Shion Miura 三浦 しをん, “The Great Passage: A Novel”, 舟を編む, (Fune o Amu), Juliet Winters-Carpenter (translator), 2013 was a novel of lexicon-fiction. The protagonist is “Lexicographer”, who is working for a publisher on a “dictionary”.
Lexicographer is a “word-nerd”, and has no dating experience. Lexicographer meets a Japanese “Kaiseki chef” (haute cuisine) female chef. They are polar opposites, Kaiseki is a male-dominated cuisine, and a female chef is unheard of. Lexicographer is wimpy also eyeglasses bespectacled, and completely unable to speak to women. The satirical nature of the pair: Lexicographer & female Kaiseki chef sets up the humor of this romantic, lexicon-fiction. Lexicographer, however is determined, and capable on the dictionary until its published. Lexicographer had to marry female Kaiseki chef to realize his potential in publishing.
Shion Miura 三浦 しをん, “The Great Passage”, 2013 was adapted as a screenplay that was the Japanese entry for “Oscar” of “Best Foreign Film” by the Academy of Motion Pictures”.
