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ララピポ [Rara pipo]
"This sleazy novel is not recommendable for ladies and gentlemen." So reads the jacket of the Japanese edition of this collection of six dark, interrelated, tragicomic chapters dealing with themes of desire, inadequacy, and failure, using the underbelly of sex as its canvas. As misheard by one of the characters, " a lot of people," is "Lala Pipo."
Lala Pipo is an ingenious tapestry of absurdity, whose cast of unlikable characters cross the line of good taste thateven those who have crossed the line cannot help but notice. Each act pushes the envelope past the one preceding it. It's like an episode of Seinfeld directed by Bob Guccione, all the story elements cleverly weaving together, taking the reader from shock to gut-busting hilarity with each tale. The main these losers are X-rated.
Lala Pipo is an ingenious tapestry of absurdity, whose cast of unlikable characters cross the line of good taste thateven those who have crossed the line cannot help but notice. Each act pushes the envelope past the one preceding it. It's like an episode of Seinfeld directed by Bob Guccione, all the story elements cleverly weaving together, taking the reader from shock to gut-busting hilarity with each tale. The main these losers are X-rated.
325 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 10, 2008
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)
So for those who don't know, one of the literary social networks I belong to online is the great LibraryThing.com; and one of the things LibraryThing does that none of the other literary social networks do is actually set up official partnerships with various publishers, so that hundreds of free books manage to get into the hands of their members each month, in return for those members doing write-ups of those books afterwards. It's a highly competitive lottery, one I usually lose each month; but lo and behold, I actually got chosen for one of these free titles earlier this year, the controversial story cycle Lala Pipo by Japanese author Hideo Okuda. See, it's a series of six short stories, all of them concerning dysfunctional losers and the various kinky sexual activities they are into; but all of the stories are connected as well, with the main characters of each appearing as incidental characters in all the others.
But I don't know if it's just the cultural differences between Japan and the US, or perhaps a mediocre translation, but the fact is that this book mostly comes off as hideously bitter and misogynistic, when it was clearly meant to be a dark comedy; the majority of it, frankly, concerns the various ways that women in Japanese society are abused and bullied and humiliated during sexual situations there, with the author coming dangerously close in many passages to espousing a kind of nihilistic approval of the activities, a sort of attitude that seems to say, "The world is coming to an end anyway, so why not slap the b-tches around as much as we want?" Granted, that's a bit of an unfair generalization about this book, with it actually being more complicated than such a statement would make it seem; but for sure these stories are all wrist-slashingly depressing and almost apocalyptic in their sexism, which is surprising for a writer who is described on the back cover as one of the most popular comedic authors in Japan. It's a huge issue in Asia right now, the future of gender relations there, ever since the "Super Free" rape-club controversy erupted there in 2003 (for those who don't know, every year in Japan there are tens of thousands of gang-rape and public-groping crimes reported to the police); I would encourage you to look at this book as more of a serious examination of those kinds of issues, and not as the erotic black comedy its American publishers are promoting it as.
So for those who don't know, one of the literary social networks I belong to online is the great LibraryThing.com; and one of the things LibraryThing does that none of the other literary social networks do is actually set up official partnerships with various publishers, so that hundreds of free books manage to get into the hands of their members each month, in return for those members doing write-ups of those books afterwards. It's a highly competitive lottery, one I usually lose each month; but lo and behold, I actually got chosen for one of these free titles earlier this year, the controversial story cycle Lala Pipo by Japanese author Hideo Okuda. See, it's a series of six short stories, all of them concerning dysfunctional losers and the various kinky sexual activities they are into; but all of the stories are connected as well, with the main characters of each appearing as incidental characters in all the others.
