

Buy anything from 5,000+ international stores. One checkout price. No surprise fees. Join 2M+ shoppers on Desertcart.
Desertcart purchases this item on your behalf and handles shipping, customs, and support to Kyrgyzstan.
Here is the perfect introduction to contemporary Japanese fiction. Featuring many stories appearing in English for the first time, this collection, with parallel translations, offers students at all levels the opportunity to enjoy a wide range of contemporary literature without having to constantly consult a dictionary. Richly diverse in themes and styles, the stories are by well-known writers-like Haruki Murakami and Banana Yoshimoto-as well as by emerging voices. Complete with notes, these selections make excellent reading in either language. Review: The best parallel text book - Good price tag, top notch writers. You cant go wrong with Pinguin. Review: 5 stars for it - I really like this book and the way it is structured. I like that the japanese text is written from right to left and from up and down. I also like that the text in japanese is on the right page and on the left is the english translation. It looks really great; not only that but it is also very useful having eight short stories, starting from the easiest one and the more you go further the harder it gets.
| Best Sellers Rank | 47,605 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 337 in Language Training by Language 342 in Fiction Anthologies (Books) 1,723 in Short Stories (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 372 Reviews |
L**O
The best parallel text book
Good price tag, top notch writers. You cant go wrong with Pinguin.
A**R
5 stars for it
I really like this book and the way it is structured. I like that the japanese text is written from right to left and from up and down. I also like that the text in japanese is on the right page and on the left is the english translation. It looks really great; not only that but it is also very useful having eight short stories, starting from the easiest one and the more you go further the harder it gets.
I**A
Great book, easy to read and follow stories
Great book, easy to read and follow stories. The furigana is very helpful, it is used for every new kanji but if it appears again it is not used, unlike most other books that use furigana. I find it very good because it challenges you to remember the word. I'm currently preparing for the JLPT N2 and this book is an amazing reading practice for it. I highly recommend it.
T**N
Higher intermediate and above
Others have described well the layout for this book, which features it has and which it lacks. The stories are pitched comfortably at the higher intermediate reader and you will occasionally have to use your dictionaries - the inclusion of furigana alongside new kanji compounds is helpful for digital dictionaries. The paper quality is similar to a typical English paperback novel and the text size is a little bigger than you would find in a typical small Japanese paperback - whilst I often struggle with Japanese paperbacks without the help of reading glasses I am able to read this without aid. This book is very much cheaper than most Kodansha Bilingual Books and Penguin are to be commended on producing such an affordable and readable book.
P**A
Perfect!
Bought it for my boyfriend for Christmas, and he absolutely loves it! It is challenging, so I wouldn't recommend it to beginners. It teaches a great deal when you're at the point when reading regular books in Japanese is a bit too much but you can follow a TV-show without subs just fine, and with a little bit of help, read lots of kanjis, and all the katakana and hiragana. I would recommend to have a kanji-dictionary handy when reading this book.
E**Z
Brilliant
great for someone that wants to advance their japanese level but hasnt the oppertnuity to be able to afford lessons or even a trip to japan! not recomended for the beginer as their are many kanji and grammar structures that may not be understood. well worth a read to increase vocab and great stories too!!
J**A
Superb language learning resource
I used this book as extra study material for my Level 2 (beginner/intermediate) Japanese final exam and it markedly helped improve my reading speed. Strongly recommend to any other students or casual learners trying to improve their language skills as reading these stories is a really fantastic way to learn.
S**T
Perfect. Only Started the first few pages
Perfect. Only Started the first few pages. There is enough stories here to last me a while. The only thing is there is no audio which would help me with Japanese pronunciation, but still seems like a good book because the translations are superb
D**X
Very good book but kanji too small / Très bon bouquin mais kanji petits
Very good book. The only complaint is that the kanji and furigana are small. You will need to provide a magnifying glass to be comfortable. Très bon bouquin. Le seul reproche qu'on peut faire est que les kanji et furigana sont assez petits. Il vous faudra utiliser une loupe pour être confortable.
K**D
Guter einsteiger
Das buch gibt mir genau das was ich brauche :) Ich möchge gerne in der lage sein auf japanisch zu lesen und mit dem englischen text direkt daneben wird es einem zumindest so leicht wie möglich gemacht. Immer noch wirklich schwierig voranzukommen aber das buch macht es einem zumindest so leicht wie es geht
I**L
Perfect for those learning Japanese/ English
The book was in perfect condition. The book itself is ideal for Japanese learners who can refer to the parallel English text and build on their vocabulary—a 10/10 recommendation from an N4 candidate!
C**N
Excelente
Me encantó, muy buen libro para seguir aprendiendo el Japonés
A**P
Not for Kindle
The Japanese text is an image. You can zoom in but it won't let you select text to look up in dictionary.
Trustpilot
1 month ago
2 weeks ago