I've read two books by Kafka

I read "Transformation/Before the Law" and "The Trial" in Japanese.
It was my first contact with Franz Kafka. He's from Prague and wrote in German.

"The Metamorphosis/Before the Law" is a book of short stories which includes:

"Judgement"
"The Metamorphosis"
"A Report to an Academy"
"Before the Law"


"The Metamorphosis" is very well known but I've never read it before. I only knew how the story begins as everyone knows.
"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect."

Before I read through the novel, I thought "The Metamorphosis" was a SF or fantasy novel, but it actually is a sad, realistic and symbolic novel. Even though it's sad, I like it.

I couldn't catch what "Judgement" really means. I should try reading it again at the proper opportunity.

"A Report to an Academy" is all made up of one character's monologue. He reports to the people in an academy about how he became a human from being a monkey. It's funny but also deep.

"Before the Law" is a really short story, which is four pages in Japanese. It may be less in English.
It's easy writing but difficult to understand the intent of the writer. What is the law after all?
This novel appears again in "The Trial". One character talks about this story. That scene can be a clue to understand.

"The Trial" is good novel and has a worldwide reputation, but I don't like it so much. There are several unfinished chapters, and this novel is depressing and full of a helpless feeling. That is why it didn't become my favorite.


Kafka's novel's are classic. They are also more pop and catchy than I expected.
I can recommend them to you.

Write It Down, Make It Happen: Knowing What You Want And Getting It

*This post has been saved as a draft from 4 March 2011. I forgot to upload that time.

I've just read through "Write It Down, Make It Happen: Knowing What You Want And Getting It" by Henriette Anne Klauser. I read it in Japanese.

It's a good book. I like it. There are many concrete ways to make dreams come true.
Write your dreams and goals down and you'll be careful about the things connected to your dreams. I agree with it.

What I like the best is this. Make a team. Meet up once a week. The each member officially announces two things. Their dreams and what they'll have done for the dreams by the next meeting.

Perhaps there are a bit too many. It's difficult to remember them all. I borrowed this book from the library, but it's good to have and read it back sometimes.

There are several spiritual and religious ways. They are hard to understand for Japanese. I didn't pick them up. Just use the ways which suit you. It's the best way to read this book.

Now I have a question. Do I have to write those things on the paper? Can I type them on PC? What do you think?

About "Good Day, Good Night" (1/2 - Regarding the song)

This post is about the song I wrote and introduced to you in my last post.
http://letmetalkabouttokyo.blogspot.com/2011/05/good-day-good-night.html


On 12 March, I was exhausted from the frequent aftershocks, the horrible news, the confused flood of informations on Twitter and so on.
I felt "Music is nothing for a time like this."

Then I got a mail from my friend. It said, "Sing."
He continued, "You might give them some courage with music."

At the same time, I saw a tweet which said, "For musicians, music is not guilty. It's a hope."

I made up my mind to write a song.
I thought carefully about what kind of song I should write.
There were already many rousing songs by famous musicians.
If I started to write a rousing song from that time, it would not mean much.

I was recalling the children's book I had read in elementary school days.
It was one of the popular series called, "Zukkoke San-Nin-Gumi".
Less than Harry Potter's popularity of today, but it was quite popular in that time.
The story of the one I was recalling is that the main characters face a huge earthquake and they have many difficulties after the earthquake.
The boy dreams about the earthquake many times, and every time he wakes up in a sweat.

At that time, my mother said "I can't sleep well because of the aftershocks during the night." Some of my friend said the same things on Twitter.

"A song which eases the anxiousness of the people. This might be what I need to write," I thought.
For the people in Touhoku, and also for the people everywhere who can't spend nights at peace.

At this moment,
"This is the time to sleep",
the first verse, dropped from my mouth with the melody which I had hummed before the earthquake. It fit.
(The lyrics were revised to "This is the time for bedtime" for the final version)

This is the story about how I started to write "Good Day, Good Night."


I'd like to write about how I made the video in my next post.
Thank you for reading.

Good Day, Good Night

I've uploaded a new music video to YouTube with the song that I wrote the day after the earthquake disaster.

There are already many encouraging songs after the disaster, so I wrote a song which eases our feeling.



If you like it, feel free to paste the video as you want.

Facebook page is also now available. You surely see the box on this page.
I hope you say "Like" it.

Several other new menues available from the official site.
http://nanos.jp/kakinokimasato/

Have a nice day.