At first I thought this book would be a standard nonfiction book - it’s formatted a bit differently as it is a collection of short essays about books, movies, and manga that Hideo Kojima likes, and what he was thinking and doing at the time of reading or watching each work.
After reading this book, I decided to buy 8 issues of 2001. I didn’t know anything about this comic until reading The Creative Gene, and I want to read at least a few of the books mentioned here, so I figured the comics would be a good place to start. The Creative Gene will probably work in the same way for most readers - you’ll see books and movies that you recognize and books you’ve never heard about, and some of them you’ll want to check out.
I have a theory that the most exciting people we meet in life open doors to other books, movies, and comics. In a way, this book opened the door to other books for me.
Many of the Japanese book titles were brand new to me or I had never heard of them, which makes sense, and I appreciated learning more about them. I wasn’t sure if these titles were as obscure in Japan as they are to an American, or more popular in Japan than I realize.
Still, the book contains many titles for a worldwide audience to appreciate - references to Stephen King, Columbo, Taxi Driver - all of these show up in this book of books.
What was also fun to learn about in this book was Kojima’s reading style. It turns out he goes to a bookstore every single day. It sounds like for the most part, Kojima goes into the bookstores without looking for anything specific, and he comes out of the bookstores with a book each time, something he didn’t know he would be getting.
Near the end of the book, Kojima goes into some TV shows he really liked and mentions how the commentators made the shows relatable and special. He talks a bit about how critics and commentators are different. It’s easy to see Kojima as a commentator, not a critic, in The Creative Gene.
In all, I liked this book a lot and it was a new concept for me, a “book of books”. I wish more creative people made books like this. It’s a fun and insightful window into the world of Kojima’s influences.