Madame Chrysantheme

by Pierre Loti; translated by Laura Ensor; designs by Rossi and Myrbach

Pierre Loti’s novel Madame Chrysanthème (1888) enjoyed great popularity during the author’s lifetime, served as a source of Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly, and remains in print to this day as a classic in Western literature. Loti’s story, cast in the form of his fictionalized diary, describes the affair between a French naval officer and Chrysanthème, a temporary "bride" purchased in Nagasaki. More broadly, Loti’s novel helped define the terms in which Occidentals perceived Japan as delicate, feminine, and, to use one of Loti’s favorite words, "preposterous"—in short, ripe for exploitation.

Genres: Japan, Fiction, French Literature, 19th Century, France, Classics, Travel

344 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1887

Reviews

[Bill on GR Sabbatical · Rating 1 out of 5]

Little, finical; affected,—all Japan is contained, both physically and morally, in these three words.

This is a fictionalized account by French naval officer Louis Marie-Julien Viaud, pen name Pierre Loti, of his time living with a rented wife when he was stationed in Nagasaki, Japan in 1885.

I am quite ready to admit the attractiveness of the little Japanese children; some of them are most fascinating. But how is it that their charm vanishes so rapidly and is so quickly replaced by the elderly grimace, the smiling ugliness, the monkeyish face?

He is a close observer and sometimes writes beautifully of the countryside, gardens, and Japanese domestic design, but he's disappointed by Japanese religious ceremonies, ridicules almost all social customs, and is amused by a funeral procession he encounters.

A Japanese woman, deprived of her long robe and her huge sash with its pretentious bows, is nothing but a diminutive yellow being, with crooked legs and flat, unshapely bust; she has no longer a remnant of her little artificial charms, which have completely disappeared in company with her costume.

He compares the Japanese people he lives among to dolls, playthings, kittens, little trained dogs, goats, rats, sows, and dancing monkeys.

The Japanese are so grotesque in life that it is almost impossible to imagine them in the calm majesty of death.

Not recommended for learning about Japan, but a useful record of Western racist and sexist attitudes at the time.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pierre Loti's Madame Chrysantheme is an unusual combination of a beautifully written work and a moral callousness that defies description. It is the tale of a French sailor on extended leave in Nagasaki, Japan, who arranges for a "temporary wife" with whom to bide his time until his ship sets sail again. I could imagine the readers in France (and mostly male ones, if I am correct) wondering if they could visit some far-off, exotic place and engage in some harmless sexual tourism.

Loti's descriptions of Nagasaki are truly beautiful -- and a little heartless:

Needless to say that the cicalas [cicadas?] around us keep up their perpetual sonorous chirping. The mountain smells delicious. The atmosphere, the dawning day, the infantine grace of these little girls in their long frocks and shiny chignons, all is redundant with freshness and youth. The flowers and grasses on which we tread sparkle with dewdrops, exhaling a perfume of freshness. What undying beauty there is in Japan, in the first fresh morning hours in the country, and the dawning hours of life! Besides, I am quite ready to admit the attractiveness of the little Japanese children; some of them are most fascinating. But how is it that their charm vanishes so rapidly and is so quickly replaced by the elderly grimace, the smiling ugliness, the monkeyish face?

This is the second of Loti's books I have read on the same theme: Loti's Wife (Le Mariage de Loti) was set in Tahiti, but essentially had the same story. In both cases, the narrator, whom we are meant to identify as Loti himself, leaves his wife of an idle hour and goes back to see. Here is the leavetaking in Madame Chrysantheme:

Well, little mousmé, let us part good friends; one last kiss even, if you like. I took you to amuse me; you have not perhaps succeeded very well, but after all you have done what you could: given me your little face, your little curtseys, your little music; in short, you have been pleasant enough in your Japanese way. And who knows, perchance I may yet think of you sometimes when I recall this glorious summer, these pretty quaint gardens, and the ceaseless concert of the cicalas.

I don't know how it strikes you, but to me it fairly drips of racist condescension.

In Los Angeles, where I live, I am surrounded by Japanese, many of whom are friends to whom I would be ashamed to introduce this author.

[Ana · Rating 1 out of 5]

From the very first page the author made sure to let me know what this book was about. On his way to Japan, our naval officer has already decided to get a Japanese wife and has a clear picture of what Japan must be like. Like all preconceived notions, they are shattered the more he gets to know the Japanese, but he does manage to get a wife for 20 dollars a month.

She is pretty so he's pleased, but he kept comparing her to a doll and, once, even with a piece of furniture, so I got more and more irritated. I kept reading hoping to learn more about Chrysantheme, but he's not great at figuring out what her inner life is like so she's more caricature than fleshed out character.

The writing is very descriptive, but so boring. While, I don't regret reading it, I only read it because it is a key text in shaping western attitudes toward Japan and inspired Madame Butterfly so maybe I'll have better luck with that book.

[Javier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nagasaki 1945.... there are forebodings on every nook. Amazing...

