Japanese literature

Goodbye Tsugumi

“The sea in summer is always the same, but the people who come to see it change.” Chapter 1: Arrival in the Seaside Town The narrator, Maria, returns […]

Japanese literature

Norwegian Wood

“I was thirty-seven then, strapped in my seat as the huge 747 plunged through dense cloud cover on approach to the Hamburg airport. Cold November rains drenched the […]

German literature

A Gushing Fountain

“Memory is a gushing fountain.” Part One: Childhood in Wasserburg The novel opens in the fictional village of Wasserburg, a small German town on Lake Constance, during the […]

German literature

While We Were Dreaming

“We were young, we were wild, and we thought we’d live forever.” While We Were Dreaming follows a group of friends in Leipzig during the tumultuous years before […]

German literature

Young Törless

“For the sake of completeness, one must also mention the torment of the soul.” Chapter 1: Arrival at the Boarding School The novel opens with Törless, a sensitive […]

German literature

Cat and Mouse

“And so it began, with the cat and the mouse, and with the boy who couldn’t keep his hands off his Adam’s apple.” Chapter 1: The Incident at […]

Russian literature

Sincerely Yours, Shurik

“Every family has its own mythology, its own legends, and its own secrets.” Chapter 1: Childhood in Post-War Moscow The novel opens with young Shurik growing up in […]

Russian literature

My Apprenticeship

“Life is always surprising us—not by its rich, seething complexity, which is inexhaustible, but because, in spite of all its squalor and monotony, it sometimes throws up something […]