Rating: 
Summary: Explicit and genuine
Review: "Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids" is truly a genuine representation of the growth and maturing of young men. Although it represents a macabre perspective, the book is extremely well written and it is very personal. A wonderful insight into WWII and life.
Rating:
Summary: Oe's first book an entrancing meditation
Review: "Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids," Nobel prize winner Kenzaburo Oe's first book, is an entrancing meditation into Japan during the second world war. Without digressing itself into politics, the book strives to present situations and characters as they were. The story revolves around a group of reform school boys left as captives in a village where a plague is taking over. It addresses innocence, love, prejudism, betrayal, and what it is to be misunderstood when the world around you is falling to pieces. Without question, one of Oe's best, though not recommended for those who like happy endings. A dark, poetic experience that will refuse to leave you alone
Rating:
Summary: Shoot the Kids...
Review: Oe is a brilliant writer. This was the first book I have read by him, and I was taken away. Leaving no harsh image unspoken, Oe isn't bashful about writing details that may make the reader's stomache churn. To describe the book in a very breif synopsis, a group of reform school boys get abandoned amidst a plauge. The setting is post World War 2 Japan and the boys find a leader from the narrator, and form their own community. Children are forced to grow up far too fast, and their age has no relevance to their minds. Once the narrator becomes an adult, and sheds his last memories of child hood, even his pride of adulthood is stripped away from him. Filled with beautiful sentance structure and much philisophical thoughts, you will find yourself constantly quoting this book. I have reccomended it to all my friends. It is a stunning read and was a Nobel prize winner.
Rating:
Summary: Shoot the Kids...
Review: Oe is a brilliant writer. This was the first book I have read by him, and I was taken away. Leaving no harsh image unspoken, Oe isn't bashful about writing details that may make the reader's stomache churn. To describe the book in a very breif synopsis, a group of reform school boys get abandoned amidst a plauge. The setting is post World War 2 Japan and the boys find a leader from the narrator, and form their own community. Children are forced to grow up far too fast, and their age has no relevance to their minds. Once the narrator becomes an adult, and sheds his last memories of child hood, even his pride of adulthood is stripped away from him. Filled with beautiful sentance structure and much philisophical thoughts, you will find yourself constantly quoting this book. I have reccomended it to all my friends. It is a stunning read and was a Nobel prize winner.
Rating:
Summary: A haunting tale that will linger in your mind for days...
Review: A sparse and chilling tale that recounts the worst week in the lives of 15 adolescent juvenile delinquents left abandoned in a plague infested village. This first novel of Kenzaburo Oe clearly shows his brilliance in capturing the essence of the human condition - warts and all, and why he would go on to win the Nobel prize in literature in 1994. The emotional themes of abandonment and isolation are expertly brought to life and devices such as not providing any details regarding geographic setting and exclusion of character names (with the exception of Minami and Li) will draw uneasy, slow building tension to readers. A lean, expertly translated read that contains numerous scenes and passages that will stay vivid in your memory for days on end.
Rating:
Summary: A haunting tale that will linger in your mind for days...
Review: A sparse and chilling tale that recounts the worst week in the lives of 15 adolescent juvenile delinquents left abandoned in a plague infested village. This first novel of Kenzaburo Oe clearly shows his brilliance in capturing the essence of the human condition - warts and all, and why he would go on to win the Nobel prize in literature in 1994. The emotional themes of abandonment and isolation are expertly brought to life and devices such as not providing any details regarding geographic setting and exclusion of character names (with the exception of Minami and Li) will draw uneasy, slow building tension to readers. A lean, expertly translated read that contains numerous scenes and passages that will stay vivid in your memory for days on end.
Rating:
Summary: Nice title...
Review: As I am a Japanese who read this book in Japanese when I was a junior high student, I thought this English title is really suitable. The original title in Japanese was "Me-mushiri, Ko-uchi", which has a some distinctive rythm in Japanese. Speaking of story, this makes you think very deeply even though it is a shorter story than other Oe's numerous novels. It contains racism, autarkic village, and many other things which people want to avoid to think or see in everyday life. As it was written before Oe's breaking his own writing style, it is very readable, too.
Rating:
Summary: Although very harsh a very good book
Review: From the beginning of Nip the buds... the characters and their emotions are what most captured my attention. Oe uses extrememly harsh images and the way the children are treated throughout the book disturbed me to the point of anger. These parts did not detract from the book, however, they only added to the pure, simple emotions that Oe creates so vividly. The language is very easy to read, but some scenes are not... If you are not too sensitive to fairly vulgar images i highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Although very harsh a very good book
Review: From the beginning of Nip the buds... the characters and their emotions are what most captured my attention. Oe uses extrememly harsh images and the way the children are treated throughout the book disturbed me to the point of anger. These parts did not detract from the book, however, they only added to the pure, simple emotions that Oe creates so vividly. The language is very easy to read, but some scenes are not... If you are not too sensitive to fairly vulgar images i highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful
Review: I have a friend once suffered from pneumonia. She read this book in the hospital when she had broken one of her ribs from a coughing fit. That is how pained and weak she was at that time. After she read the book she said she forgot her own anguish and cried for the suffering characters in this touching and tender book. I picked it up and have never been the same again. It made me angry, sad, and I wanted to do something about the injustice in this world. It made me a better person.
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