Finished 12/14/08

I feel as though I want to write a full commentary book about this book. I first hated Loti and the way he carried himself when he first arrived in Japan, I haven't seen this air of smugness on previous books of his. Then, I froze and panicked when he rendered a mirror; a mirror of my own frame of mind when I went to Japan, of my own western awkwardness against the delicate temperament of Japanese culture, and gradually I couldn't help but position my own experience and notes in juxtaposition with his; XIXth century Western Civilization meets Meiji Japan against XXth century Western "Civilization" meets XXth century Japan.

The haunting background of this picture of Nagasaki 60 years before its destruction; the urgency of knowing that the sites, the temples, those streets and everything contained in this landscape was fated to be destroyed, hangs heavily on every page, like a sword, or the pendulum descending towards the pit...

Furthermore, Pierre Loti "senses" a dark "something" that crawls in the background of Nagasaki, he describes a bluish fog that appears from time to time... some descriptions mimic those of the aftermath of atomic annihilation. I will put some quotes I framed later..

Lastly, the story of the apathetic love between Pierre and Madame Chrysantheme, reminded me of my own spiteful behavior with my own M... Thus, whenever I felt hatred for Loti and his despicable attitude towards Chrysantheme, I was feeling spite for myself. This book was an exercise in cutting ppl (and myself) some slack, especially when you can't help but to cry of pity for Pierre in the very last sentence of the book. Yes, a commentary shall be written, indeed...

[Tocotin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great and awful. Here's the premise, fairly simple: the narrator, a French sailor, stays in Nagasaki for a few months, waiting for the departure of his ship. He rents a house and a pretty local girl to serve as his "wife" (that's what he calls her).
The book is mostly composed of a series of vignettes describing people, places and customs. There is no action in the traditional sense of the word: the narrator wonders sometimes whether anything would happen at all. The main suspense comes from his speculations as to the mutual fascination between his wife, the eponymous Madame Chrysantheme, and his friend Yves.
Yet there is nothing boring about this book. It's charming in its style and appalling (and interesting) in its substance. The depictions of the late 19th-century Nagasaki, of its crooked streets, lush temple gardens and dark shops are highly evocative, and one can almost feel the summer heat, the mosquitoes, the damp sweetness of the air. The style is very peculiar, whimsical and arrogant, but at the same time amusingly self-conscious. There is a moment when the narrator chides himself for the constant use of the word "little" - and of course quickly finds an excuse.
Yes, "little" in all its meanings is the word which he abuses when describing Japan, its culture, its ethics and its women. He considers his wife's and her friends' heads as too small to contain any significant thought. Japanese culture is too dainty, too weak to be of any inspiration. Japanese ethics and religion are too superficial, its ceremonials and polite forms serving only as a means and justification to obtain the maximum personal gain... blah blah blah et cetera.
But what was the poor narrator expecting, coming on shore with a firm resolution to buy himself a "wife" for his silver dollars? And this is the main interest of this book, this unabashed attitude of a 19th-century supposedly cultured person writing for other cultural persons. How has it all changed!

[Philippe Malzieu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loti is the prototype of the writer traveller. He finished his life in Charentes in France. His house is a model of kitsch exoticism. His novels distil an erotism like the Pompier art which excited the frustrated people of this time. I decided to read this book after having seen Mrs Buterfly in Bob Wilson's version. What remains book?
That rather badly aged. The style is manner and risen a little. In fact the posterity of the book is only related to its adaptation by Puccini.

[Yves S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sexist, racist, shamelessly condescending. You feel the need to slap the author in the face at almost every page. It certainly does not give a good image of the colonialist French marine of the time.

One would say "these were different times" but no this is close mindedness at its peak (if there has been such a peak) with no intention to learn, discover or understand what the other culture is about. Letting alone the latent (at times not latent at all) racism of Loti's perception of the Japanese people.

What a contrast with Lafcadio Hearn Lafcadio Hearn's Japan (Tuttle Classics) by Lafcadio Hearn (2007) Paperback which I have read recently and which records Hearn's (longer) stay in Japan just about 5 years after Loti's visit. Hearn's books demonstrate that if you were not pedant, misogynic nor racist, one could still be open minded for such a different culture as Japan's, so the period is not an excuse, why would it?

I was going to give Loti's book one star, but the written style (I read the book in French), the description of the Japanese landscapes are very good. This is all I can give Loti here.
And also the watercolours by Rossi and Myrbach, on almost every pages, in the very beautiful edition I have read, were stunning.

[Persephone Abbott · Rating 3 out of 5]

