tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post8562647988887421010..comments2023-10-03T11:41:21.191+01:00Comments on The Truth About Lies: The Master of GoJim Murdochhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-41899432495812600312015-09-07T18:39:42.451+01:002015-09-07T18:39:42.451+01:00I saw Sleeping Beauty, Ti. Didn’t make the Kawabat...I saw <i>Sleeping Beauty</i>, <b>Ti</b>. Didn’t make the Kawabata connection at all. Now I’m intrigued. <i> The House of the Sleeping Beauties</i> is on my to-read long list but, as I’m sure you’re well aware, there are so many books and so little time. I read about 160 books last year but this year I’ve devoted all my spare time to editing my next novel so the only reading I’ve done has been research. If only there were two of me.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-58473972958427644442015-09-04T20:45:40.088+01:002015-09-04T20:45:40.088+01:00Thank you for the deep analysis. If you're int...Thank you for the deep analysis. If you're interested, the movie "Sleeping Beauty" (2011) starring Emily Browning is loosely inspired by a Kawabata novella, "The House of the Sleeping Beauties." I would never have known except that in a certain scene, a university lecturer has a slide on the projector featuring one of the images from "The Master of Go." I recognized the image and did some research after the movie. I think it captured the muted sadness of Kawabata's work. (It was also pretty disturbing.)<br /><br />Btw, a friend of mine gave me a book of short stories by Kawabata called "Palm-of-the-Hand Stories." If you don't have time to commit to a full novel, maybe check it out? They're excellent. Ti Perihelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06143243353157948577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-39881626029728338162011-10-23T12:09:39.093+01:002011-10-23T12:09:39.093+01:00Thanks for your input, Ben. I’m still not sure why...Thanks for your input, <b>Ben</b>. I’m still not sure why it was such a big deal but I guess I have the wrong mindset for a game like this. I struggle with all the fuss that often surrounds chess matches. I keep thinking: <i>It’s just a game.</i><br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-28032842384821444012011-10-21T23:45:59.382+01:002011-10-21T23:45:59.382+01:00I realize you wrote this 2 years ago, but I just r...I realize you wrote this 2 years ago, but I just read it, making it new to me. <br /><br />I think I can explain the situation with black playing sealed move 121. The move he chose to to play was something that could have been played at any time throughout the game, and white would have to respond locally in order to keep that group at the top alive. The Master was so upset because playing that move has no apparent value for black at the time. Seemingly, black played that move as a sealed move so that he would know white's next move, and thus have the entire break to think about his following move, thus giving him an advantage in the fight at the lower right.Benhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09349595124565081652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-19064241922635979302011-03-29T11:21:00.063+01:002011-03-29T11:21:00.063+01:00Thank you Jim, a fascinating and, I believe, very ...Thank you Jim, a fascinating and, I believe, very astute review. I can only say that on the basis of reading Thousand Cranes, but a lot of what you say here applies to that too. <br /><br />I have to say that I am very glad I saw a few 50s Japanese films before reading Thousand Cranes. It helped to give it a lot of context - given that so little is said.Clare Dudmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06197558842580794165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-25661823846577814692010-10-26T13:57:59.065+01:002010-10-26T13:57:59.065+01:00Thanks for the feedback, Sinh. I really must find ...Thanks for the feedback, <b>Sinh</b>. I really must find the time to read some more of his work. So many books, so little time.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-69668862402452558222010-10-25T11:01:35.440+01:002010-10-25T11:01:35.440+01:00I have read Snow Country and The Sound of the Moun...I have read Snow Country and The Sound of the Mountain numerous times. The Master of Go was the last work of Kawabata, and I read it last. The book is indeed a nuanced and subtle, one I greatly enjoyed reading.Sinhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03114912323213775825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-85240998233588341292009-12-15T22:32:06.075+00:002009-12-15T22:32:06.075+00:00I have to say, Randa, I would have thought that to...I have to say, <b>Randa</b>, I would have thought that too but really you can get by with a very basic idea of how the game works, surprisingly so. It's only a wee book, if you get a chance don't let your ignorance of the game get in the road.