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Klassieker uit de Japanse literatuur over een vrouw die schilderlessen neemt om te ontsnappen aan de sleur van haar huwelijk. Het leidt tot een liefdesaffaire die bijna haar ondergang inluidt.
Sonoko, de vrouw van een ambitieuze advocaat in Osaka, neemt schilderlessen om te ontsnappen aan de sleur van haar huwelijk. Dat is het begin van een liefdesaffaire die haar aan de rand van het graf zal brengen. Als wordt geïnsinueerd dat zij een lesbische verhouding heeft met Mitsuko, beseft ze dat ze zich inderdaad tot haar aangetrokken voelt. Mitsuko is een duistere femme fatale, die een web van leugens weeft waaruit niet alleen Sonoko, maar uiteindelijk ook haar echtgenoot niet weet te ontsnappen.
Sonoko, de vrouw van een ambitieuze advocaat in Osaka, neemt schilderlessen om te ontsnappen aan de sleur van haar huwelijk. Dat is het begin van een liefdesaffaire die haar aan de rand van het graf zal brengen. Als wordt geïnsinueerd dat zij een lesbische verhouding heeft met Mitsuko, beseft ze dat ze zich inderdaad tot haar aangetrokken voelt. Mitsuko is een duistere femme fatale, die een web van leugens weeft waaruit niet alleen Sonoko, maar uiteindelijk ook haar echtgenoot niet weet te ontsnappen.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1928
142 people are currently reading
6820 people want to read
About the author
Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
596 books2,191 followersJun'ichirō Tanizaki (谷崎 潤一郎) was a Japanese author, and one of the major writers of modern Japanese literature, perhaps the most popular Japanese novelist after Natsume Sōseki.
Some of his works present a rather shocking world of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions; others, less sensational, subtly portray the dynamics of family life in the context of the rapid changes in 20th-century Japanese society.
Frequently his stories are narrated in the context of a search for cultural identity in which constructions of "the West" and "Japanese tradition" are juxtaposed. The results are complex, ironic, demure, and provocative.
Some of his works present a rather shocking world of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions; others, less sensational, subtly portray the dynamics of family life in the context of the rapid changes in 20th-century Japanese society.
Frequently his stories are narrated in the context of a search for cultural identity in which constructions of "the West" and "Japanese tradition" are juxtaposed. The results are complex, ironic, demure, and provocative.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 600 reviews
June 21, 2020
5 "pampered, bisexual, triangular, pentagonal, chaotic" stars !!
2016 Honorable Mention Read with High Distinction
I am amazed that this book was published in 1930. Upper class Japanese bisexual noir....who would have thought it?
The title is absolutely perfect for this was my experience of reading this engaging, insightful yet quietly repulsive novel. You see this books fools you into thinking that you are reading melodrama when in fact you are reading about five of the most despicable characters ever written about. These characters are small "d" despicable as their cruelty, deceit and goddammit ridiculous shenanigans comes from our most vulnerable aspects...our need for status, comfort and romantic and sexual love. A book about five villains with not one hero. You sink further and further into the mud. You cannot get out and eventually you cannot....no I will stop there...you must read it.
I will not give any spoiler but the gist is an unhappily married couple tangles with a young beautiful vixen and her equally gorgeous eunuch lover. Two love triangles eventually ends up being a most malignant pentagon. Fuck!!!! Its brilliant and awesome and disgusting all in one.
A brief description of the five main characters.
Married lady: repressed lesbian, spoiled, immature, dilletante, jealous, critical and fickle.
Married man: sycophant, opportunist, controlling, oblivious, cerebral
Vixen: I will simply say one of the best depictions of the female psychopath that I have ever read about. Beautiful to boot.
Eunuch: Manipulative, petty, narcissistic, charming, scheming.
Maid of Vixen: colluding, intelligent, falsely submissive, more lethal than a viper.
These five characters interact, lust and hurt each other in the most dark and destructive of ways and you are drawn in slowly and stealthily until you are stuck and you cannot leave until the emotional bomb goes off and you in a darkly curious way want to see who survives the atomic aftermath.