None of my friends have read this? How extraordinary! This book was part of the inspiration for Puccini's opera "Madama Butterfly," however, Madame Chrysantheme doesn't commit suicide at the end. The book begins with an officer's fervent desire to get off the merchant boat he's working on, and head out to the "House of Flowers" where the next few months of his life can be arranged for a monthly fee. Japan was such a civilized country in the 19th century to allow foreigners to take on a temporary wife, a highly exotic wife, during the few months that they were staying in the land. Of course, the fact that the foreigner could buy a kingdom of a semi legal wife was very exciting. In great anticipation the main character learns some Japanese while on the boat, and indeed gets himself quickly all set up. Then the reality sets in, he's been housed, and housed in every sense of the word. His world is cornered by the police, the wife agents, his wife, his mother-in-law to whom he pays the monthly fee of the daughter, his rented house to house his wife, and the proprietors of property. His social life becomes making rounds at night escorting his wife and his wife's friends, other foreigners' "spouses", to the gardens at night where they all buy knickknacks and eat sorbet. Then the delusions of cross-culturalism: he will never see his wife with her hair undone, for she has an elaborate hairdo and sleeps using a neck block that preserves her hair style. He discovers he doesn't really like his wife very much at all; he thinks she looks/behaves best when he finds her sleeping one afternoon on her stomach resting her head on one cheek. He dislikes her singing and playing of the shamisen. His understanding of the word is limited because of the poverty of his Japanese. He describes his stay in Japan in the very racist terms and views the Europeans had of the Japanese. Half way through the book the author says something very interesting about how his visions of being a European in Japan, and how his pre-conceptions of Japan, were in essence false. This makes the Europe he left false, and the Japan he arrived in false. The end of the book has tinges of guilt and destructive impulses in it, he's behaved badly, he's been permitted to behave badly and he even paid money for it. The prayer at the end where he prays to entirely forget his Chrysantheme is telling. The writing is poetic and descriptive, ephemeral even, and gives a good deal of scope into the basic and not so basic story of a flower girl and a passing barbarian.

[Stephen Durrant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loti's account of his short marriage to a Japanese woman in Nagasaki became the source of the opera "Madame Butterfly," but expect no great romance in this book. Loti finds his wife quaint and nicely decorative, especially when she is asleep, but he is happier without her. Nevertheless, the descriptions of Nagasaki and various aspects of Japanese life are magnificently written, although the tone is, shall we say, "dated!"

[Monica. A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diario di viaggio di un marinaio temporaneamente "bloccato" in Giappone. Il termine bloccato sembra qui decisamente appropriato in quanto l'autore accetta questa sua situazione con uno stato d'animo che si avvicina più alla rassegnazione che alla stimolazione data dall' interesse per l'incontro con un mondo a lui nuovo.
Tutto è già stabilito, ancor prima di avvistare la costa giapponese egli sa esattamente come trascorrerà la sua permanenza: una moglie, una casetta, tutto in perfetto stile giapponese; insomma una storia alla Madame Butterfly di Puccini.
Il tutto si svolge come una vera contrattazione di carattere commerciale, come se non si stesse decidendo il futuro di una persona identica a lui, ma quello di un oggetto , di un animale, o di una "belva" come lo stesso autore scrive. E allora perchè stupirsi tanto quando invece di trovarla addolorata per la sua partenza la sorprende intenta a controllare l' autenticità del suo meritato compenso ?
Storia dunque di uno squallido "matrimonio" d' interesse, senza sentimenti e senza rimpianti per entrambi.

Siamo a Nagasaki nel 1885, fra luglio e settembre. Il paese è DIN-DGIEN-DGI.
L' unico merito di questo libro va conferito alla minuziosa descrizione dell' ambiente circostante.
E' possibile focalizzare facilmente la struttura della casa, il suo "essere" una casa giapponese, le strade, la natura; persino la gente viene descritta con maggiore sensibilità di quanta ne abbia riservata alla povera Kihu-san.
Vi è un particolare interesse per i luoghi, l' abbigliamento e le usanze del posto, ma un generale disprezzo per le persone che lo abitano il Giappone. La persona più disprezzata è proprio Kihu-san, forse perchè si concede facilmente e per denaro ad uno sconosciuto senza provare interesse, ma considerandolo come un qualsiasi lavoro.
Egli sembra considerarla "una persona" solo nel momento in cui realizza che l'amico prova per lei un sentimento sincero e che ne è ricambiato.
Da qui il suo disgusto si estende a tutti coloro che ha la "fortuna" di incontrare durante il soggiorno giapponese. Tutti hanno almeno un difetto, nello svolgersi della storia vengono definiti con gli aggettivi più infami che una persona presumibilmente dotata di intelligenza possa trovare. Quelli più ripetuti sono: "razza gialla", "scimmie", "belve", e poi gentilezze come "meschini", "brutti", "grotteschi"... Come infatti si può leggere a pag. 57 facendo riferimento all' odore di casa sua scrive: "...un odore intimo di Giappone, di razza gialla... è quasi un fetore di belva"

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Some time, when man shall have made all things alike, the earth will be a dull, tedious dwelling-place, and we shall have even to give up travelling and seeking for a change which can no longer be found."

I am reading Vincent van Gogh's letters and multiple times he mentions this book in 1888. I highlighted them below, so of course I had to give it a go. I can see why Vincent van Gogh would be attracted to this novel, in his letters he is a fan of Japanese art and he describes things very vividly, he sees things as an artist. Pierre Loti describes all around him like an artist would but he paints with words and even he admits there is only so much you can write to describe or paint, the smells the feelings and all that associate with reality can not be expressed sometimes. Vincent was also one to frequent visitor of so called madames and ladies of the night, so I am sure this aspect of "Madame Chryantheme" interest him. My thoughts, I enjoyed this read because it was outstanding that this was done, still is probably, I felt sick for the young girls that had to live this kind of life, though when the narrator of this story refuses a younger girl and opts for an 18 year old, his age unknown. "Madame Chrysantheme" is a semi biographical novel, Pierre Loti being an officer in the French Navy. I wonder with the main character having ennui, though he is excited at first of the "marriage" he is not happy but critical, not so much verbal but inward and Chrysantheme picked up on this. Did they have sex? I am not sure, the bedtime rituals don't really favor, and especially his comments. Reading this I kept thinking of Marcel Proust's "In Search of Lost Time", the semi biographical and diary form like style. When I read all of Proust, I had the same feeling of Loti, nothing seems to really satisfy and the anticipation of what they what to feel but can not. In both authors, I knew that the story line was not the importance but the feeling of the surroundings and their reaction to it. Our hero has his prejudices, he tries to be friendly and he is not mean but he sees things differently, for the culture is different.

