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Reading in a second language
Roy has a great post about reading Kokoro in Japanese after already having read it twice in English:
The first time I read it, I liked it because I was supposed to. ...
Today I can appreciate the work on a personal level. I identify with, or am repulsed by certain characters. The novel inspired an emotional reaction. None of that happened before. My intellectual comprehension of the novel also was further stimulated, particularly surrounding the comparison between Sensei and Boku’s father.
I've noticed this too. I attribute it to two main factors:
- Enforced close reading. I read English, especially English novels, faster than is probably ideal. (I have to consciously slow down when I read poetry.) But reading in Japanese is relatively new to my brain. The sentences don't come as naturally as breathing, like English ones do, and I occasionally get delayed by words I have to think about or even look up. So my Japanese reading is meticulous in a way that my English reading just isn't. If an unusual word is used twice by two different characters, or a particular sentence doesn't seem to serve any narrative purpose, I'm probably going to notice and ponder it, and if the writer meant something by it, chances aren't that bad I'll figure it out (or at least find an explanation that satisfies me). End result: I get a lot more out of each page.
- Cultural context. Knowing how Japanese people actually talk, in Japanese, makes a difference. The 20th-century Japanese canon, in particular, is in my experience a lot more enjoyable when you understand why so many of the conversations seem cold and standoffish, and learn how to read what the characters really mean by what they say. This is often a translation issue, too, but I'm going to keep quiet about that until I have enough achievements of my own to hide my hubris behind. Anyway, the point is: now that I'm in Japan, I have context, and that helps a lot.
That's not to say that there aren't any disadvantages, of course. I often fail to recognize literary and other references because I just don't have the background knowledge, and although reading slowly is enjoyable I do sometimes wish I could progress through my "to read" pile a little more rapidly.
amida:
"The 20th-century Japanese canon, in particular, is in my experience a lot more enjoyable when you understand why so many of the conversations seem cold and standoffish, and learn how to read what the characters really mean by what they say."
Come on, then, give us some hints on how to do it!
I have never read Kokoro, but that was my experience reading Snow Country and some others, and often felt I was missing something. Granted, I was reading them to get a taste of what they were about and not for their aesthetic value, and as such I was reading very quickly (and in English translation).