A Dark Night's Passing

by Naoya Shiga, Edwin McClelland (Translator)

Errances dans la nuit est le roman unique de Shiga Naoya (1885-1971), contemporain de Tanizaki Jun.ichiro désormais bien connu en Occident. L'oeuvre de Shiga Naoya, elle, très resserrée et, en un sens, plus discrète et confidentielle, illustre à la perfection la conception individualiste du récit dit "récit du Je" (Shi.shôsetsu), prônée en particulier par le groupe Shirakaba (Le Bouleau) en réaction contre les excès d'un certain "naturalisme". Soutenues par un style d'une inimitable pureté, à la fois simple et concis, des nouvelles fort nombreuses assuraient déjà à l'auteur une place prépondérante dans l'histoire littéraire du Japon ; mais lui-même considérait comme son oeuvre dominante ce roman unique, d'élaboration lente et publié en deux fois - en 1921 et 1937. Malgré l'affleurement inévitable, ici et là, d'événements personnels vécus, Errances dans la nuit n'est aucunement un roman autobiographique, et l'auteur insistait beaucoup là-dessus. S'y déroulent au ralenti, image après image, comme sur une peinture en rouleau, le drame douloureux et les soubresauts d'un jeune romancier dont la vie d'homme et d'artiste se trouve déchirée par deux crises successives d'où il émerge difficilement et cruellement éprouvé. "L'une des grandes oeuvres du demi-siècle", selon René Sieffert.

Genres: Japan, Japanese Literature, Fiction, Literature, Classics, Novels, Asia

408 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Naoya Shiga (志賀 直哉) was a Japanese novelist and short story writer active during the Taishō and Showa periods of Japan.

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shiga Naoya "dismissed Mishima's fiction as all 'fantasy' with little 'sense of reality.' (Shiga was another writer Mishima admired who did not reciprocate his sentiments.)"
(Persona: A Biography of Yukio Mishima)

There's certainly a sense of reality to "A Dark Night's Passing"; it's a detailed account of an unhappy young writer's experiences in pre-war Japan. There's no trouble with money, luckily for him. The focus is his personal relationships, his work, and how he feels about himself and his life.

Touching, very sad, nice visits to various parts of Japan (Takamatsu and Matsuyama, Shikoku fans!) ... and not much that's magical. I wouldn't go for another of his novels ... even if he'd written one ... but I will look out for his short stories.



"This isn't the best time of year for tempura. It's always wise not to take chances between seasons."

"Kensaku remembered the legend so often told: a girl, in love with a young man living on another island, swam every night from her island to his, guided by a beacon; the young man then ceased to love her, and one stormy night blew out the light and let her drown."

"They were in a dark alley. Suematsu stopped, faced the wall and began urinating. Just then a young man wearing a felt hat low over his eyes walked past him. 'Forgive me,' Suematsu said solemnly. The young man walked on, ignoring the apology. 'Idiot!' shouted Suematsu. 'How dare you not answer when someone speaks to you!' And as soon as he had finished urinating, he began running after the young man, ... Kensaku stood in the middle of the narrow alley, his arms stretched out, and blocked his friend. The young man quickly disappeared around the corner.
'Let me have a good fight, please,' said Suematsu, his breath reeking of alcohol."

[Nicky Neko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok. So this might not be for everyone, but I think it might just have made it into my favourite novels ever list. I loved it.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

i'm not going to say that this was my favorite book by any means. having said that, i have nothing but respect for the author. i can appreciate that this is a very influential novel in terms of style and candor. without it, we might not have the other great writers of japanese nostalgia, etc. great. SPOILER ALERT, btw.

if i were around when this was published, i'd propose to the author (if i may be so bold) that he should name each of the four sections of the book. part one: kensaku as snob. part two: kensaku as bitch. part three: kensaku as sap. part four: kensaku as complete a**hole.

i hope i'm not the only one that saw kensaku as an antihero throughout the entire book. he acts like such a baby, is completely socially awkward and ridiculous. in this, he's like a japanese larry david, except not nearly as funny. ok, he's nothing like larry david.