Story in short- A French ship and the crew are ported at Nagasaki, Japan, for a summer, and a certain officer looking to marry.


The below quotes from Vincent's letters

"The Swede [This is referring to Mourier, who was Danish. Vincent makes the same odd mistake in letter 498] comes from a good family, he has a sort of decency and orderliness in his way of life and as a man; he reminds me of the kind of character you find in Pierre Loti’s books. With all his stolidity, he has some heart."

"Loti’s book Mme. Crysanthème taught me this much: the rooms there are bare, without decoration or ornaments. And that very thing wakened my interest in the excessively synthetic drawings of another period, which probably are to our prints what a sober Millet is to a Monticelli. You know well enough that I do not dislike Monticelli. Nor colour prints either, even when I am told, “You must get out of the habit of that.”


"Now if you know what a “mousmé” is (you will find out when you read Loti’s Madame Chrysanthème), I have just painted one."


"The other day I read Loti’s Madame Chrysanthème, it includes interesting details about Japan."


"I have not had much time to read lately, except Madame Chrysanthème by Pierre Loti,"


"Then better try to make some oneself. Have you read Loti’s book Madame Chrysanthème? Very interesting."

"Have you read Madame Chrysanthème yet, have you already made the acquaintance of that so amazingly obliging ruffian M. Kangarou? And of the sugared peppers, and the fried ices, and the salted sweets?"

"He got a study of mine for troubling to take the canvases to Paris [Unknown painting], and Gauguin gave him a small drawing in exchange for an illustrated edition of Madame Chrysanthème."


❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert,❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌

The narrator and his ship mate, Yves, who is married, are in search of Monsieur Kangourou who knows French and can help him find a wife. It is apparent as reading on the the intends to have privileges but after the ship leaves, he looks to not honor this marriage, except in his memory. Is this marriage which the parents are paid, a known farce, seems likely, because many of these girls get married again. Our hero refuses a young girl in her early teens, and his friend, Yves sees Chrsyantheme and suggests she is pretty and 18. She seems melancholic and different than the other doll like girls, so he accepts her as his wife. The summer is 1885 and after the ceremony, they find a place to stay. The rituals, the insects and rats are irritating. He thinks she likes Yves and fears his friend might be having an affair but then sees he is wrong. The activities are to please her and her young friends. He feels a relief when he has to go but yet he is just starting to understand and feels regret. Chrsyantheme would like to see him, on his last morning, having slept in the ship, he returns early and finds her with the money pieces on the floor and her happiness in that. He had thought she might have missed him and felt guilty about leaving her but after this he laughs and knows the truth.

"Chrysantheme walks by my side, and expresses, in a soft and winning manner, her regret that the "wonderfully tall friend" did not offer to replace me for the whole of my night-watch, as that would have allowed me to spend this last night, even till morning, under our roof. "Listen!" she says, "come back to-morrow in the daytime, before getting under way, to bid one good-by; I shall not return to my mother until evening; you will find me still up there." And I promise."

"She turns confused, and reddening even to her ears at having been caught at this work. She is quite wrong, however, to be so much troubled, for I am, on the contrary, delighted. The fear that I might be leaving her in some sadness had almost given me a pang, and I infinitely prefer that this marriage should end as it had begun, in a joke. "That is a good idea of yours,"

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

J'ai lu ce livre pour avoir une idée plus précise du Japon et de leurs mœurs : et bien je n'ai pas été déçu ! Je pensais cependant que Pierre Loti était un contemporain, j'ai donc été surprise de retrouvé dans son roman le japon du 19e siècle, plein de tradition et qui n'est pas du tout le même que celui d'aujourd'hui. La mentalité de cet explorateur à l'époque est elle aussi très différente de celle d'aujourd'hui mais il faut voire cela avec du recul. Loti décrit avec finesse les mœurs, coutumes manières d'être et de penser des japonais à cette époque. On découvre alors un univers en senteurs, plein des mignardises et de couleurs pastels, mais habités par des êtres drôles, extrêmement polis mais aussi sournois et sans grandes réflexions, un univers ou tout est petit et que l'on ne peut prendre au sérieux avec des mousmées à belle robes et caractère gentil. Il y a peut être quelques longueurs étant donné l'aspecte descriptif de se roman ou il n'y a pas d'intrigue.

