Last Friday, Pooey and Jade needed to go shopping and drinking but I didn't really feel like coming along so I sequestered myself in one of my favoured bookshops and waited for them to get ready to eat. They say you should never judge a book by its cover but while I was perusing the shelves I found a book that looked so cute, I had to pick it up and read it! And the book was really cute!!!
Train Man (Densha Otoko in the original japanese) tells the story of a 22yo otaku (computery anime geek) who one day intervenes when a drunk starts hassling women on the Tokyo metro. After the drunk gets arrested, the women ask for his address so they can thank him...and imagine his surprise when the young attractive one sends him a pair of Hermès teacups as a present. The book chronicles his metamorphosis from a guy who has never been on a date (or possibly even looked a girl in the eye) to a more confident guy who gets the girl.
Sure, I know what you're thinking Oh, it's just another Mallymoodle romance book. WRONG! What makes the book is that it's a translation of the real forum postings that Train Man wrote on 2Channel and the advice, comments, and reactions of his fellow board posters. I said he was a computer geek! Being somewhat geeky myself, I could really see the reactions of the fellow posters and cheer on Train Man as he went after Lady Hermès. And you've got to admit to the warm fuzzy feeling when you realise that all these strangers are cheering on someone they dont know and probably never will.
It's hard to describe what made the book such a great read. I can imagine that people might find the postings difficult to read or even gimmicky. There's no 'characterisation' in the formal sense. Whether or not the situation seems credible or not will depend on your personal mindset, I suppose. What is realistic is when the various geeks wait for Train on the forum for updates, how they band together in mock battle as Train shares the details of various dates, and share in turn their tales of woe as they marvel at how Train's little acts of confidence deliver for him. It's almost enough to be a little more forgiving of the various people who hit on me. Almost. There is also the question about authenticity. The identities of Train and Hermès have never been publicly revealed...but when I typed in the urls listed in some of the postings, they really existed. There is also a lot of geeky things like ASCI art so that might annoy some too.
But seriously. Its a cute book and an entertaining read. I'm not sure how widely available it is here, but read it if you can!
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