キノの旅 -the Beautiful World- I

by Keiichi Sigsawa

Genres: Japanese Literature

238 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published July 1, 2000

About the author

Pen name of Keiichi Shigusawa (時雨沢恵一).

Reviews

[Loae · Rating 1 out of 5]

No idea why this book is so highly acclaimed. The short stories were all incredibly in your face with inane extremist ideas with no bearing on reality. None of the characters seemed human; they were all cardboard cut outs. All of the characters and stories were so extreme that there was zero reality to the whole book.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice to have an easy read in Japanese. There's a bit of gun porn throughout that I think you'd have to be 12 to enjoy (and the book is at its weakest in Colosseum, which focuses to most on fighting), but most of the stories are ineresting metaphors for real-world situations, perhaps the most obvious one being 大人の国 (roughly "The Land of Adults". I don't remember the English title that was given). In this story, children lead a carefree life until they turn 12, at which point they are given an operation that will turn them into adults, allowing them to perform their assigned job without complaint. It shows how people will vociferously defend a system that they've bought into, even if it doesn't really benefit them. I thought it was a pretty clear indictment of Japan, in that kids are pretty spoiled, but once you grow up it's all about duty and not complaining (obviously a gross oversimplification, but I'm writing this on my phone and my fingers are getting tired because I'm an old man).

Interested in reading more, but not chomping at the bit.

[wststreet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as a way to practice Japanese so this review might not be that relevant. It felt like a nice light read with a few intense moments.

[Syl Shaw]

長い時間をかかったけどいい本だった。

[Bình Lê · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many stories, interesting or not, contain meanings and lessons

[Kakuzō Akutagawa · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The world isn't beautiful. Therefore it is."
My thoughts after reading "Kino No tabi 1"
Written by Keiichi Sigsawa
Illustrated by Kuroboshi Kohaku


The story:
The main character, Kino, and her partner, Hermes, go on a journey. They go around and visit various different countries... That's it.

Enjoyment:
Yeah, not gonna lie. This novel is amazing, the way it's written is just so nice to read, the stories are so imaginative, and the messages behind them are so amazing.

I usually retell my mom the books I read, I narrated her 3 of the stories in this book: The country of adults, Colosseum, and the country of visible pain. It's not an exaggeration to say she absolutely loved each one of them, she then told me to tell her about every new chapter I read.

It's such a fun book to read.

The verdict:
I don't know what else to say, great characters, stories that make you think, fun to read, and a very light read. I can't wait to read more volumes, as I really liked this one.

Kino no Tabi 1 by Keiichi Sigsawa is a 8/10

[Thoughts after my reread in Japanese]

This book isn't that difficult to read in Japanese, it uses difficult vocabulary some times but it always gives the furigana to go with them, making it easier to search unknown words.

It was quite fun, now i just have to reread volume 2-5 in Japanese before i reach content i haven't read before.

Also, because this is quite a long series I'll do very small reviews only here in Goodreads as to not saturate my twitter with them.

Well i have 20 unread volumes of the series sitting in my bookshelf, so that'll be fun.