Singular Rebellion

by Saiichi Maruya, Dennis Keene (Translator)

The narrator, a middle-aged Japanese businessman, finds havoc entering his life when he marries a beautiful, young model, and his new wife's grandmother, a murderer, arrives for a visit

Genres: Japan, Japanese Literature, Fiction

412 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Saiichi MARUYA (丸谷 才一), a Japanese author and critic was born in 1925 in Yamagata Prefecture, grew up in Niigata, and graduated with a degree in English literature from the Tokyo Imperial University. After completing his Master's degree, he taught at Kokugakuin University and then at the University of Tokyo, while publishing a series of translations of English literary works.

Reviews

[GD · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really know how to read this book. It was marketed as a farcical satire, but MAN I think a lot of the humor really fell on deaf ears (eyes) for me. I think part of this must me that some shit was lost in translation. Every once in awhile, like once a page, I'd see a line that was a little funny in a really, REALLY dry way, but overall, no. It was kind of torture to get through, I just never really got where it was supposed to be funny. The author translated Three Men In a Boat into Japanese, and I love that book, and I can KIND of see how this is similar in tone, but, whoa, not fun.

Basic plot is a dude who didn't take a good job with the Ministry of Defense is a businessman for an electronics company in the late 60s/ early 70s, and he ends up marrying a younger model, kind of adopts her grandmother who accidentally (maybe) killed her husband a long time ago and has just gotten out of prison, we come across a woman who sells an aphrodisiac made of carrot wine, a young photo journalist who thinks he's an artist, the father in law who is totally academic and pretentious, etc etc. It sounds funny, but it's not. I saw another book at the library by the same guy, but think I'll be passing it up.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather laboured comedy of manners. I chuckled a couple of times, but there was a lot of it for just a couple of laughs.

On the cover of my edition (which escaped from "Community Library, Salem WI") there's a sticker saying "'I liked it very much indeed, and hope it has all the success it deserves.' Graham Greene"

[JoeG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in 1969, in the midst of the college rebellions, a middle aged, Japanese businessman marries a young, beautiful model. In his household is a faithful family maid from his youth. His wife's grandmother who has just finished serving a jail sentence for murder moves in.
Excellent narration and ending.

[Sabita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an odd and somewhat endearing book. Clearly many aspects "lost in translation" but this added to the charm rather than being annoying. Japanese customs and cultural nuances make for great learning. There are numerous contradictions but that's something i have seen in reality in Japan also. For instance, they seem to be very traditional about observing the niceties but at the same time do some pretty unconventional things, including the fact of a middle aged widower marrying a young model. Some of the humour is rather absurd and farcical - indeed, purposely so, particularly the diatribe of Mr. Nonomiya, the father-in-law of the protagonist, which underscores the depth of thought there is in Japanese society. The other personality that seemed to be drawn out very well was the Granny Utako and the matter of fact way her murder and time in prison is described - darkly and comically funny. Also super odd to me was the fact that the protagonist was a civil servant in a previous life and was now an employee in a private electronics manufacturing firm.

Overall, endearingly drawn characters and their foibles, but this book should not really be read for any specific story. Just many vignettes and facets of life of a Japanese family in Tokyo. Ideal to have read it while I was visiting Tokyo.

[Mike White · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The president soon worked out I was talking about a possible marriage. Probably he felt some kind of pique at having been bypassed in the matter, or even, envy of the person who’d produced whatever suggestion it might be. The president was a firm believer in marriage being determined by the inclinations of almost anyone other than the two principally involved. My first marriage had been of that kind – as, I suddenly came to realize, my second was turning out to be as well.”
Japan, 1960s. Eisuke Mabuchi is an ex-civil servant who now has a high position in a private company. He lives with his servant Tsuru, who looks after his home. He’s encouraged to marry his mistress, the fashion model Yukari but would not have wed her if he’d known that her grandmother has served a prison term for murder.
A mildly amusing story, but was I not sufficiently amused to continue beyond page 240 of 458.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dated and not for everybody, but still a good story. Very slow at first but it picks up after the first 50 pages. Still, a better editing or translation job would have been nice.

[Helen Veitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me ages to read this - it’s quite slow but I enjoyed reading about the student protests and social climate in 1960s Japan.

[Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

phew. 20 years after buying this book, finally got round to starting it.

So far... it's nice to read foreign fiction: Eco is great and Maruya is in the same mould; you get the story and interspersed is some nice gobbet of history (Eco's "Foucault Pendulum" has the Templars done SO much better than the pathetic Dan Brown, and Maruya gives a potted history of Japan in the 19th century). SO you get educated whilst reading. Looking forward to seeing how this book pans out. (2-6-2012)

So, he's got the girl; and there then follows an interesting examination of the wedding customs of Japan. Um. Perhaps it might get better when he comes back from Australia. Don't get me wrong, I like knowing about how different countries operate; perhaps it's the translation that doesn't quite carry me...? I don't know, but the interview with prospective dad just ended up with me wanting to hit the hero for being so... so... smarmy.

And got to the end. Some leaps of faith, adultery, misunderstandings, long speeches involving film and japanese industry... Um... glad I've finished it, but I think it'll go on the 'send out' rather than 'keep in' pile.

[Taylor Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second reading— 19 Feb. 2020.

I found myself often laughing out loud, pausing in reading to chuckle at my desk, with this satire of post-war Japanese social norms. Maruya weaves deftly an engrossing narrative while managing, the whole time, to upend the conservative tendencies latent in mid-twentieth century Japan. Though his gift is, in part, as a master plotter, the final quarter of the novel are doubtless the climax, and will leave readers heady, slightly overwhelmed, satisfied with, and perhaps wearing a wry grin at Maruya’s ability to make an interesting tale critical and thought-provoking. An enjoyable, funny novel with a world enough to lose oneself in, and a creative, critical zest sufficient to probe the tongs of subversive thought. A novel, it should also be said—stuffily? maybe, as are all such pronouncements, but, too, sincerely—properly done.

[Stas]

Super praised by Anthony Burgess and Graham Greene, when first out in ENglish in 1986 (originally written in 1972). I had to give it a shot. The style reminds me of Murakami, but the narrator is rather older than most of Murakami's narrators. So far it's droll and dry, and very practical. Can't wait for the murderous grandmother to enter. And what really is in those cans of biscuits. Is it really the footage of cops beating demonstrators?

The grandmother appears. The photographer comes looking for those pictures. I get a stronger and stronger feeling that something important hangs on those pictures, but this foreboding is kept in abeyance, flashes at times only. (Turns out Maruya (still alive, apparently) is also Joyce's Japanese translator.

[Michael Pronko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This often overlooked gem of a book puts the lie to the stereotype of Tokyoites as lacking humor. It is a funny, farcical, and yet quite philosophical take on life in Tokyo. The absurdity of being trapped in a culture gets a good working-over here. The writer has never quite reached as many readers as he should have, I feel, perhaps because comic writing never gets its due. This is a strong novel, packed with ideas, pondering, hilarious scenes, and plenty to think and laugh about.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty mediocre, I thought. Not bad but nothing special. The ending was a little anti-climatic and didn't seem to put any closure to the story.

[Vikas Datta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty nifty read offering quite a interesting view on Japanese society and what happens to a non-conformist from its ranks..