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Jay Rubin

    Jay Rubin is an American academic and translator, widely recognized for his crucial role in bringing the works of Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami to an English-speaking audience. His contributions extend beyond translation, encompassing insightful guides to the Japanese language and scholarly analyses of Murakami's literary landscape. Rubin's work delves into the nuances of Japanese literature and culture, offering readers a deeper appreciation for its complexities. Through his dedicated efforts, he bridges linguistic and cultural divides, making profound literary works accessible and understandable.

    Jay Rubin
    1Q84
    Norwegian Wood
    The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
    The Penguin Book of Japanese short stories
    Making Sense of Japanese
    1Q84: Book One and Book Two
    • 2024

      This new dual-language edition of ten stories selected from The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories celebrates some of the very best twentieth-century literature from Japan. Each story appears in the original Japanese alongside an expert English translation, providing unique cultural insight and literary inspiration for language learners. Ranging from a witty send-up of modern social graces to a powerful evocation of the aftermath of the atomic bomb, this remarkable collection includes works from beloved authors Abe Akira, Uchida Hyakken, Kawakami Mieko, Ohba Minako, Betsuyaku Minoru, Haruki Murakami, Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Hoshi Shin'ichi, Kono Taeko, and Ota Yoko.

      Great Japanese stories : ten parallel stories. 日英対訳10 日本の名短篇
    • 2022

      Daily Emspirations

      The Universe's Mechanics Demystified

      • 384 pages
      • 14 hours of reading

      The anthology consists of channeled writings aimed at uplifting and empowering individuals through daily messages. Originating from a desire to support a friend in need, these "Emspirations" blend empowerment and inspiration to create positive energy. The author initially hesitated to share these writings widely but ultimately embraced the opportunity to reach a broader audience. Through a year of daily posts, the author recognized the importance of compiling these messages into a book, intending to enlighten and elevate the collective spirit of readers.

      Daily Emspirations
    • 2018

      The Crash Bandicoot Files

      • 200 pages
      • 7 hours of reading

      A deluxe hardcover reproduction of Naughty Dog's original Crash Bandicoot developer's bible! Take a rare glimpse into the making of a videogame icon, and gain a first-hand taste of the undistilled creativity that brought Crash, Cortex, Aku Aku, and the rest of your favorite characters to millions of screens around the world! Reproducing Naughty Dog's original design document for Crash Bandicoot from the best available sources, this unique volume features original concept illustrations and includes a foreword from Crash's creators to lend insight into how Crash Bandicoot came to be the unforgettable videogame character he is today. This tome is sure to please all who possess a thirst for imagination and curiosity surrounding the creation of games!

      The Crash Bandicoot Files
    • 2018

      The Penguin Book of Japanese short stories

      • 576 pages
      • 21 hours of reading
      4.2(1835)Add rating

      A major new anthology of great Japanese short stories introduced by Haruki Murakami.This fantastically varied and exciting collection celebrates the great Japanese short story collection, from its origins in the nineteenth century to the remarkable practitioners writing today. Curated by Jay Rubin (who has himself freshly translated several of the stories) and introduced by Haruki Murakami this is a book which will be a revelation to many of its readers. Short story writers already well-known to English-language readers are all included - Tanizaki, Akutagawa, Murakami, Mishima, Kawabata, Yoshimoto - but also many surprising new finds. From Tsushima Yuko's 'Flames' to Sawanishi Yuten's 'Filling Up with Sugar', from Hoshi Shin'ichi's 'Shoulder-Top Secretary' to Yoshimoto Banana's 'Bee Honey', The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories is filled with fear, charm, beauty and comedy.

      The Penguin Book of Japanese short stories
    • 2015

      'What is the life of a human being - a drop of dew, a flash of lightning? This is so sad, so sad.' Autobiographical stories from one of Japan's masters of modernist story-telling. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927). Akutagawa's Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories is also available in Penguin Classics.

      The life of a stupid man
    • 2012
    • 2011

      1Q84

      • 1158 pages
      • 41 hours of reading
      4.0(236337)Add rating

      The long-awaited magnum opus from Haruki Murakami, in which this revered and bestselling author gives us his hypnotically addictive, mind-bending ode to George Orwell's 1984.The year is 1984. Aomame is riding in a taxi on the expressway, in a hurry to carry out an assignment. Her work is not the kind that can be discussed in public. When they get tied up in traffic, the taxi driver, Tengo, suggests a bizarre 'proposal' to her. Having no other choice she agrees, but as a result of her actions she starts to feel as though she is gradually becoming detached from the real world. She has been on a top secret mission, and her next job leads her to encounter the superhuman founder of a religious cult. Meanwhile, Tengo is leading a nondescript life but wishes to become a writer. He inadvertently becomes involved in a strange disturbance that develops over a literary prize

      1Q84
    • 2011
    • 2010

      Norwegian Wood

      • 298 pages
      • 11 hours of reading
      4.0(497740)Add rating

      From the bestselling author of Kafka on the Shore: A magnificent coming-of-age story steeped in nostalgia, “a masterly novel” (The New York Times Book Review) blending the music, the mood, and the ethos that were the sixties with a young man’s hopeless and heroic first love. Now with a new introduction by the author. Toru, a serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before. As Naoko retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman. Stunning and elegiac, Norwegian Wood first propelled Haruki Murakami into the forefront of the literary scene.

      Norwegian Wood
    • 2007

      Reality bends all the more acutely with lack of sleep in this stunning novel from the master of the surreal.Eyes mark the shape of the cityThe midnight hour approaches in an almost-empty diner. Mari sips her coffee and reads a book, but soon her solitude is disturbed: a girl has been beaten up at the Alphaville hotel, and needs Mari's help.Meanwhile Mari's beautiful sister Eri lies in a deep, heavy sleep that is 'too perfect, too pure' to be normal; it has lasted for two months. But tonight as the digital clock displays 00:00, a hint of life flickers across the television screen in her room, even though it's plug has been pulled out.Strange nocturnal happenings, or a trick of the night?

      After Dark