[Antonella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chiara Giribaldi, ottima attrice, ha tratto da questo romanzo un' eccellente piece sulla condizione della donna, confrontandola con la più nota Madame che ne è stata ispirata: Madame Butterfly. Ma mentre la povera Butterfly, romantica ed innocente, si strugge per un amore struggente e soprattutto sfuggente, la nostra Crisantemo, più calata nel suo ruolo di "moglie per finta" coltiva i suoi interessi e compiace il marito straniero solo in funzione di quell'ultimo, ma primario, scopo: il contare le piastre promesse alla stipula del contratto.
Emblematica l'opinione dell'autore: "Sto per partire, e non so trovare in me che un sorriso leggermente beffardo per questo piccolo popolo dalle molte riverenze, laborioso, industrioso, avido di guadagno, malato di leziosaggine costituzionale, di paccottiglia ereditaria, d'incurabile carattere scimmiesco..."

[Jowmoon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mon premier livre audio ; dans ce livre Pierre Loti débarque au Japon avec l'intention de découvrir la culture du pays et d'épouser une japonaise. Un récit très bien écrit (et décrit), cependant très pénible à écouter par moments de par ses réflexions que l'on qualifierait aujourd'hui de racistes, sans parler de l'épouse qu'il choisit "pour se distraire"... elles sont cependant le reflet de l'époque.

[Amelie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tough read

[Ad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very strange book. Pierre Loti (1850-1923) was a French naval officer who on his duty tours around the world had several romantic experiences he wrote up into popular novels, first about an affair in Istanbul (Aziyadé, 1879), then in Tahiti (Le marriage de Loti, 1880). In 1887 he decided on the plan to write a similar book about Japan, a country which was then in the news. He had heard about the sham marriages that other Western temporary male visitors concluded in that country, and as soon as he arrived in Nagasaki he contacted a (rather unctuous) Japanese middleman whose name he got via the grapevine to arrange things for him. Soon after that he starts living with his 17-year old "wife" in a house high on one of the many steep slopes of Nagasaki...

The point is that this was all true (only the name of the "wife" was not O-Kiku (Chrysanthemum) as in the novel, but Kane) - Loti lived for about a month (from 8 July to mid September 1885) with the young woman and kept a diary which he used as the basis for his novel. That is of course also the reason that Madame Chrysentheme does not read like a real novel - there is no plot, it is indeed a diary.

The strange thing is of course that Loti was not at all in love with O-Kiku (in contrast to the women he met in Istanbul and Tahiti) and even openly writes that he disliked her. His lack of empathy and arrogance towards O-Kiku are the largest blot on the book. Of course his experience in Nagasaki was not a spontaneous love affair, and O-Kiku was not an ordinary girl - she was a prostitute (the daughter of a single-mother geisha) and she did this solely for the money, with the acknowledgement of her family. So it is not surprising that no sparks were flying (Loti even contemplates a premature "divorce") - but the hypocrisy is all on his side. In France he would never have gotten away with this - although his novel became very popular...

Loti remains on the outside, not only of Japan, but also of O-Kiku. He has no interest in her, and just regards her as a doll and a plaything with no inner life - he never lets her speak in her own voice. By the way, I believe that from her side, she is also not interested in Loti and sees the fake marriage as just a financial transaction - when he is leaving he doesn't find her in tears, but catches her counting the money she has earned while singing a song!).

The only interesting parts of the book are those which are supposedly close to the diary and describe excursions in Nagasaki, its downtown shopping streets, its high hills and its many temples - that is, as long as Loti focuses on what he sees around him, for he can give good descriptions, and doesn't write about O-Kiku, because then his paternalizing attitude towards her again gives me a bad taste in the mouth.

Some things that struck me:
- The seriousness of the Japanese authorities, where even this sham affair has to be played by the book and according to detailed rules.
- The practicality of the Japanese authorities in condoning this sham practice, because it offered a way to control the behavior of foreigners (the Nagasaki authorities also provided prostitutes to the small Dutch contingent on Dejima).
- There are also glaring mistakes: Loti thinks that a noren, a normal shop curtain hung out to indicate a shop or restaurant is open, somehow was connected with funerals. It is also strange that O-Kiku has a Buddha statue in the room where she lives with Loti - Buddha statues were never regarded as art objects by Japanese (as Westerners did), and belonged in temples, not in private homes (I think it was bought by Loti himself, who sent 16 boxes with antiquities back to France).

But the worst thing is - as mentioned above - Loti's arrogant and colonial attitude towards Japanese culture, and the Japanese - most of all O-Kiku. It is only 5 years later that Lafcadio Hearn arrived in Japan, and there is a world of difference with playboy Loti in the respectful way Hearn writes about Japanese culture - he concluded a real marriage with a Japanese wife (a daughter of a samurai family) which lasted until his death.

It is of course strange that this cynical novel so devoid of love, became the basis for Puccini's love opera Madame Butterfly! The reason is that a tragic, romantic story (another instance of Japonisme) by the American writer John Luther Long (which was indeed called "Madame Butterfly") came in between Loti and Puccini and formed the real basis for the opera.

See my website for more on Lafcadio Hearn: https://adblankestijn.blogspot.com/20...

[Monika · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is a hair-raisingly racist confession of a sex tourist. The fact that there are some nicely written passages makes it even worse.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I came across wanting this book, but I had to buy it used from Amazon. I love the used edition I got: it was an old edition from 1985 that featured poorly photocopied typeset, and really cool black and white renderings of watercolor images of the scenes being described in the book. They really bring the dialogue to life.

