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The works contained in this volume include Shotaro's prize-winning novella and five short stories.
225 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 1992
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About the author
Shōtarō Yasuoka
25 books11 followersShōtarō Yasuoka (安岡 章太郎 Yasuoka Shōtarō?, May 30, 1920 – January 26, 2013) was a Japanese writer.
Yasuoka was born in pre-war Japan in Kōchi, Kōchi, but as the son of a veterinary corpsman in the Imperial Army, he spent most of his youth moving from one military post to another. In 1944, he was conscripted and served briefly overseas. After the war, he became ill with spinal caries, and it was "while he was bedridden with this disease that he began his writing career." Yasuoka died in his home at age 92 in Tokyo, Japan.
As an influential Japanese writer, Yasuoka's work has won him various prizes and awards. Notably, he received the Akutagawa Prize for Inki na tanoshimi (A Melancholy Pleasure, 1953) and Warui nakama (Bad Company, 1953); Kaihen no kōkei (A View by the Sea, 1959) won him the Noma Literary Prize; and his Maku ga orite kara (After the Curtain Fell, 1967) won the Mainichi Cultural Prize. He also received the Yomiuri Literary Prize for Hate mo nai dōchūki (The Never-ending Traveler's Journal, 1996); and the Osaragi Jirō Prize for Kagamigawa (The Kagami River, 2000).
A leading figure in post-war Japanese literature, in 2001 Yasuoka was recognized by the Japanese government as a Person of Cultural Merit.
(from Wikipedia)
Yasuoka was born in pre-war Japan in Kōchi, Kōchi, but as the son of a veterinary corpsman in the Imperial Army, he spent most of his youth moving from one military post to another. In 1944, he was conscripted and served briefly overseas. After the war, he became ill with spinal caries, and it was "while he was bedridden with this disease that he began his writing career." Yasuoka died in his home at age 92 in Tokyo, Japan.
As an influential Japanese writer, Yasuoka's work has won him various prizes and awards. Notably, he received the Akutagawa Prize for Inki na tanoshimi (A Melancholy Pleasure, 1953) and Warui nakama (Bad Company, 1953); Kaihen no kōkei (A View by the Sea, 1959) won him the Noma Literary Prize; and his Maku ga orite kara (After the Curtain Fell, 1967) won the Mainichi Cultural Prize. He also received the Yomiuri Literary Prize for Hate mo nai dōchūki (The Never-ending Traveler's Journal, 1996); and the Osaragi Jirō Prize for Kagamigawa (The Kagami River, 2000).
A leading figure in post-war Japanese literature, in 2001 Yasuoka was recognized by the Japanese government as a Person of Cultural Merit.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 13, 2013
This collection has much more to satisfy. In "A View by the Sea", the longest of his translated stories, Yasuoka brings the themes and ideas of much of the stand-out pieces in The Glass Slipper and Other Stories to an account of the death of his mentally-ill mother in a hospital in the Kochi sunshine. Outstanding stuff.
And it's Kochi! It opens: "Through the side window the water in the Bay of Kochi shone a flat leaden grey" and within a paragraph we're in a burakumin village, on our way to Katsurahama beach! Kochi gets me excited because I was there.
Do people plot novels on maps? I'd love to have a map of Japan on which I could see the characters of the books I've read moving around and, perhaps, moving closer together. For example, I remember that Sayonara and Thirst for Love happened along the same suburban railway line, a decade or so apart.
Anyway, "A View by the Sea": I think Royall Tyler must be a little gutted that Karen Wigen had already translated the juicier of Shotaro's works.
“Wondering why he should have to change his underwear for a picture, Juntaro took a closer look at the regulations. There it was: 'Attach two (2) 5” x 7” photographs, full body, unclothed.'”
“'Well, now, that's something we don't understand too well ourselves,” the doctor said, putting his hands on his hips and arching his back. 'One thing's for sure, this kind of case has multiplied since the war.'”
“He sensed in his father's stiffened back as he marched off in silence down the hall the sort of strength of one who, when a latecomer shoves into the front row, wordlessly shoves right back, and hard.”
“Father would just stammer and look around at nothing in particular, like a student who had forgotten his homework.”