i was also under the impression that shiga used the text as a soapbox for his own criticisms on various art, some of which are based on uneducated misunderstandings of the artistic medium in which he criticized. par example, he poo-poos schubert's erlkönig, and then, in the same breath, goethe. 'oh, but maeterlinck knows how to treat death because he's belgian (read: french), and, since i'm japanese, germanic art is meaningless and shallow.' we can't see through you, shiga؟

ok, so part four. kensaku develops into this beast of a character, like the social bull in a china shop. he and naoko (she's so weak-willed - they're perfect together) have a baby together - naonori. that's a sick name, btw. the thing dies a bit later, so naturally there's going to be this sadness. but kensaku is one step ahead of you. he's so charming that he bitches his wife out: 'srsly?! ur crying? stfu! who cares about the bebe? that's so last week. oei needs help, so i'm gonna peace out for a bit but i'll bbl. k thx baii! nevermind that ur my wife and i'm supposed to support you. wait, support, what's that? i didn't have a real dad (sad face)' and then naoko is like 'well, alright, you're right. k bye ima cheat on u but don't be hatin'.' so then he gets back and he's like 'no, that's cool u cheated. no big. but ima push u from the train and u'll be lights out for a bit, but then i'll take off so u finally don't have to deal with me for a year, wait, six months. might come back in three. we'll see. anyway ima go again. don't cheat k thx bai.' then he goes out hiking and gets all owwy and naoko rushes to his side cuz he's got cholera but only maybe. are we supposed to feel sorry for him? hope not cuz i don't. and i won't. and neither will you if you read it. i get the impression that shiga is genuinely trying to get the reader to be on kensaku's side the whole time, but knows it's a totally uphill battle and that we're all in the same sinking ship.

part of me wants to label this book under fantasy literature because there's such a strong connection with one of the particular conventions of 'fat-girl fantasy' - i.e. that the characters surrounding the main character will still be friends with, go out of their way for, and/or pine over someone who is a) completely boring, b) a complete imbecile, c) a shallow loser, and/or d) a completely aimless freak with no social skills. (cf. heralds of valdemar trilogy by mercedes lackey and the twlight series by stephanie meyer)

3½ stars because, despite the rants, i actually did really enjoy the book. (i think the book is meant to bring out this type of discourse - this is in fact exactly what makes it 'good'.)

ps does anyone else see the irony in that he's staying at a buddhist temple at the end and got IM-bombed by karma? (ah, the days of IM...now that's real nostalgia!)

[David Haws · Rating 5 out of 5]

私小説 is a kind of literary anthropology (probably not my favorite genre) but the quality of the writing here is really remarkable—every bit as good as what he maintained in his short stories (no mean feat). I would probably be less interested if I didn’t find pre-War Japanese culture so fascinating, and I feel saddened that Shiga’s didn’t produce more. But then, Austen didn’t produce much either and, I’m sure, would have produced even less if she were using Shiga’s form. Shiga’s writing, in terms of its relentless realism, reminds me of Raymond Carver.

[Smiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2012 I first knew Naoya Shiga from reading his two short stories “Han’s Crime” and “At Kinosaki” in Donald Keene’s “Modern Japanese Literature” (Tuttle 1972) in which I reasonably enjoyed. Some three years later, I came across this lengthy novel and then I was not sure if I should read it; however, I decided to buy it due to his brief biography and some commendation at the back cover. This is his longest novel so I kept reading and found its first two parts a bit boring, probably he has written to set the scene due to the complex background of the protagonist, Kensaku, in terms of his illicit birth, a remarkably unimaginable, bold plot that would shatter its readers’ concept of ethics and thus we couldn’t help feeling helplessly agonized from reading this excerpt:

Why had his mother done such a thing? Because of what she did he was conceived. He understood that he owed his existence to that act alone, that the two things were inseparable. Yet he could not accept what his mother had done. His mother and that shoddy, common, worthless old man – the mere thought of the association was ugly and unclean.
He was then suddenly filled with overwhelming pity for this mother, his mother who had been defiled by that man. “Mama!” he cried out, like a boy about to throw himself into his mother’s arms. (p. 146)

Psychologically, there are some rounds of intermitten nagging words between him and his wife, Naoko, till he has to find some means for a retreat somewhere. It's not fair to prefer one side to the other (or the other way round), since it is definitively one of the most difficult cases in many countries; for instance:

It was high time, he came to feel, that he started visiting ancient temples and shrines again, seeing ancient works of art. It was late autumn now, a particularly beautiful time. And slowly, as he began to go on pilgrimages – sometimes he would be away for several days visiting such places as Koyasan and Muroji – his state of mind improved. (p. 348)

Optimistically, we could enjoy reading this seemingly complex novel for better understanding on a Japanese family of Kensaku and Naoko, as well as their ways of life, conflicts, solutions and so on.