You also wonder if you will survive it and trust another human being ever again. On that note where is my bf right now ;))
2016 Honorable Mention Read with High Distinction
I am amazed that this book was published in 1930. Upper class Japanese bisexual noir....who would have thought it?
The title is absolutely perfect for this was my experience of reading this engaging, insightful yet quietly repulsive novel. You see this books fools you into thinking that you are reading melodrama when in fact you are reading about five of the most despicable characters ever written about. These characters are small "d" despicable as their cruelty, deceit and goddammit ridiculous shenanigans comes from our most vulnerable aspects...our need for status, comfort and romantic and sexual love. A book about five villains with not one hero. You sink further and further into the mud. You cannot get out and eventually you cannot....no I will stop there...you must read it.
I will not give any spoiler but the gist is an unhappily married couple tangles with a young beautiful vixen and her equally gorgeous eunuch lover. Two love triangles eventually ends up being a most malignant pentagon. Fuck!!!! Its brilliant and awesome and disgusting all in one.
A brief description of the five main characters.
Married lady: repressed lesbian, spoiled, immature, dilletante, jealous, critical and fickle.
Married man: sycophant, opportunist, controlling, oblivious, cerebral
Vixen: I will simply say one of the best depictions of the female psychopath that I have ever read about. Beautiful to boot.
Eunuch: Manipulative, petty, narcissistic, charming, scheming.
Maid of Vixen: colluding, intelligent, falsely submissive, more lethal than a viper.
These five characters interact, lust and hurt each other in the most dark and destructive of ways and you are drawn in slowly and stealthily until you are stuck and you cannot leave until the emotional bomb goes off and you in a darkly curious way want to see who survives the atomic aftermath.
You also wonder if you will survive it and trust another human being ever again. On that note where is my bf right now ;))
January 7, 2017
What is to be a fool? What is to play the fool, bewitched into becoming a mere cat’s paw used to draw amorous carnality from the flames of passion? What is to feel powerless, ridiculed in love when appreciation veils subtle humiliation, to be a clay pigeon in the game of love? What is the sine qua non of love? Wherein, the human universals of shame and humiliation circumvent the existent perplexity of self-justification. Dubious emotions casting shadows creating a vivid portrait of a hypersensitive inner-world sheathed in the depths by humility of love and arrogance of lust. The immoralities of an imagination seducing the moralities of human nature. What is it to sense an illicit love that has yet to take a definite form, looming in the heart of sheer lust?
….And even of if it was wrong to be secretly in love with another man, what was so bad about being in love with a woman, someone of my own sex?”….
Tanizaki brings forth an enticing work of fiction steeped in delirious pathology of eroticism and psychological obscurities in the quest for an obsessive longing. The lesbian affair mutually affecting Mitsuko and more so Sonoko, prevails with the conquest of sexual pleasures; supple bodies become a constructive and destructive force of subliminal mind, insatiable for sensuous stimuli.
The torrid liaison sexually and emotionally manipulates Sonoko and Mitsuko invading along the lives of Watanuki and Kotaro, distressing and disrupting the very inadequacies of individualistic disposition. Tanizaki explores the ambiguities of love and marriage delineating the fervid mystification of the sinister bend ingrained in the core of human nature. The sensual arc centring eroticism tainted by hysteria bypasses the aspects of perversion sketching out human frailty encompassing the aesthetics of Mitsuko’s virtuous beauty. The need to ‘cling onto love’ culminates in mortification with the ‘pretence to love’, bona fide revelations still lingering in a rigid state of denial. Watanuki’s sexual impotency masked within his embolden physical dishonesty stands in contrast to Kotaro’s sexually potent yet impassioned libido curdling tangible neurotic regression of complex relationships changing the entire course of basic psychosomatic make-up of human physicality. Profoundly intertwined in the web of envy, violence, adultery, malice, animosity and other ensuing emotional incitements, the four keyed up protagonists ravenously cling onto the vanity of love; Mitsuko becoming the core link in the catastrophic game of love and eroticism , the two men and Sonoko mere pawns of manipulation. Love, an intoxicating blend of lust and devotion, serene yet unstable when disturbed by surplus stress equates to the quicksand phenomenon, a static human fallibility sinking in the deep well of chaotic pith.
