Sunday, June 7, 2009

Train Man by Nakano Hitori

Title
Train Man
Author
Nakano Hitori
Translated By
Bonnie Elliot
Publisher
Robinson
Price
RM48.00
Rating
4/5

This is not an ordinary book.
1. It may seem like fiction but it is really NON-FICTION.
2. The ending is not planned but it just happen.
3. Filled with forum threads. Lot of ASCII emoticons. :)

The started when a geek a.k.a. Train Man saved a girl from a pervert in a train. This led to a set of Hermes teacups as a thank you gift. Which then led to a thank-you-for-the-thank-you-gift dinner. What sets this story apart is that Train Man sought for help from an online forum.

With the help of the forum members, Train Man called Ms. Hermes. One date led to another and another and another. Train Main transformed from a geeky guy to a boyfriend-type. The forum members helped him from clothes to dinner place. Some helped to do research about stuff that went on between Train Man and Ms. Hermes just to keep Train Man prepared everytime he has a date.

When they are officially a couple, Train Man showed Ms. Hermes where his friends are. She was touched of course and said he tried too hard. :)

Amazing World Wide Web I would say. The real identity of Train Man and his girlfriend remains undisclosed until today to protect their privacy. This book was an international bestseller when it was published. It didn't just stop there. The story was also made into manga and movie.

It was a little different reading this book in the begining but as one gets into the story, it is actually nicely presented. :) Click here to visit Train Man The Movie site or to read another review on Train Man by another blogger, click here. The real threads where this book came from still exists and it now has a translated version but I can't seem to find it.

p/s: Yeay!!!I finally get to read this book til the end. *phew!* Lovely to finally have some time to indulge in reading. =) This is my second japanese translated book I've read. The first one is Totto-Chan. If any of you happen to know any good translated ones, feel free to recommend.

2 comments:

kohping said...

i cant say this book is non-fiction though...
i've read the comic, and watched both the movie and drama.
the whole scene of the train man and the girl was an experiment done on online forum. they were expecting response from real ppl on such situation. so i call this book a half-fiction :P

netherless, the story line and the whole plot was brilliant :D

Titi Wangsa said...

for some reason, there are more geeks at LRT stations now.

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