Edit---I went back and finished this book, as I could not stand the idea of giving up, especially after giving a negative review. After finishing, I feel the same as I mentioned below. I noticed she started splashing in sex scenes as well. While sexual imagery can benefit a novel, this appeared to be used to keep the reader's attention and it is one I find tiring from overuse. If you liked the gore in this novel, I recommend Ryu Murakami. He's a lot stronger writer that features plenty. If you were interested in the Buddhist aspects then Yukio Mishima, Yasunari Kawabata,
Ruth Ozeki (Zen Buddhist Monk that lives in Canada) are a few of many. Finally if you liked the surreal aspects of the novel, I would recommend Haruki Murakami, Kobo Abe, and Osamu Dazai. Thank you for any who took the time to read this in full and as always please message with questions, recommendations, comments etc. Thank you.

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If you enjoyed this book, then I apologize for how offensive this review may come across. I realize it is difficult to write a novel and I struggle to write such a despairing criticism; however, I do not agree with the positive feedback of this work. I enjoy Japanese literature and I enjoy complex plots. The quality of this work is why I had to stop halfway and actually add a did not finish category on here. This is why I find the work lacking:

1.) The dialogue is artificial. I read 10 pages in and stopped to see if a teenager had written this work. To my surprise, it is by a 56 year old with several prior novels. I thought I was reading a high school short story.

2.) The narration was filled with short, choppy sentences that severely hindered the flow.

3.) This novel comes accross as a rough draft for a first time author. If this was given to me for peer review in college, I would be far more forgiving and supportive; however, this is by a seasoned author. She has been writing since 1996 and I am left pondering if her early work was far better, if the translator completely blotched it, and/or she has been very fortunate with a publisher.

4.) The plot structure is difficult to follow. I'm up for a difficult plot anytime. I love surrealist and magical realist pieces but this work appeared to have paragraphs missing. I considered I was missing something and returned to amazon for reviews. To my reassurance, many had the same issue.

I'm not trying to come off as a snob. I'm just a lowly English undergrad that loves reading and I realize there is a line between literature and general fiction. This book just doesn't have the quality to be considered good. I would only advise reading this if it was given to you. There are only a few novels I have refused to finish and it frustrates me that this another. I made it halfway and had to stop. If it was her translator than I am sincerely sorry for her, as the amazon reviews aren't favoring. If it was the original text, then I hope she improves and keeps working at being a writer. I won't be returning to this author but if she makes you happy then I am sincerely happy to just see people reading, even if I don't like the same work. ( )

A beautiful collection of four stories written in calm and lingering prose that will stay with me for a long time. Randy Taguchi has interwoven similar themes which are not immediately apparent, but are so cleverly written (and wonderfully translated) that almost seem to run in to one another.

All have Mt Fuji as a "backdrop" to the tales. For me that symbolised the perceived, insurmountable problems each character was facing in their own minds. I particularly liked "The Sea of Trees" which is a coming of age story of three young men at a crossroads in their lives who decide to camp out in a forest well known as a suicide location. There they swap secret stories about themselves and confront death and hard decisions. "Child of Light" is a deeply moving tale of a nurse and compassion. The first story, " The Blue Summit" is told from the perspective of a former sect member who is facing a different life outside. "Jamila" deals with the subject of hoarding and the mental problems which surround it.

I highly recommend this Amazon Crossing publication. They are discovering some true gems of literature which demand to be read.

This book was made available to me, by Amazon, in exchange for an honest review. ( )

While little known in America- ‘Fujisan’ is only her second book released in English- Randy Taguchi has written 14 novels and many short stories and essays and is immensely popular in Japan. The four stories in ‘Fujjisan’ are all set on or near Mt. Fuji. That, and the fact that all four protagonists are struggling psychologically, is what connects these stories together. In ‘Blue Summit’, a former cult member working in a convenience store strives to deal with life now that he is allowed free will. ‘Sea of Trees’ is a coming of age story, as three boys in their early teens meet danger and death for the first time. ‘Jamila’ is the name of a hoarder, the psychological opposite of the narrator, who throws away his past like dirty hankies. In ‘Child of Light’, a nurse faces life and death and the human spirit- far from the first time for her- as she wonders about her future.

The protagonists are all struggling to reconcile their images of themselves. Faced with change on a deep level, they are all knocked off balance and into new understanding of themselves by other people. The stories are quiet and reflective like a Japanese garden but deeply moving. ( )

Japanese writer Randy Taguchi's Fujisan is a collection of four short stories centered on the theme of the role of forgotten memories in a person's daily life. Individual perceptions and emotions in someone's life are formative of character, but often the memories of key events are buried in a location that can appear as immutable as Mount Fuji. The beauty, culture, and tradition associated with the highest mountain in Japan are rich even though many people in the country pay little attention to the landmark. It provides a good metaphor for a repository of personal history that like the dormant volcano can erupt from unconscious levels to consciousness with major effects on the individual.

In The Blue, characters must confront isolation and take solace in the beauty of the material and immaterial worlds. Mt. Fuji symbolizes the material world and a personal "hole" for throwing unwanted memories and emotions symbolizes the immaterial world. It takes great presence of mind to explore both worlds, but the payoff is lasting and positive.

In Sea of Trees, personal development of the characters is like a "cram school" that prepares Japanese students for life directing exams, especially in middle school. In addition to cultural mandates for learning, people must learn to fill the void of their own forgotten past in order to have something to share with other people. Those who keep the past buried in a void live a life of isolation. As with hiking and camping on Mt. Fuji, the immaterial world can be approached and explored even though parts of it are imposing and irrationally frightening.

In Jamila, characters learn that, like a hoarder of "garbage," individuals hoard old memories and emotions keeping them active but not conscious. The negative memories and emotions are buried but limit people's ability to function fully in society. The characters must dig up the negative immaterial content of their lives, defuse it and give the residual damaging memories a proper burial. This process can free the person to appreciate the beauty and freedom of their souls, and reach a level of peace as all-encompassing as Mt. Fuji.

In Child of Light, characters learn the catharsis of being reborn, free from damaging past history that has inhibited or stopped their development. Even when fate delivers real threats, there are countless souls released every day from the burdens of life (even the souls of aborted babies) that are able to reach a state of being, as beautiful and magnificent as an unrestricted sunrise viewed by hikers from the summit of Mt. Fuji.

This is another excellent publication by Amazon Publishing that uses customer feedback and other data to find and translate into English great works of world literature. Randy Taguchi's work here (translated by Raj Mahtani) is a very good example of the high quality of contemporary international literature. ( )