So I found myself sinking deeper and deeper into the quicksand, and although I said to myself I had to escape, by this time, I was helpless. I knew I was being used by Mitsuko and that all the while she was calling me her dear sister she was actually making a fool of me.
Tanizaki’s exploration of women thriving in naturalistic societal milieu, women whose lives are confined to the workings of their inner-self, is subtle yet provocative. Tanizaki perceives the external human equation as an artistic portrait wherein the bare truth lies buried in its shadowy depths, abstracted from the customary kaleidoscopic visible exterior. The female characters be it Sonoko or Mitsuko are sexual aggressors; the unrestrained sexual needs clashing with the emotional displacement are emphasized by jaded manipulative passions stimulated by forlorn hearts. The brattish demeanour fading in the virginal splendour of supple chaste body; sex being the prime tangible deriving force of commotion. Being a frequent Tanizaki reader, the literary configuration is structured with a definite beginning and an end; the journey in between either fascinating or mundane transforms imagination into impending authenticity; the enabled truth which is not ethical but psychological. The masked flaws of a virtuous beauty self-contained in a manipulative world fixated on force rein. The Japanese titular connotation “Manji” symbolizing the four pronged Buddhist Swastika, epitomize four harmonious lovers immersed in the whirling force of passion, fantasizing the certitude of love.
…..I kept pretending to be confident of her love…..
February 3, 2023
Suicide Settles Serial Soap’s Seething Sex Scandal
Whoa, dude, a four way, bi-sexual soap opera that gets weirder and weirder as the obsessions grow stronger! The author wrote it over two years as it appeared serially in a magazine in 1928-30. I had this Sinking Sensation (not only because I like the letter ‘s’) that Tanizaki concocted it as he went along. Like, y’know, he would say one night,
“Well, what if I make Sonoko’s lover turn out to be impotent? That should give the readers a jolt! I’m gonna do it, because I’m running out of other avenues and the magazine is on my case.”
An Osaka married woman’s lesbian affair gets more and more complicated, goes bi-sexual. Everyone involved is drawn deeper and deeper into the quicksand of illicit or forbidden love. (As they used to call it.) Sonoko and her husband wind up in bed with the lovely but demanding and wily Mitsuko and her super-handsome so-called lover, Watanuki, who can’t cut the mustard. Things turn touch and go. It reminded me of the old-time movie classic, “Perils of Pauline”, a series in which the heroine always gets saved at the last minute by some fluke. In this case, a new twist comes hopping round the bend in order to save Tanizaki’s bacon and keep his serialized novel going. I’m not sure why people thought it was worth translating into English other than it being pretty daring for the times. You will find a few disparaging comments about Osaka people from the Tokyo-born Tanizaki; maybe he decided to locate his story there because of the city’s “less than sterling reputation” in more sombre Tokyo. QUICKSAND doesn’t represent anything more than a pre-manga stage in Japanese literature and it’s far from representing the best that Tanizaki wrote. It connects mostly to the topic of “Titillation.” And probably also relates to the author’s need for cash. I can’t think why I should recommend this lightweight novel to anybody. However, if the topic interests you, ignore my somewhat scathing comments and give it a go. Don’t say I didn’t tell you.
Whoa, dude, a four way, bi-sexual soap opera that gets weirder and weirder as the obsessions grow stronger! The author wrote it over two years as it appeared serially in a magazine in 1928-30. I had this Sinking Sensation (not only because I like the letter ‘s’) that Tanizaki concocted it as he went along. Like, y’know, he would say one night,
“Well, what if I make Sonoko’s lover turn out to be impotent? That should give the readers a jolt! I’m gonna do it, because I’m running out of other avenues and the magazine is on my case.”
