The online bookstore patogupirkti.lt presents Japanese and Korean literature from the “Baltų lankų” publishing house – from world-renowned authors to works that have become prominent bestsellers in their countries and beyond. These books differ in mood, narrative style, and themes, but each in its own way opens the door to the wonderful Eastern world.
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Cho Nam-joo “Kim Ji-young, Born 1982”
What happens when you spend your whole life trying to be a good daughter, a good student, a good employee, a good wife, and finally – a good mother? In Cho Nam-joo’s novel “Kim Ji-young, Born 1982,” the author tells a very simple, almost everyday story of a South Korean woman. However, it is precisely this everydayness that becomes the most painful part of the book.
Kim Ji-young faces from birth that her life, choices, and opportunities are judged differently simply because she was born a girl. At 33, Ji-young lives in a suburb of Seoul, raises a young daughter, and takes care of the home. She once had a job, ambitions, and a life beyond her family, but motherhood gradually changed everything. One day her behavior begins to change – Ji-young starts speaking in the voices of other women, as if those whose stories remained unheard are speaking through her. Her husband takes her to a psychiatrist, and the doctor’s narrative becomes an opportunity to revisit Ji-young’s entire life – from childhood to motherhood.
The novel is full of statistics, social research, and facts, so sometimes it feels like we are reading not a work of fiction but a carefully collected portrait of a society. The novel, published in South Korea in 2016, quickly transcended literary boundaries and became an important part of discussions about gender inequality.
Kazuo Ishiguro “Klara and the Sun”
This work is an excellent choice for readers who prefer slow, atmospheric, and thought-provoking stories rather than action-packed science fiction. It is a book about the future that actually tells a lot about the present: our relationship with technology, the growing emotional distance, and the human need to be loved.
In Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel “Klara and the Sun,” the reader enters a near-future world where children are accompanied by Artificial Friends. One of them – Klara, an exceptionally observant and curious robot – watches people from a store window, waiting to be chosen. Once in a family’s home, she becomes the companion of a teenage girl named Josie and tries to understand, protect, and help her not feel lonely. However, it soon becomes clear that in this technologically advanced world, loneliness and the lack of human connection have not disappeared.
Kazuo Ishiguro raises an uncomfortable question: is it possible to understand, replicate, or even change the human heart? And if a machine can love, protect, and sacrifice, what then makes a human special? It is a sensitive and philosophical story about love, empathy, sacrifice, and what truly makes a person human.
Haruki Murakami “Norwegian Wood”
Some novels become not only bestsellers but also symbols of their generation. Such is Haruki Murakami’s “Norwegian Wood” – one of the most famous works of the Japanese author, telling about youth, first love, loss, and the attempt to come to terms with what cannot be changed.
In Toru’s world, two very different women intertwine. Naoko shares with him a common loss and past pain, while the spontaneous, lively Midori represents a completely different life. Torn by feelings, Toru must choose whether to remain attached to the past or dare to step into the future. Murakami tells about love without much sentimentality – there is more silence, melancholy, inner questions, and that strange feeling when a person is very close but at the same time remains unreachable.
“Norwegian Wood” made Murakami famous worldwide and became one of his most important works. Haruki Murakami himself is now considered one of the most famous and widely read contemporary Japanese authors, whose books have been translated into dozens of languages, and his name is often mentioned among Nobel Prize in Literature contenders.
Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga “Dare to Be Disliked. The Japanese Guide to Freedom from Fear and True Happiness”
What if happiness does not require changing your whole life, but only stopping living according to other people’s rules? “Dare to Be Disliked” is a philosophical and psychological conversation about the freedom to be yourself, based on Alfred Adler’s ideas. The authors convey these through a dialogue between a philosopher and a young man: one asks, doubts, and contradicts, the other tries to show that the direction of our life is much more determined by current choices than by past experiences.
The book invites you to look at how many of our decisions are truly our own. Why is it so important what others think of us? Why do we compare ourselves to others? And can we be happy if we constantly try to please everyone? The authors urge distinguishing our responsibility from what belongs to others and accepting a simple, though sometimes difficult, idea: it is impossible to please everyone, so you should not give up yourself because of that.
This is an easy-to-read but thought-provoking book for those who feel they live too much according to others’ expectations, fear being judged, or find it hard to make changes.
Toshikazu Kawaguchi “Before the Coffee Gets Cold”
In a small Tokyo café, it is possible to do what is impossible in real life – briefly return to the past or travel to the future. However, strict rules apply here: you cannot change what has already happened, and you must return from the journey before the coffee in your cup gets cold. Four people visit this strange café, each bringing their unspoken words, losses, and hopes.
Fumiko wants to talk once more with her beloved, Kotake is looking for an answer to a letter she may no longer have time to read, Hirai longs to meet her sister, and Kei travels to the future to see her unborn daughter. Their stories are different, but they share one thing – the desire to be, even briefly, where we did not say something, did not do something, or did not have time to say goodbye. Therefore, the book is not so much about time travel as about what we do with our memories and what we cannot change.
“Before the Coffee Gets Cold” is the author’s debut novel, sold over a million copies in Japan, translated into many languages, and became the first book in a series about the mysterious café. It is a good choice for a quiet evening when you want a story that, after reading, you do not want to close immediately.
Shin Kyung-Sook “Please Take Care of Mom”
What happens to a family when one day a person disappears whom everyone thought they knew well? In Shin Kyung-Sook’s novel “Please Take Care of Mom,” the disappearance of 69-year-old Park Sonjo becomes not only a search story but also a painful journey into family memories. The husband and children begin to piece together their mother’s life anew and soon realize they knew much less about her than they thought.
The further Sonjo is searched for, the more details of her life, unspoken desires, grievances, and sacrifices are revealed. Family members for the first time begin to see not only a mother and wife but a separate person – a woman with her own wishes, pains, and dreams. The novel sensitively talks about motherhood, family, guilt, and the sometimes painful realization that we begin to truly know our closest people only when we can no longer ask them.
The book will especially appeal to readers who appreciate sensitive family stories and psychologically deep narratives about relationships. It is a novel that can make you not only reflect on your loved ones but also call your mother – just to say “how are you?”.
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