I suppose this is becoming a series. Part 1 is here.

Here are a few more things I’ve enjoyed lately:

I’ve been catching up on the History of Literature podcast lately. I was delighted to learn more about Yukio Mishima, a polarizing figure in Japanese literature. I’ve never read any of his work, and I mostly knew of him through his infamous public suicide. The extreme politics that led to his death sounded offputting so I’ve always focused on other writers, but this podcast made me realize there was a lot more to Mishima than that. I’m pretty sure some of his works have been translated into English so I’ve put him on my ‘to read’ list. History of Literature did a follow-up podcast where the host read the first couple chapters of Mishima’s “The Sea of Fertility” if you want a taste of his writing style.

That podcast mentioned Mishima’s thoughts on a famous poisoning case/bank robbery in Japan, often called “the Teigin incident.” An artist, Sadamichi Hirasawa, was convicted of the crime and Mishima had some thoughts about that. I realized I’d heard about this case on Dark Histories. It’s worth a listen if you enjoy true crime.

On a slightly lighter note, I just watched the 1964 film The Woman in the Dunes. It’s adapted from the book of the same name by Kobo Abe, another acclaimed Japanese author. I also read the book and I’ll probably make a separate post soon discussing both, so I won’t get too much into the plot. If you like artsy black-and-white films, though, you should check this out. I’m not much a film scholar, but this film is considered a classic and it has interesting cinematography. I remember thinking as I read the book “I wonder if there’s a movie of this? Nah, it would be way too hard to film” only to find there’s definitely already a movie and did a really good job of adapting the novel.

I don’t have any music recommendations this time around. It’s been a stressful couple of weeks and I’ve been putting on a lot of soothing classical to help me cope. No composers in particular; I just find a playlist with a lot of strings and let it wash over me while I work or read. My concentration hasn’t been great, but I’ve finished The Age of Innocence, read The Woman in the Dunes, and I’m still making progress on Great Expectations. The stressful stuff is not exactly resolved but I’m feeling calmer and closer to my usual self. I hope things are going well for all of you, and I hope you have a lovely weekend ahead.