An Osaka married woman’s lesbian affair gets more and more complicated, goes bi-sexual. Everyone involved is drawn deeper and deeper into the quicksand of illicit or forbidden love. (As they used to call it.) Sonoko and her husband wind up in bed with the lovely but demanding and wily Mitsuko and her super-handsome so-called lover, Watanuki, who can’t cut the mustard. Things turn touch and go. It reminded me of the old-time movie classic, “Perils of Pauline”, a series in which the heroine always gets saved at the last minute by some fluke. In this case, a new twist comes hopping round the bend in order to save Tanizaki’s bacon and keep his serialized novel going. I’m not sure why people thought it was worth translating into English other than it being pretty daring for the times. You will find a few disparaging comments about Osaka people from the Tokyo-born Tanizaki; maybe he decided to locate his story there because of the city’s “less than sterling reputation” in more sombre Tokyo. QUICKSAND doesn’t represent anything more than a pre-manga stage in Japanese literature and it’s far from representing the best that Tanizaki wrote. It connects mostly to the topic of “Titillation.” And probably also relates to the author’s need for cash. I can’t think why I should recommend this lightweight novel to anybody. However, if the topic interests you, ignore my somewhat scathing comments and give it a go. Don’t say I didn’t tell you.
February 24, 2020
Power and control, jealousy and obsession, manipulation and betrayal - oh yes, and a four-way bisexual love affair: Tanizaki's novel is, as Kristen Roupenian aptly described it, "Cruel Intentions", but set in the upper class of Osaka. Originally published in a serial format between 1928 and 1930, the story's narrator is 23-year-old Sonoko, the wife of Kotaro, a lawyer who is financially dependent on his in-laws. Sonoko and Kotaro are a mismatch, and when Sonoko meets beautiful Mitsuko at an art academy, the two women begin an affair. Soon, it turns out that Mitsuko also has a male lover, Watanuki - what else is Mitsuko hiding from Sonoko? Gradually, it becomes clear that all four protagonists are entangled in a complex web of manipulation and deceit, and with every twist and turn, the ground the characters and we as readers stand on keeps shifting...
Tanizaki lets Sonoko tell her story to a writer, and we read the account this writer (who resembles the author in various ways) has crafted based on their conversations. He refers to Sonoko as a widow - the impending disaster looms over the whole narrative. Who is lying? Who is telling the truth? Until the very end, we share Sonoko's confusion, fall into the same traps and share her deceptions. In this story, it really is impossible to foresee what's behind all of this. As translator Howard Hibbett remarked, "Quicksand" plays with two themes that are typical for Tanizaki: Female duality as goddess/demon and destructive sexuality.
Apparently, the fact that Tanizaki wrote the novel in Osaka dialect was an important innovation for Japanese literature - unfortunately, the dialect is not detectable in the translation, but the high, aristocratic language with all of its lyrical flourish sure is. While the story is told chronologically, the author also employs various documents in order to convey the detective work and the effort to reconstruct the events: We read contracts and newspaper articles, we get descriptions of photographs etc.
All in all, this is a fascinating read about attraction and power, poetically rendered and utterly entertaining.
Tanizaki lets Sonoko tell her story to a writer, and we read the account this writer (who resembles the author in various ways) has crafted based on their conversations. He refers to Sonoko as a widow - the impending disaster looms over the whole narrative. Who is lying? Who is telling the truth? Until the very end, we share Sonoko's confusion, fall into the same traps and share her deceptions. In this story, it really is impossible to foresee what's behind all of this. As translator Howard Hibbett remarked, "Quicksand" plays with two themes that are typical for Tanizaki: Female duality as goddess/demon and destructive sexuality.
Apparently, the fact that Tanizaki wrote the novel in Osaka dialect was an important innovation for Japanese literature - unfortunately, the dialect is not detectable in the translation, but the high, aristocratic language with all of its lyrical flourish sure is. While the story is told chronologically, the author also employs various documents in order to convey the detective work and the effort to reconstruct the events: We read contracts and newspaper articles, we get descriptions of photographs etc.