[Harajyuku · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tokitou Kensaku is inconstant and inconsistent, suspicious, sensitive, judgmental, and prone to fantasy and taking on airs. He undeniably rings true as an authentic human being. I liked particularly (and perversely) the parts where he would start reading a book and then get tired of it, or when he would privately insist on holding on to his first impression of something/someone/someplace.

This book started as a firm 3 stars - because it was charming, somehow - but by the end of Part III catapulted into 4-star territory. Skillful and very real.

[M.R. Dowsing · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this, though I'm not sure exactly why! I got through it quickly and easily as the writing style was not difficult at all and somehow the story interested me. It's a semi-autobiographical novel about Kensaku, a writer struggling with his inner demons. At the beginning of the book, he is unaware that the circumstances of his birth were abnormal, but he senses that people in his family treat him differently to others, and this has left him with a deep-seated feeling of insecurity. The book tells of his attempts to overcome this and the setbacks he encounters along the way.

Kensaku is clearly a self-portrait by the author, although many aspects of the story apparently do not match the facts of Shiga's life. It's a rather self-indulgent, navel-gazing work in a way, and Kensaku - a writer who seems to do very little writing and appears to have enough income not to worry about money - is not an especially nice person. It's to Shiga's credit, then, that he manages to sustain interest in such a character to the end of what is quite a long novel.

I'm not quite sure it's the masterpiece that some have claimed. The style is very readable but unremarkable, though it may have lost something in translation, of course. I sometimes had the feeling that the translator had made it a bit too English in a way - 'geta' are translated as 'clogs' for example, but are not quite the same thing.

In content, its closest Western equivalent may be the novels of Thomas Wolfe, the American writer of the 1930s, although the style is entirely different.

Not for everyone, then, but I'd certainly recommend it to anyone interested in Japanese literature, and I'm intrigued enough by Shiga - whose only novel this is - to want to check out his short stories soon.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are displays of numerous strikingly beautiful images of a now, sadly, lost era and the novel has moments of genuine poignance that made me reflect on my own life. The main character is my age and the troubles he goes through are very relatable. I did not want the novel to end because I was so attached to him by the end. Sadly, it does and the ending is quite abrupt.

But most of the time, the novel is struggling through half defined (but excellent) characters, unresolved plotlines (snapshots) and commitment to a level of realism that hurts the "story". There is no real central story. It's very episodic.

I liked the characters but considering everything in this novel is filtered through the writer's perspective and (minor spoiler) the whole thing is an autobiography and there is evidence for this in the text itself. This definitely made the abrupt ending more bearable. Some might prefer the non conclusive ending but I liked knowing this character I like so much makes it out alive.

The translation is well done but japanese doesn't translate very well to English. That inevitably causes it to read poorly when compared to translations of French or Spanish novels. But you don't read this for the prose. You read it for the characters and the especially the main character. Like I said before, despite the translation, the actual images are beautiful and not at all cliché. I liked this very much.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

It grieves me to give this novel a mediocre review, as Shiga remains one of my all-time favorite writers of short fiction. DARK proves to be an example of worst-case scenario in the "I novel" genre: a protracted showcase of the mundane and demoralizing in everyday existence. Nothing I would call enlightening in either the scenarios or the language -- just 400 pages of personal problems that the author primarily brings upon himself. The translator is A-list, so Shiga has to take responsibility for this one.

[Dalibor Komorebi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feeling about this novel. Acrossed the book I found myself often bored by the story not progressing and long descriptions of "walking around". BUT when the story got strong, it got INSANELY good. The blood connections in the Kensaku´s family are insane, his relationships are very... interesting... Poor guy. And the train scene got me. But what really is gonna stay with me is the ending. I got so upset I threw the book away from me right after finishing it. Never happened to me before. Still not sure I like the open ending, but I am certain I will never forget it. It got the emotions out of me and that is a sign of a good book. And the English translation is phenomenal!

