ぼくは勉強ができない [Boku wa benkyō ga dekinai]

by Amy Yamada

Japanese

Genres: Japanese Literature

249 pages, Paperback Bunko

First published March 1, 1993

About the author

Amy Yamada (AKA 山田 詠美, Yamada Eimi) born February 8, 1959, is a popular but controversial contemporary Japanese writer who is most famous for her stories that address issues of sexuality, racism, and interracial marriage, topics not typically discussed openly in Japanese society.

Born in Tokyo as Futaba Yamada, she lived in several places around Japan due to her father's job. This transient lifestyle forced her to confront issues of separation and bullying, issues that many of her protagonists also deal with.

According to her interview with the Japanese magazine Bungei, during middle school she was moved by African-American soul music and began to read any novels she could find written by black people, or featuring black people. She held a job in the Roppongi district of Tokyo, an area rich with foreigners.

After graduating from high school in 1977, she entered Meiji University's Literature Department, but dropped out before graduating. After a short stint writing and drawing manga, she began writing novels in 1980. Though her works garnered some attention, even receiving praise from Japanese literary critic Jun Eto (江藤淳 Eto Jun?), she only achieved widespread recognition in 1985, when Bedtime Eyes won the Bungei Prize. In writing Bedtime Eyes, Yamada drew upon her experiences with black people and black culture and combined them with the Japanese literary tradition.

In 1996, "Trash" was published in English translation by Kodansha International (translator: Sonya L. Johnson). In May 2006, three of Yamada's novellas (Bedtime Eyes 「ベッドタイム･アイズ」, The Piano Player's Fingers 「指の戯れ」 and Jesse 「ジェシーの背骨」) were published in English translation (translators: Yumi Gunji and Marc Jardine) as a single volume by St Martin's Press under the collective title Bedtime Eyes.

In Yamada's second collection of works, Jesse's Spine, Yamada depicts the experiences of a woman who is learning to adjust to life with her lover's child from another relationship. The writing style of this work has been compared to William Saroyan's novel, Papa You're Crazy. Through her depiction of the child's perspective on the world, her book was a critical success, earning her a nomination for the Akutagawa Prize for new authors. In her short novels Classroom for the Abandoned Dead, Afterschool Music, and I Can't Study, Yamada tackles the topics of childhood life, bullying, and school life. In an interview with Bungei Shunjū upon winning the Akutagawa Prize, Risa Wataya and Hitomi Kanehara named Yamada's Afterschool Music as one of their major influences, explaining that her works were one of the greatest depictions of modern Japan.

Reviews

[Manzoid · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mostly enjoyed the novel's casual vibe. Yamada does a good job of sketching the worldview of a thoughtfully-unintellectual young man in high school, who's popular in spite of being a bit of an outsider. But it was ultimately unsatisfying because it felt like Yamada's own views and voice started poking through, like the book became in part a vehicle for expounding her personal views about love, life, youth, and what really matters. Seems like she has a nice healthy philosophy, as far as that goes, but the book gets a little preachy about it, and the language that the protagonist is made to use in the process sometimes seems high-falutin' beyond what you could reasonably expect that kid to actually say (so it smells of The Author). When you add in the thin characterizations of most of the supporting cast, it makes this not much more than a mildly entertaining way to pass some time.

[Erika · Rating 1 out of 5]

10年前に読んだ事さえ忘れて読み始めたが…星１つつけた当時の自分に同意。
馬鹿な高校に通う、中途半端にモテて、年上の女性との情事を知ってるから中途半端に「世の中を知った」気になってる、気持ちの悪い主人公が、いろんなクラスメートと交流しつつ色々考える(でもあくまで軽い馬鹿馬鹿しい内容)ストーリーだ。
作品に登場する他のキャラ達も、学力的にも人間的にも馬鹿ばかりで、見ていて気持ちが落ち込んでくるというか、気分が悪くなってくるというか。
(例：「学校一の秀才」の、勉強できない人への態度。本当に勉強できる人はそもそも周りの反応とか気にしないし、自分の世界をしっかり持ってるから、ちょっと女に振られたからって成績ガタ落ちしない。)

こういう中身のない人(主人公)が持て囃される世界も知っているけれど、私の交友関係は、皆ちゃんと自分を持っている人たちだな、と痛感。
DNF。

[Emi · Rating 2 out of 5]

最初のうちは主人公いけ好かないやつと思ってたけど、思春期こじらせてる子だと思ったらちょっとかわいく思えてきた笑。モテる設定みたいだけど、実際こんな子が同級生にいたら私は絶対好きにはならないな。
この本の中に出てくる先生たち(多分良い先生として書かれている先生含め)の言動が私的には教育者としてありえないと思った。

[Cameron Lea · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the first full-length novel I read in Japanese, and for the most part I thought it was, at best, mildly entertaining. I felt entirely unable to sympathize with the main character, as his attraction is meant to ride entirely on his quirky, carefree nature, despite his dislike of studying, and those who spend time studying.

It seems as if the author just expects us to take her word that Hidemi (I think that is the main character`s name, reading names is still a guessing game for me) is actually a likeable, popular guy, without really trying to convince us. His appeal may be stronger for a Japanese reader who grew up in a strict educational system driving everyone to pass college entrance exams, but from a foreigner`s perspective, he just seemed like a pretty average lazy guy who couldn`t make up his mind about what he wanted to do with his life. His strong passion for sex at all times seems contrived, and his insults towards others mainly revolve around them not liking sex enough to give up everything else in their lives.

I actually liked the extra chapter at the end the best, which is about Hidemi`s childhood. I felt a much stronger attraction to the character, as a child confused about all the seemingly arbitrary rules in his society, and his wish to just do what he thinks is right or fun. It seems much more believable than the majority of the book, where he is just a character written to be kooky and different, but just comes across as a shallow criticism of society by the author.

[Hasan · Rating 4 out of 5]

so this was the first book I ever finished in Japanese. Definitely a little difficult to understand at times, but the atmosphere was on point and it was an enjoyable read all throughout. Slay characters, big time vibe.

[Takashi Hasegawa · Rating 5 out of 5]

久しぶりに軽くて自由な青春モノ読んでさわやかな気分になった。

[Erika · Rating 1 out of 5]

どうしても好きになれなかった。
私の高校生活とはかけはなれてるというか、主人公が他の人間を見下してる感じが不愉快でした。