Also, being a used book, it had a dedication in the beginning:
To Ramona, Happy Birthday,
1986
Love, Ben


sigh
That dedication was the most interesting thing of the book. Who were these readers? Where are they now? What did they think of this?


Ok...as to what I think:
This is a loose memoir of a French naval officer's (Pierre) short summer in Japan.

While his ship was in port, he opted for living quarters in the town of Nagasaki. His experiences are described in lengthy, flowering prose, almost as if every day of his life was a new painting he's describing to you. Since the time period is the 1880's, the book is held up to some importance as being a contemporaneous account of the times. It's also viewed in part as the genesis of the opera, Madam Butterfly.

As to the story...
Immediately upon arrival, Pierre arranges for a "wife"...which in this case was the full time services of a geisha. It was never crystal clear to me what all that meant, but it didn't seem to extend into anything beyond live-in companionship...tea ceremonies, guitar playing, escorting about town, flirtations....like grown-ups playing house.

The trouble is, Pierre arrived with preconceived obsessions as to what this (Japan) would be like, and how much he would love all things Japan. He found himself conflicted on a variety of fronts: wanting to love his surroundings, but finding it all somewhat superficial and annoying; not being all that interested in his geisha, but jealous when she seemed more interested in his best friend;his wanting to be sad over his departure, but having to reconcile himself to his indifference.

The final scene with his geisha was emblematic of the whole story: he came ashore to surprise her to say goodbye, and found her at the utilitarian task of going through the silver coins he had given her to weed out counterfeits.

A really nice idea, but he's so conflicted about what he really thinks and the writing is so flowery, that it's really tough to love this book.

[Stéphane · Rating 4 out of 5]

En 1885, le vaisseau de Pierre Loti fait relâche dans la baie de Nagasaki pendant près de deux mois. Comme, semble-t-il, de nombreux marins, Loti épouse, contre paiement, une jeune japonaise, Madame Chrysanthème, pour la durée de son séjour. Le livre est un compte-rendu de ce séjour et des observations de Loti.
Certes, il est marqué par les préjugés occidentaux de son époque et le racisme exprimé tout au long de ce journal est dérangeant. Mais ses descriptions de ce Japon ancestral et en train de subir de profonde modifications est passionant. Loti n'est pas sans remarquer le raffinement de la culture japonaise et la beauté du pays, mais à chaque fois qu'il nous fait part de cette beauté il termine sa description par une insulte envers les japonais.
Quel gâchis, quel rendez-vous manqué entre l'artiste et un sujet exceptionnel qui, s'il avait pu surmonter ses préjugés, devait certainement s'accorder avec sa sensibilité.
Si l'on fait abstraction des commentaires racistes, ce livre m'a tout a fait envoûté. Je regrette seulement de ne pas posséder la version illustrée par Rossi et Myrbach qui est splendide et consultable sur Gallica (http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6...)

[Heloise Jacobs · Rating 2 out of 5]

I recently visited Istanbul and wanted to read some of Pierre Loti's books because he is still a well-known figure in Turkey. Unfortunately I started with Madame Chrysantheme. If this book is biographical or even semi-biographical then I do not like Loti very much. He is a racist, and he uses women for the pleasure he gets from a relationship (although I do not want to call his interactions that, as they are mostly one-sided). He has absolute no respect for women and does not apologise for it.

But having said all of that I have already started on another of his books and although the theme is much the same, there is some hope there that I am going to enjoy Aziyade. I do like his descriptions of nature and his surroundings and having only recently been in Istanbul I find it interesting.

[Jc · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ce livre a été écrit il y a plus de 100 ans. Chez certains auteurs, Zweig, Martin du Gard.. cela ne se sent pas. Ici c’est très visible. L’histoire est insignifiante bien qu’elle mette en évidence cette pratique, courante semble-t-il à l’époque, pour les étrangers de passage d’épouser pour quelques semaines une jeune japonaise. Le mariage était-il consommé ? Rien ne l’indique ni ne le réfute. Compte tenu des penchants homosexuels de Loti peut-être pas. La description du Japon est bonne quoique très dédaigneuse et montrant la suffisance de Loti qui se sent supérieur à ces sauvages.

[Rachel Pollock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah, okay, this book is over 100 years old, but every reference in which it was mentioned described it as "a romance amidst clashing cultures" or some variation thereon. There are some lovely descriptive passages of landscapes, but for the most part i found the OVERWHELMING Imperialist racism and misogyny too pervasive to enjoy...well, any of it.

[Gary Bourke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally written in French at the end of the 19th century, it tells the story of a young man's stay in Nagasaki, Japan. Overflowing with politically incorrect descriptions of the Japanese, which makes it very difficult to read in places.

[Simona · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm done with it. Possibly the worse book I've tried to read this year. I could not stand finishing it as it had not action, only passages with lots of descriptions and lamentations...

[Valentina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ne parlo su Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRdMc...