Quotes that caught my attention:
*
(...) He looked at the young nurse, who bowed silently, and asked her in a low voice, "How was it?"
"It was a comfortable delivery."
------------ LIAR!!! Comfortable, really? :D

*
(...) "Would you like some tea, or would you prefer water?"
"Water, please."
"Shall I put some sugar in it?"
"That would be very good."
------------ And very healthy I am sure :D

[Books on Asia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came upon the author while walking the Path of Literature in Onomichi, Japan where Naoya Shiga lived for two years. His house has been made into a museum and upon visiting the house, I became interested in the author, in particular this novel because part of the book takes place in Onomichi. Kyoto and Daisen (Tottori Prefecture) also figure prominently. Shiga is an excellent writer and it's a shame he didn't produce more work during his lifetime. In fact, this is his major work, although he was also known for his short stories. His intricate plots and his portrayal of human emotions are his greatest story-telling attributes.

[Carlos · Rating 2 out of 5]

I came to this novel after reading Shiga’s short story “Han's crime” in the collection “Modern Japanese Short Stories” by the Japan Quarterly Editorial Board. I was impressed with how he handled the tensions in the marriage at the heart of the story. While this novel did not have the same impact, it still had moments were that incisive exposition of human motivation and folly shined through. These moments of clarity helped to keep the reader going through a novel that probably could have benefited from a narrowed focus. Nonetheless the reading experience is improved somewhat by the detail with which Shiga is able to bring to life the Japan of the early 20th century.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

Was kinda wavering back and forth between this and three stars. I think ultimately while there were lines and scenes I liked, I just wasn't particularly interested in the main character, and that ended up making the whole thing feel a bit too protracted. Maybe I'd be a bit kinder on it if the book wasn't 400+ pages long.

[Morris Yen · Rating 4 out of 5]

雖然是說沒有技巧的技巧，不過真的太平舖直敘了，讓我無法切實地感受到這部作品所創造類似悲劇性的氛圍。

[Pieter Kranenborg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Het komt niet vaak voor dat ik het jammer vind als een boek uit is. De stijl, de sfeer, het moreel ambigue hoofdpersonage, ik kreeg er geen genoeg van.

[Ad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shiga's only novel is one of the great classics of 20th century Japanese literature. The "long night" of the title stands for the protracted passage of the narrator (Kensaku) through a sequence of disturbing experiences into a hard-won truce with destructive forces within himself.

The story follows the life of a wealthy, young Japanese writer in the early 1900s, who faces and survives two crises. The first of these is when his attempts to get married are repeatedly thwarted. He discovers from his elder brother that he is unacceptable to potential brides and their families because he was born as the result of an affair between his mother and her father-in-law (his grandfather). Kensaku was in fact raised by the grandfather, who is now deceased, and still lives in the grandfather's house with Oei, a woman who used to be the mistress of the grandfather. Kensaku next proposes marriage to Oei (for whom he harbors secret feelings) but she refuses him as considering the existing relations, marriage between them would be bizarre.

Kensaku eventually succeeds in finding a bride (Naoko) only to face his second crisis: her infidelity, when she takes a young man who is a friend of the family as her lover in his absence. Superficially, the narrator shows no dramatic reaction to these events. He draws away from his "father," indulges in a round of dissolution in the Yoshiwara and cafe bars, goes traveling alone to Onomichi and Kyoto, and so on. He does, however, experience great psychological agitation.

Finally, during a trip to a temple on Mt Daisen in Tottori, he is able to recapture a sense of harmony with the world trough a strange and wonderful experience of feeling at one with nature, which leads him at last to redemption. Only by seeking unity with the natural world and subjecting oneself to its laws can one achieve a perspective which will enable one to combat the problems of one's life and gain peace of mind. (This ending resembles that of Natsume Soseki's The Wayfarer). But Shiga in the last few pages pulls the rug from under this ending: the narrator suddenly falls seriously ill, he may not survive, even his wife is called from Kyoto to be near him. So the novel ends in irony and ambiguity...