And it's Kochi! It opens: "Through the side window the water in the Bay of Kochi shone a flat leaden grey" and within a paragraph we're in a burakumin village, on our way to Katsurahama beach! Kochi gets me excited because I was there.
Do people plot novels on maps? I'd love to have a map of Japan on which I could see the characters of the books I've read moving around and, perhaps, moving closer together. For example, I remember that Sayonara and Thirst for Love happened along the same suburban railway line, a decade or so apart.
Anyway, "A View by the Sea": I think Royall Tyler must be a little gutted that Karen Wigen had already translated the juicier of Shotaro's works.
“Wondering why he should have to change his underwear for a picture, Juntaro took a closer look at the regulations. There it was: 'Attach two (2) 5” x 7” photographs, full body, unclothed.'”
“'Well, now, that's something we don't understand too well ourselves,” the doctor said, putting his hands on his hips and arching his back. 'One thing's for sure, this kind of case has multiplied since the war.'”
“He sensed in his father's stiffened back as he marched off in silence down the hall the sort of strength of one who, when a latecomer shoves into the front row, wordlessly shoves right back, and hard.”
“Father would just stammer and look around at nothing in particular, like a student who had forgotten his homework.”
July 14, 2017
لقد ذكرتني الرواية مراراً برواية الغريب لألبير كامو، ربما لأنهما دراتا عن الأم لكن بشكل مخالف للمعتاد، رواية تمثل نوعاً سيرة للكاتب ويبدو أن هذا النوع من الكتابة شائع جداً لدى الروائيين اليابانيين.
تدور الرواية في زمنين، الماضي والحاضر في فصول متناوبة، تتحدث عن أم "شينتاروه" التي أودعت مصحة الأمراض العقلية بسبب مرضها بالجنون وكيف قضى البطل أخر أيامه بجانبها إلى أن ماتت لكنه لم يفعل ذلك بداعي الحب كسبب أول وإنما بداعي الواجب.
شرحت الرواية علاقة البطل بأمه وبأبيه، عموماً لم تتضمن الرواية شخصيات كثيرة وإن فعلت لم تتعمق معها كثيراً ربما لذلك شعرت أنها قليلة.
الرواية الجيدة، إنها الثالثة التي أقرأها من الأدب الياباني، وأشعر إني لم أعطها حقها من التركيز رغم أني قضيت وقتاً طويلاً حتى أنهيتها (جددت استعارة الكتاب ٣ مرات) مع عدم تجاوزها لل٢٢٥.
تدور الرواية في زمنين، الماضي والحاضر في فصول متناوبة، تتحدث عن أم "شينتاروه" التي أودعت مصحة الأمراض العقلية بسبب مرضها بالجنون وكيف قضى البطل أخر أيامه بجانبها إلى أن ماتت لكنه لم يفعل ذلك بداعي الحب كسبب أول وإنما بداعي الواجب.
شرحت الرواية علاقة البطل بأمه وبأبيه، عموماً لم تتضمن الرواية شخصيات كثيرة وإن فعلت لم تتعمق معها كثيراً ربما لذلك شعرت أنها قليلة.
الرواية الجيدة، إنها الثالثة التي أقرأها من الأدب الياباني، وأشعر إني لم أعطها حقها من التركيز رغم أني قضيت وقتاً طويلاً حتى أنهيتها (جددت استعارة الكتاب ٣ مرات) مع عدم تجاوزها لل٢٢٥.
April 7, 2024
It's strange reading this book after reading the other translated volume of the author's work, and I imagine it would be strange the other way too. I am talking about the title story. It includes parts almost verbatim from the story the Sword Swallower in the Glass Slipper and Other Stories. It felt as though the author, who could make so much of his biography, had run out of material. Especially because I thought the reused scenes worked much better in the other story and were even sometimes out of place here.
This story is unique in both books for it's near absence of comedy. In his other stories the author can keep an emotional distance from the material, but when dealing with the death, and illness -- madness --, of his mother he can no longer do that. Since that distance had allowed him to describe so clearly his neuroses -- such that he could show their resonances in the environment -- I am not sure if this change is entirely satisfactory.
However, the story has undeniable reality and power.
