Miyazakiworld

A Life in Art

By: Susan Napier

Narrated by: Susan Napier

The story of filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki's life and work, including his significant impact on Japan and the world

A thirtieth-century toxic jungle, a bathhouse for tired gods, a red haired fish girl, and a furry woodland spirit - what do these have in common? They all spring from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki, one of the greatest living animators, known worldwide for films such as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and The Wind Rises.

Japanese culture and animation scholar Susan Napier explores the life and art of this extraordinary Japanese filmmaker to provide a definitive account of his oeuvre. Napier insightfully illuminates the multiple themes crisscrossing his work, from empowered women to environmental nightmares to utopian dreams, creating an unforgettable portrait of a man whose art challenged Hollywood dominance and ushered in a new chapter of global popular culture.

©2018 Susan Napier (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Repetitive and not that biographical

I was hoping to read a biography, especially cause author says that there’s next to none written about Miyazaki, instead we’ve got a book long film-review with speculations about the artistic choices. Moreover, the same theories were repeated throughout the entire book in every review. I hoped that the works of the great animator were going to be a mere chronological framework to structure the narrative about his life, but we barely heard a few words about his children or wife, or life in general. In that regard, it was a disappointment.

Inspiring and insightful

Constantly left me feeling and thinking long after I paused listening. Part history/background to the movies, part philosophy.

If you love his movies, please listen to this book

A marvelous historical and cultural context for his work, jargon-free, one chapter per film. If you have ever wondered about the contrast between the gorgeous visuals and the complicated and often contradictory elements of his plots you'll find much illumination here. I own all of his films, rewatched many times and I thought I knew them, but the experience of watching them yet again will be much the richer for Napier's insights.

I love Miyazaki's work

...and I thought this description and analysis of his work was very interesting although I may not have agreed with everything! It gave me more insight into Miyazaki's life and his thought process during the making of his very famous and amazing movies. It's a quite nice listening if you are interested in them and love Studio Ghibli.

Surprising and Delughtful

I was not sure what to expect from this book, but I really love Miyazaki and the films from Studio Ghibli. This gave enough background to really be interesting but also tied in elements and timelines based on the movies so it was really easy to follow and added so much to the movies.