All in all, this is a fascinating read about attraction and power, poetically rendered and utterly entertaining.
August 15, 2009
Man oh man, this book taught me two things about Japanese literature:
1: There was a time, in Japan's history, where the counter-culture of anime and manga did not exist. It was a time when men were real men instead of bishonens, "moe" was a concept that was probably frowned upon because women were allowed to be real, sexually mature women, and if you lost your public reputation you were shit out of luck.
2: The reason why Japanese horror is so effective, whereas modern vampire fiction fails to scare, is because there exists an understanding that the Japanese have with human nature that they just as readily accept that humans can be very manipulative, cunning, and downright terrifying without even having to be undead or anything. This book is not horror, but it is scary as hell how the characters constantly deceive each other on their crash course to annihilation.
For these two reasons, read this Tanizaki novel.
1: There was a time, in Japan's history, where the counter-culture of anime and manga did not exist. It was a time when men were real men instead of bishonens, "moe" was a concept that was probably frowned upon because women were allowed to be real, sexually mature women, and if you lost your public reputation you were shit out of luck.
2: The reason why Japanese horror is so effective, whereas modern vampire fiction fails to scare, is because there exists an understanding that the Japanese have with human nature that they just as readily accept that humans can be very manipulative, cunning, and downright terrifying without even having to be undead or anything. This book is not horror, but it is scary as hell how the characters constantly deceive each other on their crash course to annihilation.
For these two reasons, read this Tanizaki novel.
May 24, 2021
This was a somewhat strange novel, full of messy relationships and deceit and a few far-fetched moments, but I rather liked it.
July 30, 2011
It's a staring contest. It's a tie and this is the make it or break it until the first person who looks away is the LOSER rematch (don't look at the star ratings or this will be like watching a recorded sports match days after all your friends are wearing beaten expressions or gloating that "they" won). I won the first round in 2007 (haha! suckers! I won!). Tanizaki's The Makioka Sisters didn't pull one facial muscle. Something about a gilded coma of boredom. I sang that song from The Lion King. Sure, I stared at the same sentence a lot. I guess that's the book winning if I looked away first to see if my feet were more interesting. Don't distract me with fake mustaches! Props are cheating. I liked Some Prefer Nettles alright during the rematch (in my face say the bookies). You won't confuse me with twisted endings and book covers of women made out of sand. (What is so hot about sand? It gets in uncomfortable places. Jabba the Hutt molests women in sandy places. Bodice rippers about harems, the sands of time soap operas, etc. I lost my Jake Gyllenhaal crush in a desert. Not hot!) This is not The Woman in the Dunes. The cover says it is erotic, a love story about obsession (the kind that doesn't wear off so not magazine perfume samples. The whole bottle spilled on the rug. Vanity celebrity kind of perfume). The Washington Times drop the Nabokov and James Cain bombs of expectations. Props are cheating, I said!
Wait, wait! Let me put on my poker face (deadpan like a saucer. Or a ufo).
Me : Stares... The (translator's fault?) voice reminds me of a male voice actor playing a woman on an audio book. It's hard to get into because someone is clearly acting. (I can count on one hand the books I've listened to on audio if you discount Harry Potter. Then it is two hands.) She's trying to appeal to her author friend about something that has happened to her. After the facts this was all totally important and I had no choice. What's with all of the appealing here? What's the agenda? This is less curiosity and more wariness of potential manipulation. Tanizaki never needed to say that his narrator was a spoiled housewife, I'll give him that. I'll take it away that he said it a lot anyway.
Tanizaki: Yes! Do you think the author she's appealing to is me?
Me: The author's notes are uninvolving. They are there to point out how tacky women from Osaka are. I'm not sure about the judgemental air, like people who aren't sophisticated Tokyo people wouldn't be in this situation at all. The situation being acting like silly women?
