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Godzilla and Godzilla raids again / Shigeru Kayama ; translated and with an afterword by Jeffrey Angles.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextLanguage: English Original language: Japanese Publisher: Minneapolis : University of Minnesota, [2023]Copyright date: ©2023Description: vii, 233 pages ; 21 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781517915230
  • 1517915236
Contained works:
  • Kayama, Shigeru, 1909-1975. Gojira. English
  • Kayama, Shigeru, 1909-1975. Gojira no gyakushū. English
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Note on Japanese names -- Godzilla: Godzilla in Tokyo. A strange bright light from the ocean floor ; The Kaiju of Ō̄̄do Island ; The eerie island of Ōdo ; Godzilla appears ; The mysterious trilobite ; The underground laboratory ; We mustn't kill ; The Tokyo Godzilla Society ; Godzilla attacks the metropolitan center ; The oxygen destroyer ; Prayer for peace -- Godzilla Raids Again: Godzilla in Osaka. Flight over the ocean ; Two Kaiju ; Professor Yamane ; Godzilla approaches ; Crowds of evacuees ; The escaped prisoners ; Godzilla makes landfall ; Anguirus ; The Hokkaido branch ; The far north ; Celebrating the big catch ; Godzilla appears in the northern seas ; Kobayashi's plane meets its end ; Nature's victory song -- Afterword: translating an icon / Jeffrey Angles -- Glossary of names, places, and ideas.
Summary: "Awakened and transformed by nuclear weapons testing, Godzilla serves as a terrifying metaphor for humanity's shortsighted destructiveness: this was the intent of Shigeru Kayama, the science fiction writer who drafted the 1954 original film and its first sequel and, in 1955, published these novellas. This book finally provides the first-ever English-language translations of Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again, revealing valuable insights into Kayama's vision for the Godzilla story."-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Science Fiction/Fantasy New KAYAMA, SHIGERU Available 33111011220130
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The first English translations of the original novellas about the iconic kaijū Godzilla

Godzilla emerged from the sea to devastate Tokyo in the now-classic 1954 film, produced by Tōhō Studios and directed by Ishirō Honda, creating a global sensation and launching one of the world's most successful movie and media franchises. Awakened and transformed by nuclear weapons testing, Godzilla serves as a terrifying metaphor for humanity's shortsighted destructiveness: this was the intent of Shigeru Kayama, the science fiction writer who drafted the 1954 original film and its first sequel and, in 1955, published these novellas.

Although the Godzilla films have been analyzed in detail by cultural historians, film scholars, and generations of fans, Kayama's two Godzilla novellas--both classics of Japanese young-adult science fiction--have never been available in English. This book finally provides English-speaking fans and critics the original texts with these first-ever English-language translations of Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again . The novellas reveal valuable insights into Kayama's vision for the Godzilla story, feature plots that differ from the films, and clearly display the author's strong antinuclear, proenvironmental convictions.

Kayama's fiction depicts Godzilla as engaging in guerrilla-style warfare against humanity, which has allowed the destruction of the natural world through its irresponsible, immoral perversion of science. As human activity continues to cause mass extinctions and rapid climatic change, Godzilla provides a fable for the Anthropocene, powerfully reminding us that nature will fight back against humanity's onslaught in unpredictable and devastating ways.

Retail e-book files for this title are screen-reader friendly.

Both novellas were published by Shimamura Shuppan, Ltd. in a single volume in 1955 as Gojira and Gojira no gyakushū.

Includes bibliographical references.

Note on Japanese names -- Godzilla: Godzilla in Tokyo. A strange bright light from the ocean floor ; The Kaiju of Ō̄̄do Island ; The eerie island of Ōdo ; Godzilla appears ; The mysterious trilobite ; The underground laboratory ; We mustn't kill ; The Tokyo Godzilla Society ; Godzilla attacks the metropolitan center ; The oxygen destroyer ; Prayer for peace -- Godzilla Raids Again: Godzilla in Osaka. Flight over the ocean ; Two Kaiju ; Professor Yamane ; Godzilla approaches ; Crowds of evacuees ; The escaped prisoners ; Godzilla makes landfall ; Anguirus ; The Hokkaido branch ; The far north ; Celebrating the big catch ; Godzilla appears in the northern seas ; Kobayashi's plane meets its end ; Nature's victory song -- Afterword: translating an icon / Jeffrey Angles -- Glossary of names, places, and ideas.

"Awakened and transformed by nuclear weapons testing, Godzilla serves as a terrifying metaphor for humanity's shortsighted destructiveness: this was the intent of Shigeru Kayama, the science fiction writer who drafted the 1954 original film and its first sequel and, in 1955, published these novellas. This book finally provides the first-ever English-language translations of Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again, revealing valuable insights into Kayama's vision for the Godzilla story."-- Provided by publisher.

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