[Anton Koval · Rating 4 out of 5]

Van Gogh mentioned this book in his letters, and the man was a real weeb pioneer :D

[Marianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

La moglie in affitto

“Madame Chrysanthème” titolo originale di “Kuki -San” (Signora Crisantemo, appunto, in giapponese)è apparso in Francia nel 1887, ma Pierre Loti, ufficiale di marina e narratore di storie esotiche, lo aveva scritto durante il suo soggiorno, durato 36 giorni, a Nagasaki, due anni prima.
La storia è autobiografica, un vero diario di viaggio, in cui Loti descrive la sua esperienza giapponese, insieme all’amico fraterno Yves, in quella terra così lontana e così diversa, non solo geograficamente, dall’Europa.
Com’era usanza comune negli paesi del Sol Levante, gli ufficiali europei potevano sposare temporaneamente una ragazza del luogo, con approvazione dei genitori di lei, una musmé (cioè fidanzata). Si trattava di una compravendita vera e propria: una donna di piacere e di compagnia dietro compenso mensile. In termini meno romantici e brutali, che mi sovvengono al di là di ogni diplomazia, gli ufficiali si assicuravano una prostituta esclusiva, ottimizzando la promiscuità. E succedeva molto spesso, non solo nel Paese del Sol Levante.

Certamente il mio giudizio cinico risente sicuramente del fastidio provato in certi passaggi del libro, dal momento che il senso di superiorità e talvolta di disprezzo, verso una civiltà così lontana da quella dell’autore, mi ha urtata non poco.
Ho odiato le righe in cui senza alcun ritegno Pierre Loti, riferendosi agli uomini di rango giapponesi, li ha definiti brutte scimmie, le giovani donne delle bamboline artificiose,

“la sola cosa che amo di questo paese sono i bambini e i modi in cui vengono compresi”

Qualcuno per fortuna si salva, da questo racconto che, oltre ad essere innegabilmente affascinante, è sicuramente testimonianza di una percezione di forte lontananza tra due mondi, Europa e Giappone. Non generalizzo indicando Oriente ed Occidente, dal momento che Pierre Loti ha ricordi molto più piacevoli e nostalgici di Istanbul e della ragazza che frequentava lì.

Il “matrimonio a tempo” con Kuki-San lascia sin dall’inizio l’amaro in bocca, annulla ogni illusione sentimentale: l’incomunicabilità con la giovane, al di là della conoscenza abbastanza sufficiente della lingua da parte dell’autore, è troppo forte e gela ed amareggia il lettore che quasi prova simpatia per la piccola musmé, incompresa.
“Quando non c’è né disgusto fisico, da una parte, né odio dall’altra, l’abitudine finisce, malgrado tutto, con il creare una specie di legame...”

In effetti il legame creato dalle abitudini coinvolge lo stesso lettore, che quasi si affeziona alle pareti della loro casetta in altura, che devono raggiungere ogni sera, dopo essersi divertiti con amici alle case del té. Si ci abitua al pan pan pan che Kiku-San produce mentre sbatte la pipetta usata per fumare, al suo “hu” quando indica a Pierre una falena o un qualsiasi coleottero attirato di notte nella loro stanza illuminata dalle candele attorno al Buddha dorato.
Il Giappone con le sue piogge improvvise che sembrano paradossali in confronto alla fragilità della carta che invade le costruzioni, delle lanterne traforate e decorate con farfalle o pipistrelli, alla delicatezza delle decorazioni, il Giappone coi suoi colori, col suo “bizzarro ad a oltranza” è troppo lontano del tempo, nello spazio e nelle emozioni di un Europeo di fine Ottocento.

“Dappertutto oggetti sorprendenti che sembrano incomprensibili creazioni di cervelli capovolti, rispetto ai nostri”, avremmo bisogno di -parole dell’autore- “una lingua più sofisticata della nostra; ci vorrebbe inoltre un segno grafico creato appositamente, da mettere a caso in mezzo alle parole, che indicherebbe al lettore dove scoppiare a ridere in modo un po’ forzato, ma tuttavia con freschezza e grazia “.
Il Paese dove l’eccesso di grazia diventa finzione.
Un libro che consiglio, dallo stile immediato e scorrevole, con descrizioni mirabolanti e una prosa pungente, affascinante ed istruttivo sui costumi del Giappone tradizionale “Stupefacente patri di tutte le stramberie”

[Zelda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il Giappone dove eravamo diventava a poco, a poco a poco, un paese d'incantesimi e di fate.Le grandi montagne, ora tutte nere, si raddoppiavano alla base dell'acqua immobile che ci sosteneva, si riflettevano con le loro spaccature all'inverso, dandoci l'illusione di essere sospesi su spaventosi precipizi.

A sinistra Yves, l'amico fraterno di Loti, al centro Kiku-sa, a destra Pierre Loti.