But I don't know if it's just the cultural differences between Japan and the US, or perhaps a mediocre translation, but the fact is that this book mostly comes off as hideously bitter and misogynistic, when it was clearly meant to be a dark comedy; the majority of it, frankly, concerns the various ways that women in Japanese society are abused and bullied and humiliated during sexual situations there, with the author coming dangerously close in many passages to espousing a kind of nihilistic approval of the activities, a sort of attitude that seems to say, "The world is coming to an end anyway, so why not slap the b-tches around as much as we want?" Granted, that's a bit of an unfair generalization about this book, with it actually being more complicated than such a statement would make it seem; but for sure these stories are all wrist-slashingly depressing and almost apocalyptic in their sexism, which is surprising for a writer who is described on the back cover as one of the most popular comedic authors in Japan. It's a huge issue in Asia right now, the future of gender relations there, ever since the "Super Free" rape-club controversy erupted there in 2003 (for those who don't know, every year in Japan there are tens of thousands of gang-rape and public-groping crimes reported to the police); I would encourage you to look at this book as more of a serious examination of those kinds of issues, and not as the erotic black comedy its American publishers are promoting it as.
April 9, 2009
Sex. That's what this book is all about. An eavesdropping writer, a pimp, a sexually frustrated housewife, a sleep-depraved karaoke box part-timer, an erotic writer and a horny fat transcriber. Sex in Shibuya, Tokyo. At first, the short stories seem to be unrelated, but as you get through the second story, you realise that you were there in the first story, but from a different viewpoint. All six stories are connected in this way with characters making cameo appearances in other stories. The last story brings us full circle back to the beginning, but also tying up the loose ends and answering questions about the fate of various characters we have met on the way. Very well plotted and written.
October 31, 2018
Really a great surprise. I've owned the book for ages but, given my bizarrely prudish nature, shelved it away as a meaningless book about sex. And while it could be argued to be just that, it is nevertheless extremely entertaining and genuinely hilarious. I often like to think of myself as above entertainment and, since I quit drinking, I have little interest in humor, but I suppose we all contradict ourselves from time to time. No, I am not fun at parties, but that's okay because I don't have any friends, anyway.
June 3, 2024
"What drama! An entire cast of losers. And the perverts awaiting the next installment of this series with bated breath are all losers, too. It’s a festival of losers! I want the whole world to see this. I want to let everyone know that, in a forgotten corner of Tokyo, a drama of immense power is being played out among losers the likes of which no one has ever seen before."
This is sex. Not the sensual, erotic kind that can make you feel something, this is like reading while you cant help but feel nothing, feel detach from it. Absolutely perverse, from start to finish, no characters are likeable, some of them have an awareness of their own loserness but most are being severe to their own kind without realizing they are also part of the crowd. It's written in episodes, all stories interconnected and the ending tied up all those loose knots.
It is the crystal clear portrayal of a human nature when sex is on the table, it is a taboo for sure in a country such as japan, but well sought out by the most deprived and deployable and it wouldnt be surprising that a normal plain ordinary person would be into it, for reasons not the same as the next person. Reading this is like a guilty pleasure, i couldnt stop even if i wanted to, all the ugliness have bursts forth and brought alive the underbelly of the Shibuya crawling with pathetic personalities, they never bored me out of my mind! but this does left me depress at the end though.
This is sex. Not the sensual, erotic kind that can make you feel something, this is like reading while you cant help but feel nothing, feel detach from it. Absolutely perverse, from start to finish, no characters are likeable, some of them have an awareness of their own loserness but most are being severe to their own kind without realizing they are also part of the crowd. It's written in episodes, all stories interconnected and the ending tied up all those loose knots.
It is the crystal clear portrayal of a human nature when sex is on the table, it is a taboo for sure in a country such as japan, but well sought out by the most deprived and deployable and it wouldnt be surprising that a normal plain ordinary person would be into it, for reasons not the same as the next person. Reading this is like a guilty pleasure, i couldnt stop even if i wanted to, all the ugliness have bursts forth and brought alive the underbelly of the Shibuya crawling with pathetic personalities, they never bored me out of my mind! but this does left me depress at the end though.
April 30, 2012
Perverse. At times sickening. Erotic stories disguised as literature... I couldn't put it down!
Six short stories with characters that weave in and out of each story, portrays the seedier side of Tokyo and the lost souls of generations... from high school girls giving hand-hand jobs in Karaoke booths to middle-aged overweight housewives that have serious sexual issues.
I really enjoyed how one story connected with the other... and in the end a sort of orgy took place between each story (figuratively). Nice structure.
Do not read 'Light My Fire' while eating... I did. It was a mistake. No one told me. I'm now telling you.
