Scan barcode
sallywilde's review against another edition
3.0
I picked up this book expecting a good mafia story, the kind that I usually enjoy watching in movies. But even though the book begins and ends with a personal war between Adelstein and a crime boss (and I had forgotten everything about it when the last chapter arrived), this topic is lost in the tale of an American discovering the life and vices of urban Japan. The Yakuzas seem to be everywhere, even in the police and journalits' good books, but in a way that almost dilutes their power. At the end, this book is probably more about the ethic (or lack of it) of Adelstein as a journalist and how far he will embrace the vices he has been intruduced to to get the scoop and a story published. Warning: if, like me, you have no familiarity with the Japanese, it is probably better to keep notes somewhere because there is a LOT of propre nouns in this account.
tiddybat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.5
tron's review against another edition
2.0
A bit of fluff - I was expecting more of the gritty crime stuff, and less of the cutesy "fish out of water" stuff.
katie34442's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting read on the progression of a reporter in Japan in the early 2000’s. Feels like quite a few things were left out (mainly anything negative to do with the author). He’s very forthcoming in some aspects of the book, but avoids others in round-about ways. Not fantastic, but not bad either.
argimiro's review against another edition
5.0
Llego a este reportaje después de ver la primera temporada de la serie.
Me ha gustado mucho.
Obra bien estructurada. Ha mantenido mi interés hasta el final.
Japón, qué raros son estos orientales.
Al leer el libro se resuelven gran parte de las incógnitas que deja pendientes el último capítulo de la primera temporada.
Me ha gustado mucho.
Obra bien estructurada. Ha mantenido mi interés hasta el final.
Japón, qué raros son estos orientales.
Al leer el libro se resuelven gran parte de las incógnitas que deja pendientes el último capítulo de la primera temporada.
spyder_trauma_rose's review against another edition
5.0
Good book. Probably one of the best entries in Neo-Noir in the last two decades, despite being non-fiction.
If you have any sort of interest in Japan as a foreigner, eventually this book is going to be recommended to you. It's decent for that, but as it follows someone entrenched in crime and vice it's scattershot, often pulling random information in. It's less of a straight line in terms of a narrative and more of a scrap book, seemingly pulled from his personal diaries with the opening chapter only followed up on in the last quarter of the book.
The early chapters are at times self indulgent and definitely cocky but as time passes the mistakes and stress begin to pile up. It nominally ends on a victory that is so marred by grief it might as well not be a win at all.
If you have any sort of interest in Japan as a foreigner, eventually this book is going to be recommended to you. It's decent for that, but as it follows someone entrenched in crime and vice it's scattershot, often pulling random information in. It's less of a straight line in terms of a narrative and more of a scrap book, seemingly pulled from his personal diaries with the opening chapter only followed up on in the last quarter of the book.
The early chapters are at times self indulgent and definitely cocky but as time passes the mistakes and stress begin to pile up. It nominally ends on a victory that is so marred by grief it might as well not be a win at all.
rukmini's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. Some other reviewers have complained that the non-yakuza stuff is boring, but I found all of it fascinating, especially the description of work culture in Japan.
I don’t think Adelstein’s attempt to do a Raymond Chandler / noir detective character voice is successful. It’s almost parodic in some places and it detracts from his credibility and the rest of the book. I honestly can’t judge if he’s making up or embroidering some of these stories, but I would assume that if they’ve been published in the WaPo and the LA Times, they’ve probably been vetted quite thoroughly.
I also can’t quite understand the hate in some of the reviews. Maybe it’s because of envy that he could do this job and speak such fluent Japanese (if his Japanese is good enough that the conversations recounted in the book actually went down the way he describes and he’s not glossing over a billion instances of asking for clarification or misunderstanding things)? Maybe it’s because (as Nick put it) he’s a bit of a prat? I really don’t know, but I do recommend the book.
I don’t think Adelstein’s attempt to do a Raymond Chandler / noir detective character voice is successful. It’s almost parodic in some places and it detracts from his credibility and the rest of the book. I honestly can’t judge if he’s making up or embroidering some of these stories, but I would assume that if they’ve been published in the WaPo and the LA Times, they’ve probably been vetted quite thoroughly.
I also can’t quite understand the hate in some of the reviews. Maybe it’s because of envy that he could do this job and speak such fluent Japanese (if his Japanese is good enough that the conversations recounted in the book actually went down the way he describes and he’s not glossing over a billion instances of asking for clarification or misunderstanding things)? Maybe it’s because (as Nick put it) he’s a bit of a prat? I really don’t know, but I do recommend the book.
msmo's review against another edition
4.0
It was easy to read this title; I did so with fascinated and voyeur-like attention.