Pictures from the Water Trade: Adventures of a Westerner in Japan

Rating:
Summary: Insightful, revealing.
Review: As an introduction to Japan this novel is superlative. It reads as a collection of memoirs on the Japanese lifestyle bound by a loose but well-sketched narrative. It covers the life of an English cultural visitor to Japan in the early 1970s, detailing the elements of Japanese culture, attitude and character that particularly affect him during his stay. The narrative parts of it are quite entertaining but it is the insghts that this book provides that make this a valuable text for understanding the Japanese.

Rating:
Summary: Insightful, revealing.
Review: As an introduction to Japan this novel is superlative. It reads as a collection of memoirs on the Japanese lifestyle bound by a loose but well-sketched narrative. It covers the life of an English cultural visitor to Japan in the early 1970s, detailing the elements of Japanese culture, attitude and character that particularly affect him during his stay. The narrative parts of it are quite entertaining but it is the insghts that this book provides that make this a valuable text for understanding the Japanese.

Rating:
Summary: Starts well but goes flat
Review: I read this book some time ago and very much enjoyed the first chapter. After that it went a bit flat, though I did manage to finish it. For readers interested in the world Morely explores here, I'd recommend Liza Dalby's "Geisha," or perhaps Ian Buruma's "Behind the Mask." Probably best of all is "Memoirs of a Geisha," which is set in the 'water trade' and quite an astonishing book.

Rating:
Summary: Oops!
Review: I'm afraid this is a bit of a howler, but after reading this book, which I thought fine, I searched J.D. Morley's name on the web and discovered that he's the one who wrote the Memoirs of a Geisha review in the Sunday NYTimes several years ago that I still remember! It was a real howler. He didn't seem to understand that the translator's note at the beginning of the novel was PART of the novel, and in various ways completely missed the point of the book in a way that few people have. Now that I've read Pix from the Water Trade, I suspect it was a matter of jealousy, which is really kind of sad. So what do I think of this book? Adequate; not bad, really. But the author will probably be remembered best for his ungenerous and in fact rather boneheaded review of a much better book that will survive the ages.

Rating:
Summary: insightful introduction to Japanese culture
Review: The story concerns a European student who comes Japan to learn the language. He falls in love with a young Japanese girl who "transalates" the culture to him. As a piece of fiction the storyline fails to deliver but it gives the reader an excellent insight into aspects Japanese culture, at least to my unsophistocated eye. Having experienced a ten day trip there and having come away with numerous questions about the highly evolved culture, I found it it be very interesting and helpful in explaining some of the cultural differences.