As for the title... Lala Pipo... imagine a Japanese hearing an American speak really fast saying 'a lot of people'... There you go. A book with enough semen splashed on every conceivable object to get you through a couple of days wondering about Hideo Okuda.
Six short stories with characters that weave in and out of each story, portrays the seedier side of Tokyo and the lost souls of generations... from high school girls giving hand-hand jobs in Karaoke booths to middle-aged overweight housewives that have serious sexual issues.
I really enjoyed how one story connected with the other... and in the end a sort of orgy took place between each story (figuratively). Nice structure.
Do not read 'Light My Fire' while eating... I did. It was a mistake. No one told me. I'm now telling you.
As for the title... Lala Pipo... imagine a Japanese hearing an American speak really fast saying 'a lot of people'... There you go. A book with enough semen splashed on every conceivable object to get you through a couple of days wondering about Hideo Okuda.
March 26, 2025
Admists a crash out in Powell library while trying to write my last final I was sitting on the floor staring at the shelves of Japanese literature while trying not to cry. I randomly pulled out this book and decided to read it without any idea of what this book was. I couldn't put it down despite being continually horrified while reading it.
This book took me on quite a trip. There is no denying how truly weird and interesting it was. It follows six different characters involved in the sex work industry in an insanely satisfying interconnection between them all. I loved how the author was able to really surprise you when developing the stories of some of the characters you had first read as supporting acts. None of the characters are all that likeable and suffer from the consequences of their own decisions and wallow in their misery. The six short story format however makes it very bearable to read a story featuring no one you are rooting for.
I wish I could have read and understood this is Japanese. I wonder what is lost in translation and what is not lost but I will always ponder the possibility of.
There is something about a male writer creating deeply misogynist characters that hate women to their core that make me ask how much of this is commentary and how much of this is a man seeing women as objects to some extent?
This book took me on quite a trip. There is no denying how truly weird and interesting it was. It follows six different characters involved in the sex work industry in an insanely satisfying interconnection between them all. I loved how the author was able to really surprise you when developing the stories of some of the characters you had first read as supporting acts. None of the characters are all that likeable and suffer from the consequences of their own decisions and wallow in their misery. The six short story format however makes it very bearable to read a story featuring no one you are rooting for.
I wish I could have read and understood this is Japanese. I wonder what is lost in translation and what is not lost but I will always ponder the possibility of.
There is something about a male writer creating deeply misogynist characters that hate women to their core that make me ask how much of this is commentary and how much of this is a man seeing women as objects to some extent?
January 8, 2026
Ribald. Lascivious. Vengeful. Bordering on crass at times.
To the writer's credit, this was a rollercoaster of emotions and reactions as a reader. It's hard to like the characters, and yet they each have flickers of charm or relatable traits that manage to nip at your empathetic or sympathetic sensibilities. In places it feels like an interesting moralistic push and pull, while at others it seems like the writer is expressing his own schadenfreude for the consequences of a certain set of hedonistic behaviors. Overall, simpler and less cerebral or sophisticated than Michel Houllebecq with more karmic rather than psychological consequences.
To the writer's credit, this was a rollercoaster of emotions and reactions as a reader. It's hard to like the characters, and yet they each have flickers of charm or relatable traits that manage to nip at your empathetic or sympathetic sensibilities. In places it feels like an interesting moralistic push and pull, while at others it seems like the writer is expressing his own schadenfreude for the consequences of a certain set of hedonistic behaviors. Overall, simpler and less cerebral or sophisticated than Michel Houllebecq with more karmic rather than psychological consequences.
June 2, 2019
I found this easy to read and entertaining after having enjoyed the movie years ago, but definitely not for everyone. A lot of disturbing sex stuff and the author is clearly a male as some of the reactions to things just seem unrealistic for the majority of females. Some sure, but not every female like in this book. Whatever, I chose not to get offended. I took it for what it was, male fantasy/lack of understanding of women decently written with enough linking the short stories to keep it interesting and some unique storylines.
June 25, 2025
DID NOT FINISH
Why?
Given how much I have liked Japanese fiction in the past, I was very disappointed in this one. It's like a juvenile's view of how a "dirty book" should be written.
