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The Great Passage

By: Shion Miura, Juliet Winters Carpenter - translator
Narrated by: Brian Nishii
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Publisher's Summary

A charmingly warm and hopeful story of love, friendship, and the power of human connection. Award-winning Japanese author Shion Miura's novel is a reminder that a life dedicated to passion is a life well lived.

Inspired as a boy by the multiple meanings to be found for a single word in the dictionary, Kohei Araki is devoted to the notion that a dictionary is a boat to carry us across the sea of words. But after thirty-seven years creating them at Gembu Books, it's time for him to retire and find his replacement.

He discovers a kindred spirit in Mitsuya Majime - a young, disheveled square peg with a penchant for collecting antiquarian books and a background in linguistics - whom he swipes from his company's sales department.

Led by his new mentor and joined by an energetic, if reluctant, new recruit and an elder linguistics scholar, Majime is tasked with a career-defining accomplishment: completing The Great Passage, a comprehensive 2,900-page tome of the Japanese language. On his journey, Majime discovers friendship, romance, and an incredible dedication to his work, inspired by the bond that connects us all: words.

©2012 Shion Miura (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Translation © 2017 Juliet Winters Carpenter.
Coming of Age Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction World Literature Linguistics Comedy
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Critic Reviews

"Brian Nishii is the perfect narrator for this audiobook... The book's translation combined with Nishii's narration makes the story sound and feel Japanese - there's a subtle choppiness, and certain word choices and phrases aren't what native English speakers would say - and it's all entirely fitting and charming....a unique and fascinating listen." ( AudioFile)

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Geeky, charming

Who would ever think that a story about dictionary publication could be so charming, funny and engaging. Generally, translated stories should be written in a way that disguises the fact that in was originally written in another language, but this story is an exception to that rule given that the central theme is the meaning and organisation of Japanese words. Juliet Winters Carpenter mixes the right amount of Japanese in for the content to stay relevant and interesting. Brian Nishii as usual does a great job performing for the audiobook. I recommend also trying to track down the film which does a terrific job of bringing the story to life.

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