😁

I have both of these on my TBR list.

Edogawa Ranpo Beast in the Shadows

i need someone else to read it so I can talk about it with them!!!

I agree with your observation about a common theme of Japanese fiction being about isolation.

Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite books, so I'll give The Makioka Sisters a go!

@Bruisername I've just got it on my Kindle ready for my upcoming holiday so will try and remember to report back!

Really glad to have found some great recommendations on this thread.