This story is unique in both books for it's near absence of comedy. In his other stories the author can keep an emotional distance from the material, but when dealing with the death, and illness -- madness --, of his mother he can no longer do that. Since that distance had allowed him to describe so clearly his neuroses -- such that he could show their resonances in the environment -- I am not sure if this change is entirely satisfactory.
However, the story has undeniable reality and power.
June 22, 2022
This novella of 90+ pages depicts the perspective of a son Shintaro who spends 9 days at the bedside of his dying mother in a small rural psychiatric hospital. It is an example of what is called Japanese ‘I fiction:’ a sparse, direct, possibly semi autobiographical prose in which this character and his troubled relationship with his parents are depicted through his thoughts and feelings. Flashbacks skillfully interwoven into the storyline provide some significant context to explain how things had evolved in this small family in the years leading up to these 9 days.
Three other elements in the story serve to underscore Shintaro’s sense of alienation from, including at times his loathing for, his parents. First, the extent to which military veterans and their family members struggled to build a life for themselves in post World War II Japan was portrayed. Governmental corruption meant that social services to assist these families were practically nonexistent in those days. And extended family was unable or unwilling to provide any support because they were barely surviving themselves.
Second, the hospital’s well meaning but overwhelmed staff did little to lessen Shintaro’s distress over being there.
Finally, the sights, sounds, and even smells of the circumstances depicted in A View were described in ways which intensified the story. A warning: some of these were almost graphic in nature.
This is an impressive piece of fiction. Additionally, it is powerful commentary on the tremendous pressures which filial piety can put on a young man trying to find his own way in post WWII Japan. I would recommend it with two provisos. First, it would help to have a foundation of knowledge about Japanese culture and society. Second, the subject matter is intense.
Three other elements in the story serve to underscore Shintaro’s sense of alienation from, including at times his loathing for, his parents. First, the extent to which military veterans and their family members struggled to build a life for themselves in post World War II Japan was portrayed. Governmental corruption meant that social services to assist these families were practically nonexistent in those days. And extended family was unable or unwilling to provide any support because they were barely surviving themselves.
Second, the hospital’s well meaning but overwhelmed staff did little to lessen Shintaro’s distress over being there.
Finally, the sights, sounds, and even smells of the circumstances depicted in A View were described in ways which intensified the story. A warning: some of these were almost graphic in nature.
This is an impressive piece of fiction. Additionally, it is powerful commentary on the tremendous pressures which filial piety can put on a young man trying to find his own way in post WWII Japan. I would recommend it with two provisos. First, it would help to have a foundation of knowledge about Japanese culture and society. Second, the subject matter is intense.
March 13, 2016
Short story collections are hard to rate. This one was very uneven.
The First story was vivid and great. The middle four were ok and quite forgettable.
The last, longest, and title story was disturbing in a good way. Initially it seemed like a simple story about family, but somehow a horrific dread [partly the heavy shadow of world war two] began to seep into everything until by the end it felt like a horror story.
I felt like I missed a lot in the final story [partly cultural], but it got under my skin and did work in my unconscious. Something good literature can do…….disturb us out of our comfort zones.
The First story was vivid and great. The middle four were ok and quite forgettable.
The last, longest, and title story was disturbing in a good way. Initially it seemed like a simple story about family, but somehow a horrific dread [partly the heavy shadow of world war two] began to seep into everything until by the end it felt like a horror story.
I felt like I missed a lot in the final story [partly cultural], but it got under my skin and did work in my unconscious. Something good literature can do…….disturb us out of our comfort zones.
February 24, 2016
The short stories here are all very good, but the titular novella is not just one of the greatest Japanese works I've read, it's simply one of the greatest. It's a unique 'I-novel' with a third-person perspective, and for the first time I encountered filial piety, something I've never been able to understand, being examined, deconstructed, questioned. It's a tough thing to read, and it packs a massive emotional punch.
November 27, 2011
الرواية كلها عبارة عن وصف ، أظن لو كنت تعمقت ف كل جزء فيها بالشكل المطلوب كنت هاستمتع بيها أكتر ، مظنش إني هاقراها قريب بس ميمنعش إني ممكن اقراها تاني
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews