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pickashelf's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness
liralen's review against another edition
3.0
When Fries first travelled to Japan, he was struck by a shift in focus: in the US, he was made different by having a (visible) physical disability; in Japan, his (visible) foreignness overrode that disability. Japan had long charmed and enthralled him, and that first visit did nothing to change that perception. By his second trip to Japan, though, he had something new to contend with: an invisible difference, this time, and one for which he was not prepared.
Much of Fries' work in Japan involved studying disability and its perceptions. I imagine his findings were influenced by his own identity—as a foreigner, as someone with a visible disability, as a gay man, as a man, as someone who spoke very little Japanese, etc. etc. One of his lovers in Japan presented him with a lovely choice of words: not disability but physical fact; I'm certainly not in a position to say what terminology is best, but like Fries I appreciate the neutrality and simplicity of that phrasing. Also nice to see the reflection on translation: as Fries notes, when your words must be translated twice (in his example from English to Japanese and then Japanese to touch-Braille, a type of language for the deafblind), there is really no way of knowing which nuances and implications will translate and which will be lost or introduced.
I don't share Fries' particular interest in Japan and Japanese culture, so I expect some of the finer details are lost on me. I'd be very curious about what someone more permanently entrenched in Japanese society and language would have to say about disability there.
Much of Fries' work in Japan involved studying disability and its perceptions. I imagine his findings were influenced by his own identity—as a foreigner, as someone with a visible disability, as a gay man, as a man, as someone who spoke very little Japanese, etc. etc. One of his lovers in Japan presented him with a lovely choice of words: not disability but physical fact; I'm certainly not in a position to say what terminology is best, but like Fries I appreciate the neutrality and simplicity of that phrasing. Also nice to see the reflection on translation: as Fries notes, when your words must be translated twice (in his example from English to Japanese and then Japanese to touch-Braille, a type of language for the deafblind), there is really no way of knowing which nuances and implications will translate and which will be lost or introduced.
I don't share Fries' particular interest in Japan and Japanese culture, so I expect some of the finer details are lost on me. I'd be very curious about what someone more permanently entrenched in Japanese society and language would have to say about disability there.
thndrkat's review against another edition
3.0
If you know and love Japan, this book is sure to speak to you. I liked this author's previous two memoirs, but I had a harder time getting into this one because I don't have context for all the Japanese cultural or linguistic references. Still, it's a meditative, introspective journey that is sweetly and bravely told.
hans0solo's review against another edition
4.0
travels in Japan. an end and a beginning. disabled gods. flowers and rocks. fortunes.
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