Book: Keep reading. Pretty people, pretty people, pretty people. It's love and obsession if people cry a lot and make a scene. Like a kid in a store who REALLY wants that candy bar.
Me: But you aren't even looking at me! You're staring at yourself! It is not enough to go on and on about how fucking pretty someone is. The descriptions of Mitsuko's perfect body made my eyes careen off the page. Is there a doodle? Something? (Shit. It's of the perfect body. That's a stick figure!) Okay, the back of the book brags about how Mitsuko is one of the great manipulators of literature? I think the back of the book needs to be rewritten. How about this? Pretty people don't need to do anything but be pretty and people will do anything for them. Nothing else matters so long as that object is pretty.
Book: Pretty! (infinity times infinity squared plus sex appeal.)
Me: (.)(.)
Book: Aren't Mitsuko's breasts hot?
Me: Those are eyes! (-)(-)
Me: I really think this is meant to be some kind of a satire. You know those scenes in bad movies that are close up shots of the man or woman's face during sex? Eyes roll back in the head and maybe you are supposed to be ecstatic for them. I have no context for their joy, pain, whatever except to think "Hey, this is like that scene on The Wire when Carchetti fucked that woman and pointed to himself in the mirror while he was getting off. He liked looking at himself in the mirror as he got off." That's all it is to me for context and for the meaning of this story. I will think of Mitsuko getting off over people wanting her when I see it again elsewhere. Sonoko is paranoid that she's being laughed at. It's that myth (I've heard about it, anyway) that you'll look great if your arm candy looks great. Is this satire of arm candy? What about marriage? Do I care without any context? "Look, another loveless marriage." It was obvious that Sonoko's husband was gonna want Mitsuko (even though the back of the book announced this as one of her feats of persuasion) the same as his wife. They were all drooling over a painting of her. Gee, do you think she might be pretty? It shouldn't be obvious because of pretty if your characters have anything else to them than excuses to say something.
Book: Maybe I'm about the westernization of Japan?
Nooooooooooooo. Not that again! I NEVER get that, not even in books much more alive than this. Shouldn't the people be alive anyway? People are not bound foot and mouth to the times they come from. And you can get your point (whatever that is. That Osaka women had bad taste in stationary? Way to go announcing that their love letters to each other were for the sake of gushing on paper! You could have EARNED that in subtext!) about how that affects people if there is something real to measure it against. I hate satire. I don't need to read a boring book about stupid pretty people to get that romance can be ridiculous. Besides that, I didn't believe that anyone was in love with anyone. Because Mitsuko was pretty.
Why couldn't the book been about Mitsuko's boyfriend who had measles that prevented him from ever doing the nasty with all of his previous conquests? He used his looks and feigned intentions, a gentle manner, to lead women around for the illusion of love. No one could get too close for he feared the loss of that mirage. That would have been better than this arm candy manipulation shit. Mitsuko was boring! That she liked being admired for her looks was fucking boring. Now Watanuki had a reason for choosing a dream...
Sonoko outlives the suicide pact and fears that they planned to leave her behind all along. That in death she would come between them. It was good that she was thinking about her own ego in all of this. But what is interesting about a book about the desire to be or have arm candy? (HOW is this considered erotic? Why the need to be misleading, anyway? Was this commentary on the lesbianism?) If you look further into that void what else is in there? I stared at those sentences and no answer was forthcoming. Would it have been so bad to throw out some of the pretty lines for something about why Sonoko and her husband needed to feel special from the approval of something they valued (ugh pretty). No way was she a master percussionist of humans.
Fuck it. It should have been there in all that staring without being told. That's what would happen if you had something to say.
The author Sonoko writes to may pass judgement. I didn't care enough to do that. Apathy kills me.
If the rules of a staring contest are that the winner goes the longest without expressing an expression I guess this book wins. I lose because I'm irritated. My brow furrowed, I gained a few more frown lines (now I'll never be a Mitsuko!). No more rematches. I will look bored for the rest of my life. "Oh that? Those are my Tanizaki scars."