It lacks class or style and none of that wtf quality that Western novels seldom achieve without feeling contrived. It's bottom of the food chain shock stock, devoid of merit.
Why?
Given how much I have liked Japanese fiction in the past, I was very disappointed in this one. It's like a juvenile's view of how a "dirty book" should be written.
It lacks class or style and none of that wtf quality that Western novels seldom achieve without feeling contrived. It's bottom of the food chain shock stock, devoid of merit.
October 12, 2021
性的刺激給人期待，而生的負擔令人悲哀。
September 10, 2022
This was very compelling and I really enjoyed seeing how the story came full circle.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 14, 2023
This was definitely a strange and kinky trip to read through these interconnected stories.
Read
February 8, 2024和大江在哪里不一样？人物的内省？时代？
June 21, 2024
3.5
Like falling into an extremely perverted, incredibly surreal rabbit hole.
Like falling into an extremely perverted, incredibly surreal rabbit hole.
December 11, 2012
Sex sex sex. Funny, I wasn't aroused even one bit. This is the hardest-boiled egg of the bunch. And one that was black and stinky, too.
This really got me thinking about sex. It was supposed to be a beautiful thing that binds two people in love with each other (maybe this definition of mine is not widely accepted either, but hey, who cares). But it can be twisted so much to be a profession, hobby, way to kill time, way to buy Cartier watch, way to dominate, way to boost self-esteem(?). As it is what one do with one's body deliberately, it becomes a mirror of how one see oneself. Are we repressed emotionally? Felt unaccepted by family? Being judged unfairly by society? Disappointed in what we have become? Price tagged at 50,000 yen?
If we can judge a little bit less, respect others a little more, be a little more compassionate, a little less haughty, maybe there will be a little more smile around.
This really got me thinking about sex. It was supposed to be a beautiful thing that binds two people in love with each other (maybe this definition of mine is not widely accepted either, but hey, who cares). But it can be twisted so much to be a profession, hobby, way to kill time, way to buy Cartier watch, way to dominate, way to boost self-esteem(?). As it is what one do with one's body deliberately, it becomes a mirror of how one see oneself. Are we repressed emotionally? Felt unaccepted by family? Being judged unfairly by society? Disappointed in what we have become? Price tagged at 50,000 yen?
If we can judge a little bit less, respect others a little more, be a little more compassionate, a little less haughty, maybe there will be a little more smile around.
June 25, 2013
I never knew this was a book, but I enjoyed the movie. After reading this, I had to rewatch the movie and compare. The book is very bittersweet and darkly comical in ways. You get attached to the characters for a moment and feel sympathy for them. I enjoyed the short story style and how each story connected to each other. The movie somewhat follows this format.
If you would like to read the comparison between the book and movie, check out my blog
If you would like to read the comparison between the book and movie, check out my blog
December 11, 2008
When the book blurb describes the book as "an x-rated episode of Seinfeld" I would assume that it means its a funny book. Well its not funny "ha ha", more like funny "oh man, that's gross". Imagine an unfunny episode of Seinfeld, co-written by Chuck Palahniuk and Charles Bukowski and directed by Quentin Tarantino. That's kinda what it was like. I only gave it three stars cause I couldn't give it 2 and a half.
December 6, 2008
This is a book that is...quite interesting in the way that it approaches the connections between its characters, and is actually a quite enjoyable read. (There's also more masturbation in this book than any book I've read in memory.)
I really enjoyed this book, and do recommend it to people who like Japanese postmodernist fiction that takes a quite sexual vein.
I really enjoyed this book, and do recommend it to people who like Japanese postmodernist fiction that takes a quite sexual vein.
December 30, 2008
still the best book cover ever created.
thank you chip kidd, its always your fault...
thank you chip kidd, its always your fault...
September 8, 2011
Fairly trashy. The interwoven storylines is a nice gimmick but it lacked characters who I could really care about and get invested in. The last story about the fat chick was the best, because it was less about the sex and more about her own feelings.
August 6, 2008
i should have opened a karaoke club
February 3, 2008
raunchy and depressing. i guess sort of like "boogie nights," in certain ways?
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews