Reading Rainbow

[Debaser]

From, Jian by Eric Van Lustbader, a book I picked up for fifty cents used, and stopped reading 3 pages into the prologue.

Eventually he came to a fusuma, a sliding door. Removing his wooden clogs, he knelt before sliding back the door and, bowing formally, entered.

Inside was a nine-tatami room furnished only with a low balck lacquer table. To his left sat Kisan, in the place of power. He was the owner of this establishment, and oyabun - chief - of Tokyo's most powerful yakuza clan.

Yakuza were gangsters. But, as in all things, the Japanese underworld was different from its counterparts in other countries. For instance, the yakuza clans were rigidly fixed, bound by a moral code of giri - duty - as stringent as that of bushido, the way of the samurai.

I could go on to type up the last of the page (right up to the point where Kisan opens the conversation with "Domo arigato...", after which all the dialogue is in English), but by this point even authors of Klingon-centric Star Trek fan fiction are noting that way too much of the narrative is italicized. Granted this book came out in 1985, three years after Blade Runner and three years before Akira, so getting caught up in the dawn of America's yellow fever is somewhat forgivable. Still, I don't think the story would have lost it's authentic Japanese flavor if Dan had just said "sliding door".

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

As all things Japanese, the pig-faced gangsters were different.

Ha haaaaaa ha! Great find. I never understood the whole "immerse yourself into a foreign culture and convince yourself every goddamn thing in it is better than how you grew up" vibe. I DO understand someone wanting to make a book out of it. I don't understand any editor signing off on it, thinking that it's something anyone would want to read.

Was he trying to get the approval of a Japanese girl's father or something? Nut up, Van Lustbader!

On the other hand, I hope he searches for himself, finds this thread and posts here. Hilarity will ensue when we turn off HTML for his stay.

[Debaser]

Nut up, Van Lustbader!

You know, I think that phrase justifies the entire arc of some wacky 12th century Dutchman naming his town "Lustbader"* up through this book being written, published, and eventually spat upon in a mediocre internet post worthwhile.

*According to Bablefish, "lustbader" means "desire bather", which is awesome.