(Quit sticking your tongue out at me! It's over!)
Wait, wait! Let me put on my poker face (deadpan like a saucer. Or a ufo).
Me : Stares... The (translator's fault?) voice reminds me of a male voice actor playing a woman on an audio book. It's hard to get into because someone is clearly acting. (I can count on one hand the books I've listened to on audio if you discount Harry Potter. Then it is two hands.) She's trying to appeal to her author friend about something that has happened to her. After the facts this was all totally important and I had no choice. What's with all of the appealing here? What's the agenda? This is less curiosity and more wariness of potential manipulation. Tanizaki never needed to say that his narrator was a spoiled housewife, I'll give him that. I'll take it away that he said it a lot anyway.
Tanizaki: Yes! Do you think the author she's appealing to is me?
Me: The author's notes are uninvolving. They are there to point out how tacky women from Osaka are. I'm not sure about the judgemental air, like people who aren't sophisticated Tokyo people wouldn't be in this situation at all. The situation being acting like silly women?
Book: Keep reading. Pretty people, pretty people, pretty people. It's love and obsession if people cry a lot and make a scene. Like a kid in a store who REALLY wants that candy bar.
Me: But you aren't even looking at me! You're staring at yourself! It is not enough to go on and on about how fucking pretty someone is. The descriptions of Mitsuko's perfect body made my eyes careen off the page. Is there a doodle? Something? (Shit. It's of the perfect body. That's a stick figure!) Okay, the back of the book brags about how Mitsuko is one of the great manipulators of literature? I think the back of the book needs to be rewritten. How about this? Pretty people don't need to do anything but be pretty and people will do anything for them. Nothing else matters so long as that object is pretty.
Book: Pretty! (infinity times infinity squared plus sex appeal.)
Me: (.)(.)
Book: Aren't Mitsuko's breasts hot?
Me: Those are eyes! (-)(-)
Me: I really think this is meant to be some kind of a satire. You know those scenes in bad movies that are close up shots of the man or woman's face during sex? Eyes roll back in the head and maybe you are supposed to be ecstatic for them. I have no context for their joy, pain, whatever except to think "Hey, this is like that scene on The Wire when Carchetti fucked that woman and pointed to himself in the mirror while he was getting off. He liked looking at himself in the mirror as he got off." That's all it is to me for context and for the meaning of this story. I will think of Mitsuko getting off over people wanting her when I see it again elsewhere. Sonoko is paranoid that she's being laughed at. It's that myth (I've heard about it, anyway) that you'll look great if your arm candy looks great. Is this satire of arm candy? What about marriage? Do I care without any context? "Look, another loveless marriage." It was obvious that Sonoko's husband was gonna want Mitsuko (even though the back of the book announced this as one of her feats of persuasion) the same as his wife. They were all drooling over a painting of her. Gee, do you think she might be pretty? It shouldn't be obvious because of pretty if your characters have anything else to them than excuses to say something.
Book: Maybe I'm about the westernization of Japan?
Nooooooooooooo. Not that again! I NEVER get that, not even in books much more alive than this. Shouldn't the people be alive anyway? People are not bound foot and mouth to the times they come from. And you can get your point (whatever that is. That Osaka women had bad taste in stationary? Way to go announcing that their love letters to each other were for the sake of gushing on paper! You could have EARNED that in subtext!) about how that affects people if there is something real to measure it against. I hate satire. I don't need to read a boring book about stupid pretty people to get that romance can be ridiculous. Besides that, I didn't believe that anyone was in love with anyone. Because Mitsuko was pretty.
Why couldn't the book been about Mitsuko's boyfriend who had measles that prevented him from ever doing the nasty with all of his previous conquests? He used his looks and feigned intentions, a gentle manner, to lead women around for the illusion of love. No one could get too close for he feared the loss of that mirage. That would have been better than this arm candy manipulation shit. Mitsuko was boring! That she liked being admired for her looks was fucking boring. Now Watanuki had a reason for choosing a dream...
