夢見帝國圖書館

by Kyōko Nakajima, 中島京子, 黃健育 (Translator)

故事從上野公園的長椅上開始。一位庸庸碌碌的作家，碰見了一位穿著古怪、性格豪爽的老奶奶喜和子。她要作家寫一本帝國圖書館的小說。之後全書以虛實交錯的雙線敘事呈現，一條講述戰前帝國圖書館的誕生與興衰，一條講述喜和子跟眾人在上野交會的故事。隨著故事進行，神祕的喜和子身分逐漸曝光，她的一生和帝國圖書館之間的關係也逐漸清晰。

戰前的帝國圖書館故事線，講述了這座圖書館如何興建，如何屢遭挫折，其中也穿插明治至昭和時期的作家們與圖書館相會的插曲。包括樋口一葉、芥川龍之介、宮澤賢治、林芙美子、谷崎潤一郎、宮本百合子等文豪的軼事，還有奇妙的、彼此會竊竊私語發牢騷的禁書，甚至旁邊上野動物園的動物都參與其中，相互交錯，一起走到盡頭。帝國圖書館的歷史是一部籌錢（跟國家與戰爭搶經費）的歷史，也是一部與國家的再生產政策、工業化和富國強兵相互衝突的歷史。

戰後的喜和子故事線，講述了喜和子這位女性的時代身分。透過帶點懸疑的方式，講述喜和子跟上野在地社會的關聯，以及形形色色人士的相遇，包括大學教授、藝大學生、書店老闆，和無家可歸的遊民男友等等。在這之中，喜和子在戰後男尊女卑的社會壓力下掙扎的生活方式被逐一揭示出來，堪稱是一部日本戰後的庶民女性史。此外，書中也觸及當代社會問題，譬如對婦女的蔑視、老後照護、性少數群體和民粹主義等等。

384 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2019

About the author

Nakajima (中島 京子) is an award-winning essayist and novelist from Japan. She studied at the Tokyo Woman's Christian University. Her many prizes include: the Naoki Prize, and the Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature. And her story Chiisai Ouchi (The Little House), was adapted for cinema in 2014.

Reviews

[Maya Liang · Rating 4 out of 5]

本書分成兩個部分，帝國圖書館設立的過程、名作家在帝國圖書館的足跡；以及喜和子謎團般的人生。撐過前半段，會愈來愈覺好看。
對於日本國立圖書館的設立過程有進一步的了解。
戰爭及壞心人殺上野動物園內動物一節，讓人氣憤與不捨。萬惡的人類。
喜和子的部位讓人好奇與糾心。被圖書館接納，是她安放心靈的所在。

[Ayumi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ueno park(Tokyo, Japan) has lots of cultural facilities like art museums, a science museum and a library. This story is about the library these days known as International Library of Children’s Literature, National Diet Library. This architecture has quite complicated history, I just put the explanation from their website below.

“This Western, Renaissance-style building of the Meiji era, designated as a historic building by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, was first constructed in 1906 as the Imperial Library. In 1929 (Showa era) some additional building was done.

After World War II, the Imperial Library ceased to exist, and in 1947 it was renamed the National Library. In 1948 the National Diet Library was established and this library was reorganized as a branch of it.

In 2000, the building was born again as the International Library of Children's Literature (ILCL).”

This book is half fiction and nonfiction depicting about a Japanese woman’s life which deeply connected to the library. I really enjoyed the story and now really wanna revisit Ueno park. I’ve been there quite a lot to see art exhibitions but it must be much interesting to walk around the park with some historical info.

[Alistair · Rating 5 out of 5]

或許做夢的是圖書館吧，夢著戰火和聚落，夢著曾經來過的人們。