five and half books nobody seems to read but I read

The idea is from here,
there, and everywhere.

So ten books? I don't have so many.
i.
This is for me the best Japanese picture book for children by Sasaki Maki. No one can read Japanese, so it seems in-category that the chances are who knows nobody's reading...indeed

The good point is that there's no plot besides...once a year hot chocolate sprouts out from the fissure of mountain rocks of a volcanic region, and people from the four corner of the world gather together for it.

"The Strange Tea Party" as the title says.

Here, gathering.

They invariably take on fancy vehicles to come and take chairs out here. Such as? Hmm...rather sweet those vehicles...ugh.

Other than that, nil. No plots, no lessons of moral, no spanking trashes from the authority side. I didn't attribute so much importance to this petite work in the past, and probably the thing is around the same that I'm assessing that way this day. But somehow this book's existence, "of no, totally of no importance"-ness--I cannot help notice--attracts me.

ii. The Poems of Emily Dickinson.
I know it's not suiting to the category--every one reads. Every one supposedly reads. But I know that, bluntly speaking, almost no one reads. At least...I think I can say...it's true. The background is my room. Needs to be tidied up in any case.



iii. Patric McGrath Asylum.
Again not in category. My excuse is that around here in Japan no one translates his works, and book stores in Japan is mostly nearly only Japanese books. Ya, mostly nearly only Japanese books indeed, and besides, a thirds of them is in many cases manga. "Could you please piss off mangas and GK Euro magazines from our national shelves? Can't you understand you JPN's publication industry is all together crazy?" The situation is, you go to one of the biggest book stores in Tokyo which deals with paperbacks, and hey there, the next capital step from Garcia...Marquez...yay, happens to be just a trash commercial writer. So if that's the way it is OK I can make a big trouble and go to the second biggest...to no avail. (Such things happen when you do not feel like to check out the creditability of your credit because of Garcia Marquez or William Treavor or John Cheaver or Primo Levi or Peter Matthiessen or ad infinitum that in effect means everybody who dares to constantly squeezes out from your ditchable purse and for the time being cannot have enough courage to make use of South American counterpart of Euphrates and Tigris...) Anyway, because of this my nationals who read McGrath may be a few hundreds or less. Serious.

A gorgeous work.

iv. Theodore W. Goossen The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories.
I didn't know Kawabata had a soul. The Izu Dancer in this rigorous collection opened my eye. Kawabata Yasunari no doubt had a harsh, unforgiving mind. The editor is quite a cognizant of Japanese writers--than I do of course. Goossen correctly chooses best ones from Yoshiyuki Junnosuke and Kojima Nobuo, without a single error (before an error the thing is that no other Japanese compilation includes Yoshiyuki...) Oe Kenzaburo's Prize Stock was also an unexpected eye opener. I have to say that I simply disliked his face and the way he spoke, from where the conclusion he may be typical [useless] Japanese writer...but fortunately it was not so.

At the left background of the picture slinkingly is done by my hands:->
Home grown. His close shot over there^^ Hope the html this time reflects the intention, though I have rather no intention...@
To return from digression:

v. Cindy Sherman The Complete Untitled Film Stills
I refer back to this picture book at times. A real gem. Made me pay forty something. You can "refer" to Sherman's pictures, just as well is to Jeff Wall. I have nothing to say. Again, no one seems to read this book. "I know that some of you do not understand." Pictures are a power that adults cannot handle yet is always half striving to be confident it's under control.

vi. Paul Wadden Days in the Ancient Capital

Truly nobody reads. Totally outlandish by fair color. It's not that "seems." Haiku in English. Interestingly, this 2/1.5 inches pocketable booklet really takes you to ancient times.

A disappearing snail,
I realize
the sea beyond

The Wadden's words accompanied with the drawings or vice verse...The scanned image on the top is from this tiny brochure.

Seen or unseen
White blossoms
of the plum