Books, books, books

[owlectomy]

I am almost done filling my bk1 basket with books--a mix of light novels and manga, because I have Duke for serious literature and nonfiction, and I'm going up to New York in December, but there are some things Kinokuniya just doesn't have.

Ideally I would just need one more manga somewhere on the axis of weird/artsy/surreal... suggestions, anyone?

I have to say, reading up on the Taishou period is a lot easier than reading up on ancient Japan -- mostly because there are a lot of pictures from the period that survive. There are trains and toys and advertising posters and iceboxes and hand washing machines... and at any rate, I may have found the 'life in Japan at particular periods of time' (as distinct from the political/military stuff that I only really want the basic outlines of) series that are going to be useful to me in the future. Second-language research is hard. But it's killing two birds with one stone, and besides, Duke's still rearranging their English-language collections.

Oh, oh, I can't believe I forgot to mention:

On Saturday I went over to Duke, and saw that they had moved their English-language Japanese-history books again. So I went down to the lower level where they were supposed to be...and came upon something I had not seen before.

Normally, a library is laid out like this:
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AISLE
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This section of the library, however, was laid out like this:
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AISLE
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One shelf was literally right up against the other with not more than half an inch of clearance between them--meaning most of the books were completely inaccessible. Now, the library has been under construction for well over a year, and sometimes the books are just inaccessible, but this particular section didn't seem to be under construction.

Then I noticed that the shelves had buttons on them, which said 'move.'

I pushed a button. Instantly I thought, "I just did a dumb thing, didn't I?" as the shelves began to slide along the floor... freeing up an aisle right where I needed it. This is both

(1) the coolest library toy I have ever seen
(2) terrifying. I'm sure that a person can't actually get crushed between the shelves as they slide together. Right? Right? Right?

I wonder how the librarians feel about it. There was a sign that said 'if the shelves are stuck, please ask for help,' so I have to wonder if it's one of those eternally cursed pieces of technology that never works quite as well as it's supposed to... or whether it actually is the coolest library toy I have ever seen.

It's good to have the big endowments.

Comments

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

Weird artsy surreal.... youve been through all of Hatsu Akiko? Her Master of the Haunted Inn is out in bunko, is why I'm not buying it, but, well, maybe I will...

[takumashii.livejournal.com]

I have not read *any* of Hatsu Akiko, but as far as I can tell that's something I should remedy as soon as possible. Just what I was looking for!

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

She does weird and artsy for certain but not so much the surreal. Tales of the Rainy Willow is set in late Meiji, by the looks of it, and is the one of hers I like best: being that the weird Chinese tales ones all seem to be out of print.

For surreal and artsy but not so much the weird, my current obsession, Motohashi Keiko's Daisan no Teikoku fits rather nicely. I'm still stumped as to how to classify it and tend to babble about Ronald Firbank and Saki and Aubrey Beardsley and American graphic novels when I try.

[danaseilhan.livejournal.com]

That reminds me of some medical records rooms where you can move the records shelves by turning this big wheel. I think I've only ever seen them in the military though, and only in a few places.

[lordameth.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for, but if you're looking for Japanese language books, and you're going to be in NY, I would suggest that you check out the BOOK*OFF on East 41st and 5th. No guarantees that they'll have what you're looking for, but it's cheaper than Kinokuniya, and it's an alternate option to hope to possibly potentially find what Kinokuniya is lacking.

Good luck!

[takumashii.livejournal.com]

When I go up to New York, I've been known to hit the Book-Off, Kinokuniya, and Asahiya all in the same day. ;) But I try to keep it under control because I'm dragging my sister along, and while she can keep herself entertained... everybody has limits.

[firebreatherjen.livejournal.com]

Compact shelving is one of the coolest things I've ever seen in a library. My undergrad library had a small section for the bound periodicals. I loved playing with them. You won't get crushed since there is a kick plate at the bottom of all of the shelves or some other safety device. If they hit something, the shelves will stop. But it is polite to check the open aisle and make sure nobody is in there.