Rie Qudan's Reading List

"Among other tales of deviant love, this stands out for its particularly Japanese sensibility. It tells the story of Shunkin, a blind woman, and Sasuke, her obsessively devoted servant. The novel depicts their strange and singular bond — one which only they can understand — through a nuanced exploration of the gaps between the seen and the unseen. It reveals, in an almost tactile way, a world that transcends the visual — the sort of world that can only be rendered through the medium of the novel."

"I’ve chosen five novels here, but if I was only allowed to name one, it would be No Longer Human . It’s captivating in its own right, of course, but what makes Dazai’s work so unique is the way it inspires readers to think, “Maybe I could write something too.” Many well-known writers have cited this novel as a key influence. Without it, the landscape of contemporary Japanese literature would surely look very different."

"I recently reread this after the editor of the Italian edition of Sympathy Tower Tokyo told me that my work was reminiscent of Kōbō’s. The unhinged premise, the abrupt narrative shifts, the intensely cerebral prose — all these elements are held in such a delicate balance that, when I read it as a student, it brought me a strange sort of comfort. It was the comfort of knowing that, in the realm of fiction least, even our most deranged thoughts are permitted."

"Reading a Murakami novel can feel like setting out on a lonely journey through the deepest recesses of the human heart. It’s a disquieting experience, like wandering through a forest with no end in sight, and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is the deepest and densest of all those forests. The central themes of war and violence might seem far removed from my peaceful daily life, but the novel reminds me that the darker sides of humanity are really contiguous with my own existence."