Status
Available
Genres
Collection
Publication
Berkeley : Stone Bridge Press, 1998.
Description
An illustrated novel of intrigue set in modern Japan for bookworms, computer geeks, & art lovers alike.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Esta1923
365 Views of Mt. Fuji by Todd Shimoda (illustrated by L. J. C. Shimoda)
This unusual book truly captured my interest. I read it in amazement. Its format, with several different plot lines on each page, and its illustrations, took me by surprise. (I bought it soon after its publication in 1998 and
Although the story is set in modern Japan, where Keizo Yukawa finds his new job as curator has unexpected complications, Shimoda also chronicles events of the early 19th century. Then an artist, Takenoko, painted a view of Mt. Fuji every day for a year. Yukawa and his employers (the remarkably complicated Onos family) live in our world. Artist Takenoko, dead more than a hundred years, lives again in this book.
Each page of this large formatted book has a sprinkling of illustrations and comments (much livelier than footnotes!) The pictures by L. J. C. Shimoda enrich the text. Truly it is a book to become immersed in. It repays readers for the time invested.
This unusual book truly captured my interest. I read it in amazement. Its format, with several different plot lines on each page, and its illustrations, took me by surprise. (I bought it soon after its publication in 1998 and
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wrote a note of appreciation to its publisher, Stone Bridge Press. Later I did a presentation based on it to a books group.)Although the story is set in modern Japan, where Keizo Yukawa finds his new job as curator has unexpected complications, Shimoda also chronicles events of the early 19th century. Then an artist, Takenoko, painted a view of Mt. Fuji every day for a year. Yukawa and his employers (the remarkably complicated Onos family) live in our world. Artist Takenoko, dead more than a hundred years, lives again in this book.
Each page of this large formatted book has a sprinkling of illustrations and comments (much livelier than footnotes!) The pictures by L. J. C. Shimoda enrich the text. Truly it is a book to become immersed in. It repays readers for the time invested.
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LibraryThing member pamar
If "The Fourth Treasure" was a slightly more "adult" version of Banana Yoshimoto books (adult in the sense of grown-up, not X-Rated) this one seems to be a Japanese version of Ballard.
I don't mean that Shimoda can't write without parroting someone else's style, it's just that this book is more
In a sense a very slight trace of this was already present in "The Fourth Treasure", but now this specific brand of insanity gets center stage.
The author tries a few tricks fragmenting the main narrative and supplementing it with sidebars told from the point of view of various other characters, most contemporary, some for the past).
I liked it, but be warned that the tone is dark and could leave some aftertaste.
I don't mean that Shimoda can't write without parroting someone else's style, it's just that this book is more
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about disturbed characters and the madness that can thrive under the surface of a perfectly ordinary and apparently sane society (in this case, Japan).In a sense a very slight trace of this was already present in "The Fourth Treasure", but now this specific brand of insanity gets center stage.
The author tries a few tricks fragmenting the main narrative and supplementing it with sidebars told from the point of view of various other characters, most contemporary, some for the past).
I liked it, but be warned that the tone is dark and could leave some aftertaste.
Show Less