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-3382457621703702432009-12-15T20:12:11.010+00:002009-12-15T20:12:11.010+00:00I have mixed feelings about Kawabata's writing...I have mixed feelings about Kawabata's writing. I loved Thousand Cranes, hated The Lake and was baffled by>The Master of Go Be that as it may, I don't think the latter holds interest for someone unfamiliar with the game. Any novel that cannot stand alone is more of a sociological study than a novel per se.Randa Azkoul Soubaihhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08194184345349446978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-65327251165850912772009-06-09T17:23:38.633+01:002009-06-09T17:23:38.633+01:00Glad you got intrested in. The issue is that for a...Glad you got intrested in. The issue is that for all other board games except go is possible to make a program that plays perfectly, but since go ha so many opciones and thre tree is so big is more intresting, heuristics need to be used, and they are also not enough to win humans. On the downside eventually there are beeing done programs that are winning every single kind of game, so the magic of playing them vanishes.Mariana Sofferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13351209522681966230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-55581579571813329432009-06-08T09:10:57.221+01:002009-06-08T09:10:57.221+01:00Thanks for that comment, Mariana. I did find quite...Thanks for that comment, <b>Mariana</b>. I did find quite a bit on the Web about computer Go and why the computers struggle with the game more than they do with chess. It sounds like a fascinating thing to work on. I did a simply noughts and crosses programme many years ago. It got kinda boring when I worked out how to turn every game into a stalemate.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-78122836601129917512009-06-07T11:16:36.646+01:002009-06-07T11:16:36.646+01:00Lovely story, txs for sharing. I love kabawata.
I ...Lovely story, txs for sharing. I love kabawata.<br />I just wanted to tell you a little about this games from the artificial intellligence(AI) point of view. When I was arround 17 I became obsessed with go, I used to play everyday with a friend of mine, this game for me is the most magical one that exists, more than majhong, than chess, or whatever. It is also the most elegant one.<br />When I got intrested in AI one of the first things I focused on was games. The idea consist in doing a computer program smart enough to play with a human oponent games like tic tac toe, five in line, checkers, and the ones mentioned before. The techniques for doing this programs resulted fascinating from me, basically they are all represented by a tree where the root is the initial position which branches in the second level of the tree that represent all the possible legal board configurations that can be derived from the intial point, then level tree represents all the possible board configurations derived legally from the second level board, and so on, so in this tree you kind of have a panoram of all the possible situation the game might bump into. <br />For more info send me a mail, and I can send you some more bibliography.<br />Hope you enjoyed this information.<br />MMariana Sofferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13351209522681966230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-19614854358656457202009-06-04T18:52:17.148+01:002009-06-04T18:52:17.148+01:00Actually, Koe, that would annoy me. It's why I...Actually, <b>Koe</b>, that would annoy me. It's why I get annoyed at people like Pound for incorporating foreign phrases in their poems. I can see a reason for doing it but not without providing an English translation as a footnote. Glad I managed to pique your interest enough to order the book. I'll be interested to see what you make of it and my review once we have common ground.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-70105417387658973242009-06-04T18:36:16.832+01:002009-06-04T18:36:16.832+01:00A good point well put. Feel free to scribble in my...A good point well put. Feel free to scribble in my margins any time you like, <b>Ken</b>.<br /><br />And, <b>McGuire</b>, I see what you're saying and even though the book may not appeal I think most westerners will struggle with the whole eastern mindset. I remember seeing a documentary many years ago where they address the question: Is there any difference between the eastern and western brains? and the answer, much to my surprise, was, yes. It showed how they had a natural tendency to working as a community rather than individually. <br /><br />I can only really understand how things work there by thinking in the terms of petty bureaucracy which I have a mindset for. I like order. I like to know what the 'rules' are for any given situation. Even though I can, and do say whenever interviewed, work well as part of a team I am far happier working on my own.<br /><br />The suicide thing is interesting. Suicide by disembowelment was favoured because it was slow and painful and therefore demonstrated courage, self-control, and strong resolve. It's easy to write that sentence but I'm with you, I find it hard to understand a society like that. It's so alien. It's the kind of thing you could imagine a Klingon doing. Somehow that would be easier to accept because they are aliens. And yet Kronos is really just a world populated by samurai, isn't it?Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-18951104506289010302009-06-04T11:58:48.905+01:002009-06-04T11:58:48.905+01:00I've never read any Japanese writers. Not sure...I've never read any Japanese writers. Not sure I'll read this one but I am intrigued and disturbed by the whole idea of 'ritual suicide' or 'honour suicide'. It is quite a common tradition in parts of Japan and China. I could spend hours thinking (and researching) the whole cultural significance of such practices. <br /><br />Slicing through your stomach. That's brutal! Couldn't they just take poison and go for eternal sleep? It's the severity of the suicide that begs the question about the sort of psychology of the culture. <br /><br />Most people in the west are arrogantly entitled to life, indeed, we claim it as a 'right'. How many would feel that suicide was a dignified way out of life? Or that through dishonour they should terminate their existence? Fat chance. <br /><br />Interesante. <br /><br />*On another note, I'm almost finished in Italy, to be honest, I'm eagerrly awaiting returning to Glasgow. Though the experience has been worthwhile but at times disappinting.McGuirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03095242258892600138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-65400690405349698272009-06-04T02:08:35.088+01:002009-06-04T02:08:35.088+01:00Jim - I know this correlation to your review is ra...Jim - I know this correlation to your review is rather tenuous but I felt somewhat similar in reading 'the name of the rose.' ego operor non narro latin, ego operor non agnosco latin tamen ego etiam utor libri. If you know what I mean. I still enjoyed the book. I enjoyed Eco's ambition in telling that story. I assumed that if it was important that I know all that latin, Eco would have translated it for the likes of me. He didn't so I read the words as if they were (and this is what I found neat about your review) I read the latin words as if they were written on staves of music. There to be enjoyed, if not necessarily understood. I assume that if I knew how to play Go that The Master of Go - which sounds fascinating - would be that much more interesting.<br /><br />Our local library (I just checked online) has a copy of the book and I've reserved it. I'll check back in once I've read it.<br /><br />In the meantime. . . spero cras est a bonus dies vobis. (Which looks sort of horrible but according to google translate means. . . I hope tomorrow is a good day for you)koe whitton-williamshttp://www.thehalflifeoflinoleum.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-90863721955767462072009-06-03T21:59:03.374+01:002009-06-03T21:59:03.374+01:00I return to this because I've been a Chess pla...I return to this because I've been a Chess player since I was a very young person and I think I showed some actual promise in my youth. But I had a fatal flaw - I could visualise quite long and complex series of developments but, in doing so, I often missed the blatantly obvious threat right under my nose. I think this is a metaphor for my entire life.<br /><br />Don't mind me, I think I may be using your blog to scribble notes for a future post. :)Ken Armstronghttp://kenwriting.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-14736385691853731732009-06-03T07:50:59.095+01:002009-06-03T07:50:59.095+01:00Glad you think I hit the nail on the head, Art. I ...Glad you think I hit the nail on the head, <b>Art</b>. I would read him again but I think I'm too old now for learning new games. I simply don't play them any more. I haven't even dealt a hand of cards in over twelve years.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-66800677889162512342009-06-02T23:43:46.160+01:002009-06-02T23:43:46.160+01:00I've read "Snow Country," and Kawabata's collectio...I've read "Snow Country," and Kawabata's collection of shorter stories. I think your assessment of his overall focus on what is being lost is accurate. There's always something nostalgic yet clear-eyed about Kawabata, as gorgeous as his descriptive passages can be. <br /><br />I've never really gotten into Go. (I was an Othello whiz once in life, though.) It's far more subtle and complex, in many ways, than chess; and would take many years to appreciate. It's been on peripheries of attention, because some Japanese texts on strategy, martial arts, and the samurai include Go among the games of strategy a warrior must know. I've read Musashi and Sun Tzu, and have heard some commentators on those texts mention Go; and chess, for that matter.<br /><br />But I think you're probably right: do those kinds of readers miss the story for the game?Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-62660191646690174182009-06-02T20:28:27.998+01:002009-06-02T20:28:27.998+01:00You would think so, wouldn't you, Ken? And I have ...You would think so, wouldn't you, <B>Ken</B>? And I have no doubt that an understanding of the intricacies of the game would help but it would also change the reader's focus. Go players do study the game in this book in detail but I wonder how much of the story is lost on them?Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-26763112095696754032009-06-02T19:45:36.971+01:002009-06-02T19:45:36.971+01:00Fascinating. The impression I get is that one wou...Fascinating. The impression I get is that one would need to know something of the game to appreciate the novel. Would you agree with that?Ken Armstronghttp://kenwriting.comnoreply@blogger.com