Kiku-san. La moglie giapponese di Pierre Loti (O barra O Edizioni, 2014) è un romanzo giapponese —più che romanzo è un diario di viaggio — ispirò a seguire la figura di Madame Butterfly nell'opera di Puccini. Il libro narra della vita del tenente marinaio Pierre Loti a Nagasaki e del matrimonio con Kiku-San, la signorina Crisantemo. A quel tempo uno straniero, specialmente ricco, aveva la possibilità di comprare una sposa giovane per tutta la sua permanenza in Giappone. Il tutto si svolgeva pagando una somma di denaro alla famiglia per aver a disposizione una musè. Loti ci racconta dal suo sbarco a Nagasaki e di un paese simile alle fiabe, la conoscenza di Kiku San organizzato da Kanguro, le usanze e le abitudini di quei giorni passati in quell'estate del 1885. Un'accurata descrizione della vita quotidiana di questo paese misterioso e affascinante e dei luoghi in cui si trova: le feste al tempio, la sua dimora di carta e di legno; (non amava particolarmente i dettagli delle carte così sfoglie rispetto gli oggetti ben lavorati e particolari), le case da tè, le dettagliate corse sui risciò, le donne giapponesi con i suoi ampi kimoni tutti eleganti, elaborati, profumati che esaltavano la loro piccola statura e la loro bellezza. Queste abitudini e usanze porteranno al nostro protagonista a diventare distaccato e disinteressato da questo mondo. Punto d'interesse per chi ama questa cultura è la descrizione di tutte le volte che Kiku-San e delle sue note tristi composte dalla sua chitarra.

Avevamo vento contrario; una brezza fresca che cresceva di continuo, come se quel paese avesse soffiato con tutte le sue forze contro di noi per allontanarci da sè.

Una lettura piacevole e scorrevole dove ci porta in un'antico Giappone incontaminato e da scoprire a cima a fondo. Ancora una volta si coglie l'atteggiamento di superiorità del classico periodo coloniale degli europei: pregiudizi, odio nei confronti di diverse tipiche usanze e tradizioni, un mondo completamente diverso da quello occidentale alternati da ammirazione, curiosità e comprensione.

[Soukaina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ce livre est un journal de bord de Pierre Loti, écrivain et officier de la marine française qui passe quelques mois à Nagasaki et y épouse temporairement Madame Chrysanthème.
« Bien que le rôle le plus long soit en apparence à Madame Chrysanthème, il est bien certain que les trois principaux personnages sont Moi, le Japon et l’Effet que ce pays m’a produit ».
Le Japon est ainsi vu pour la première fois par un occidental. On retrouve ses impressions sur ce pays, ses paysages, ses habitants, les cérémonies, les maisons, les coutumes...
Pierre Loti n’est pas charmé par le pays, il est agacé par le maniérisme des habitant par leur excentricité leurs gestes . C’est loin d’être un coup de foudre pour le pays.
On découvre aussi l'existence du mariage temporaire, par l’intermédiaire d’entremetteurs (pratique alors très courante).
Pierre Loti n’est pas choqué par ces pratiques, il a même hâte d’en profiter puisqu’il a a déjà le nom d'un intermédiaire qui lui trouvera une femme à épouser momentanément en échange d’argent.
D’ailleurs, il ne développe aucun sentiment pour Madame Chrysanthème qu’il méprise et utilise et quitte sans regrets.
Difficultés dans la lecture de ce livre :
- Je lis un livre dont le personnage principal est le Japon écrit par quelqu'un qui n’a pas vraiment aimé son séjour : pas très enthousiasmant
- Il est assez condescendant par moment et juge les coutumes par rapport à ses propres repères. Il trouve bcp de choses ridicules et risibles.

Les descriptions de Pierre Loti sont, cependant, très belles, très détaillées, poétiques. A la manière de Proust, il redessine devant nos yeux l’image d’un Japon qui n’est pas encore occidentalisé, de la fin du XIXème et ça c’est la grande qualité de ce livre, c’est une source précieuse de détails de la vie japonaise de cette époque, encore faut-il occulté le rapport de Pierre Loti aux femmes et son regard parfois condescendant vis- à vis des japonais.

En somme, Un coup de cœur pour l’écriture , Vraiment pas un coup de cœur pour le livre

[Ariane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Je voulais lire Loti depuis un certain temps, ou en tout cas, la partie de son oeuvre qu'il consacre au Japon. 
C’est fait, c’est réglé. Et je n’y retoucherai sûrement pas. Haha.



Mon plus gros plaisir de lecture a été de me plaindre mentalement du narrateur (Pierre Loti lui même, puisque c’est autobiographique) tout au long du livre. C’est qu’il est pénible. Le pauvre réussi à s’ennuyer au Japon et à trouver des travers au pays et surtout aux Japonais, à se lamenter à longueur de page, sans faire preuve de grande curiosité. Je ne suis pas particulièrement surprise par le racisme éhonté de l'époque, mais à force de lire un mec avec un complexe de Napoléon et une calvitie précoce se plaindre de la laideur des Japonaises, on ne développe par un grand sentiment d’amitié pour l’auteur.
…
J’ai d’ailleurs bien ri aux passages où il s’imagine la voisine/propriétaire attirée par lui et qu’il en est troublé.



Un bon côté du livre: j’ai quand même appris une ou deux petites choses sur la vie à Nagasaki à l’époque.



Le seul passage du livre qui m’a émue: 
«Eh bien, j’ai grandi et n’ai rien trouvé sur ma route, de toutes ces choses vaguement entrevues ; au contraire, tout s’est rétréci et obscurci peu à peu autour de moi; les ressouvenir se sont effacés, les horizons d’en avant se sont lentement refermés et remplis de ténèbres grises. Il sera bientôt l’heure de m’en retourner dans l’éternelle poussière, et je m’en irai sans avoir compris le pourquoi mystérieux de tous ces mirages de mon enfance […]. »