[Natasha Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

It actually starts off okay, with the first chapter, ‘written’ by the protagonist, reminding me very strongly of No Longer Human. Pretty soon the tedious descriptions of the minutiae of the protagonist’s life got extremely boring, and I was tempted to not finish the book. He just meandered from one place to another like a jobless loser, simping for Oei. After his marriage, though, atleast plot-wise, the book picks up considerably. You find yourself sharing in his happiness, and the central conflict in Part III is virtually identical to No Longer Human (I was very surprised to find that this book precedes that one by a lot). This protagonist is far-more self-willed, however, and I actually found his behavior towards his wife and children (rip) very endearing. Some parts of the book about guilt and confessions have vaguely feminist undertones as well, particularly given the time in which it was written. I was waiting for something horrible to happen so I don’t mind the ambiguous ending so much. I think the second half of the book is definitely better than the first.

[Devin Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an entirely beautiful book. During certain sections I was surprised to find myself thinking that this was one of the best certainly most emotionally resonant books I'd ever read.
Shiga is so unyieldingly honest with his thoughts and feelings that I doubt anyone could withstand being swept up in the heartbreaking moments that this book is so wrapped up in. His treatment of the experience of a young man struggling as a writer is at times uncannily similar to the ways in which I am trying to approach the subject in my own work. At other times it is vastly different, but it always feels true and moving.
My only reservations about the book is the language itself which can be quite stodgy at times, though I have a feeling this could be in large part because I read it in the translation, which is 50 years old at this point. Shiga doesn't strike me at all as the kind of writer who was overly caught up in the tricks of the trade as it were however. His writing has a sort of purity, unblemished by wordplay, tricky constructions, or subversions which are all things I normally like, but in this case would have cheapened the experience I think.

[L.S. Popovich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Naoya Shiga's only novel is a well-regarded classic of Japanese literature. The book is broken into four parts of around 20 chapters each. It is an episodic account of a young man's relatively uneven life in early Twentieth Century Japan.
If you have read books with a similar set-up to this one, you will likely find less to surprise you here and more to remind you of the familiar struggles and concerns of young Japanese. The latter half of the book was very effective, I thought, at encapsulating the bitter resentment the main character had built up through his own interactions through the preceding years.
The medical passages are very engaging to read, in a way reminiscent of Natsume Soseki, when he is describing the agonies of illness, both physical and mental. The main character's relationships with women characters reminded me of Kazuo Ozaki's stories. Yet, I would not call this book light-hearted. There are two notable, and surreal dream sequences, and various meditations on every page. It is, overall, a very somber book, but good food for thought, and something to read slowly, allowing you to savor the bittersweet longing awaiting us all in life.

[Blake Griggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

The quality of the limpid introspection and the relaxed and indeterminate narration became so soothing once I settled into it. Shiga’s capacity to punctuate restlessly mundane events with a prosaic observation or rejoinder and have that somehow sit on your chest with the weight of its entire world until you began reading again was what won me out. A book felt more when you step away from it. That ending is a well of feeling I can return to anytime.

[Angela Randall]

Found this book on a list of 20 essential works of Japanese literature. Made this list in Goodreads here.

[Marilenoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book I read when I was 12 years old. I just re-read it and realized how much I missed the detailed messages of the plots.

[Tocotin · Rating 3 out of 5]

前篇の方がよかったが、今考えて見ると全体的にいい小説だと思う。主人公は苛々することが多かったが、心理的な面から理解のできる人物なので好き嫌いは別として彼の様々な反応について読むことが面白かった。
吉原と芸者の話がもっとあってほしかったが、旅行の描写もよかった、特に最後のお寺のところが好きだった。

[Hilda Ellis-Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe not his finest work, but still readable.

[Fabio Saldanha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me senti a gif da Nazaré tentando terminar esse livro.

[dudu · Rating 4 out of 5]

我大概有点明白zhzz为什么和tzz互相不对付了。前者总是认为后者顾影自怜颇为小气，后者觉得前者是踩着其他人的脸面写书却事不关己高高挂起。

[Alex Akesson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really want to re-read this!

[Tim Dodson]

Really interesting. Found it in a unique book store, and it looks like it was the Authors only significant work. Sort of a waste of time, but it helped me get over a hurdle in my life when I was feeling low.