Are there any books with plot, narrative, or pacing like anime? You could say Michael Crichton has a "hollywood film adaptation" feel to his books, yet I haven't seen any sci-fi/fantasy books that are quite like the feel of anime.
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Anonymous2006-03-13 23:26
i think you mean anime that feel like books. planetes is one. gunslinger girl. boogiepop is based off of a book.
I'm not answering your question, am I? I do not see how any good book could 'feel' like an anime. You're looking for manga or stupid shit pornographic action epics for 5th grades.
I wish I had an answer, I'm now as curious for it as you.
Vonnegut's characters have always been really slapsticky anime and Japanese to me. Cat's Cradle especially.
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Anonymous2006-03-14 15:49
I would write my own ecchi fantasy series
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Anonymous2006-03-19 10:55
Read novels by Haruki Murakami, he's the best at that.
You should read Haruki Murakami. He's brilliant. I'd recommend "Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" as an entry point, especially because it's the most "anime-like" of his books. Yoshitoshi Abe cited it as a big influence on Haibane Renmei, which becomes very obvious as you read it.
Some of his books do indeed feel "like anime", but I think that's more because they're all by Japanese artists and tap into Japanese aesthetics and psychological backgrounds and artistic traditions etc.
The other books are Cyberpunk like some anime but I don't think that's what you mean. I'd recommend looking into some other Japanese authors as well after Murakami; Ryu Murakami (no relation) is particularly good. Banana Yoshimoto's Kitchen is worth reading, too.
Some classic authors include Kenzaburo Oe, Natsume Soseki and Yasunari Kawabata, but I don't find them particularly "anime-like" beyond their common Japanese heritage.
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Anonymous2006-03-21 21:02
William Gibson sometimes make references to anime in his novels. And to Japan's popular culture, especially in "Idoru", which really feels like an anime made novel.
Plus, he's pretty much the one who invented the "cyberpunk" movement, which is pretty popular in anime.
My guess.
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Anonymous2006-03-22 17:16
>>11
Thank you
(same poster as 4, if you belive me)
I tried Gibson's novels (including Neruomancer) and sure, it's cool at first but he tends to get too tied up in techno-babble and ends up giving his stories a sleek and cold aesthetic feel to it. After a while, I ended up stop reading his novels because of this. It made me feel like all of his characters were the same and his stories as dull.
Murakami on the other hand delves deep into human emotion (usually from a male's standpoint) and heart while still employing a sci-fi or anime style or flair to some of his works.
Now, I too have read "Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" (My first Murakami book to boot!) and what grabbed me from the get-go was not just the sci-fi settings or the japanese traditions that were inter-woven into the storyline but his capacity as a writter and his imaginative style.
I won't ruin it here but in his novel, "Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" he introduces us to two stories from the very begining. One is of a man living in our world and the other is of someone living in a fantasy world.
While first reading, you presume that the two are completely un-correlated but as you delve deeper and deeper into the storyline, you begin to see just how inter-woven the two actually are. I had to read two times not just to fully understand it but appreciate it even more so than I did after the initial go through.
Simply put, I can not praise this novel enough. It's no wonder the New Yorker magazine praises his works so much!
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Anonymous2006-03-23 22:02
I like books by Garth Nix... And Tamora Pierce. I know they're childish girly books, but they really are very good.
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Anonymous2006-03-24 18:20
>>13
Are you referring to english translations, or did you read the text in its native language? If a translation, how was it? I've never read a translated novel before. Also, could you name a publisher? :)
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Anonymous2006-03-24 19:21
>>15
Yes, I read the english translations. (I wish I could read japanese) The translation seemed fluid and relevant but withoout knowing japanese (besides weeaboo words) I wouldn't call my self an expert on how good translations are. All I could say is that it made sense to me. ^_^; The publisher I doo not know off-hand. Simply go to amazon.com and type in the author's name. You should be able to find his books quite easily. =D
BTW, his newest work is "Kafka on the Shore".
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Anonymous2006-03-25 8:46
Hell, read the Robotech books. They're what steered me into anime in the first place.
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Anonymous2006-03-25 15:41
Sigh...
Robotech, those were the days!
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Anonymous2006-03-29 19:03
Droizzt do urdan
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Anonymous2006-03-29 20:31
There is a novel feat. Batou from GitS that is a very good read.
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Anonymous2006-04-11 2:19
Define "like anime." It depends on what you're looking for.
The only Western animeish book I can think of off the top of my head is David Weber's "Mutineers' Moon". It was supposedly going to be made into an animated feature, but ADV went and screwed it up (no surprise there). However, the book is definitely a giant inducer of WTF. (Then again, so's 90% of everything Weber's wrote, so no surprise either.)
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Anonymous2006-04-11 4:37
You could always try the Slayers or Vampire Hunter D novels, they were made before their anime counterparts.
Typos and other editing errors and god awful story-telling.
(This I gather from reading the slayers novels. still gotta give D a chance...)
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Anonymous2006-04-14 15:54
Boogiepop and the others (and the i believe 2-3 more of the 14 books series) are being released state side. the first book is out and the rest will be out soonish (borders/walden books exclusive atm)
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Anonymous2006-04-21 20:24
I second garth nix. Most of his books are really short and geared at the early teen audience, but they're still insanely good.
i've read kafka on the shore, and i couldn't help feeling: omg pretentious bullshit. only the part about Nakata and Hoshino interests me. the whole book feels like a greek tragedy more than an anime series to be honest, with corporate mascots as the mythological creatures.
(johnny walker; gurocat fetishist lololol)
read some of kafka works and you'd be much more fulfilled.
norweigan wood was good btw.
saging because i feel that my opinion doesn't add much to the discussion.
Parasite Eve by Hideaki Sena (Sci-fi horror)
THE GUIN SAGA Series by Kaoru Kurimoto (Fantasy)
BUDDHA Series by Osamu Tezuka (Manga)
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Anonymous2006-05-20 19:00
Hey, I just heard that a publisher in america is releasing books based on the ghost in the shell: Stand Alone Complex series. Anyone get a chance to read them yet?