Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Tokyo Underworld in Seven Minutes or less
Our Man hates deadlines. Here's his latest. Seven minutes. After that, it's time for bed, So here's a post written in 420 seconds or less. Er, howabout a book review? Our Man got stuck in to Tokyo Underworld by, err, Robert Whiting. And it's really good. All about a poor Italian American on the make in postwar Tokyo who manages to join the general corruption of the day and turn a tidy profit flogging Uncle Sam's wares on the black market. Three Minute warning. Sheeet. Er, anyway, Our Man only got to page 60 when his other deadline approached (the bus pulled up outside Shinjuku station) so there may be a whole lot of other good stuff to come. It did remind Our Man of the contractors on the make in Iraq and he can't help but think endemic corruption is part and parcel of 40 seconds, er, all wars and their aftermath. G'night all.
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3 comments:
Yup, definitely a good read, and I've heard rumors there's a movie deal in the making.
Out of curiosity, have you read Whiting's other book "You Gotta Have Wa"?
-G
A movie would be good. Haven't read You Gotta Have Wa. Might do on the strength of Tokyo Underworld, but, frankly, Our Man's eyes glaze over when talk turns to baseball.
Baseball... as far as I can tell it is a slightly livelier version of cricket, with the addition of a percussion squad.
"Tokyo Underworld" is a good read though, not just for the main story but for the context it provides on postwar Japan.
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