Sonoko outlives the suicide pact and fears that they planned to leave her behind all along. That in death she would come between them. It was good that she was thinking about her own ego in all of this. But what is interesting about a book about the desire to be or have arm candy? (HOW is this considered erotic? Why the need to be misleading, anyway? Was this commentary on the lesbianism?) If you look further into that void what else is in there? I stared at those sentences and no answer was forthcoming. Would it have been so bad to throw out some of the pretty lines for something about why Sonoko and her husband needed to feel special from the approval of something they valued (ugh pretty). No way was she a master percussionist of humans.
Fuck it. It should have been there in all that staring without being told. That's what would happen if you had something to say.
The author Sonoko writes to may pass judgement. I didn't care enough to do that. Apathy kills me.
If the rules of a staring contest are that the winner goes the longest without expressing an expression I guess this book wins. I lose because I'm irritated. My brow furrowed, I gained a few more frown lines (now I'll never be a Mitsuko!). No more rematches. I will look bored for the rest of my life. "Oh that? Those are my Tanizaki scars."
(Quit sticking your tongue out at me! It's over!)
July 15, 2021
já faz algumas horas q eu terminei de ler esse livro e até agora não consegui parar de pensar nele. apesar de ter AMADO conhecer a escrita do Tanizaki (que eu já tinha muita vontade de ler por causa do Murakami (que é um dos meus autores favoritos)), achei o final da história muito discutível
gostei de conhecer as protagonistas e gostei de certas discussões que o livro trouxe através do personagem do Watanuki. todos os personagens são mt reais e se apresentaram pra mim como peças num tabuleiro problemático (q é a sociedade japonesa na década de 30) e têm seus próprios interesses, desejos e almejam conquistar aquilo que precisam independente do custo. gosto, tb, d como as personagens se conectam, achei realmente mt bom
acho importante que vc não pegue esse livro buscando ~representatividade bissexual, pq não é isso q vc vai ter aqui. não achei q rolou uma fetichização desses corpos, felizmente. apesar d esquisito, o relacionamento entre ela é mt bem escrito e tem bastante camada. mas, claro, isso não isenta as meninas d toda a esquisitice kkk
como uma bala Azedinha de melancia, enquanto mastigava, tava amando, mas o fim me trouxe caretas e aquela dor maldita no maxilar. recomendo!
gostei de conhecer as protagonistas e gostei de certas discussões que o livro trouxe através do personagem do Watanuki. todos os personagens são mt reais e se apresentaram pra mim como peças num tabuleiro problemático (q é a sociedade japonesa na década de 30) e têm seus próprios interesses, desejos e almejam conquistar aquilo que precisam independente do custo. gosto, tb, d como as personagens se conectam, achei realmente mt bom
acho importante que vc não pegue esse livro buscando ~representatividade bissexual, pq não é isso q vc vai ter aqui. não achei q rolou uma fetichização desses corpos, felizmente. apesar d esquisito, o relacionamento entre ela é mt bem escrito e tem bastante camada. mas, claro, isso não isenta as meninas d toda a esquisitice kkk
como uma bala Azedinha de melancia, enquanto mastigava, tava amando, mas o fim me trouxe caretas e aquela dor maldita no maxilar. recomendo!
June 9, 2017
Lúc trước đi hiệu sách thấy một chồng mà né , không đọc , vì một lý do không thể baka hơn : em tưởng nó là sách tôn giáo. Em hơi bị ít hứng thú với tôn giáo và chính trị. Sau khi biết nội dung của ẻm không phải về tôn giáo mà là chuyện tình buê đuê tay bốn đầy kịch tính , em liền về down ngay bản tiếng Anh để đọc , phòng khi nội dung quá biến thái và sẹc xi . Hihi. Hóa ra biến thái thì vô cùng , nhưng sẹc xi thì ít xịt . Hơi thất vọng .
Chữ Vạn kể theo lời của Sonoko ( tức Chị Gái Có Chồng")Chị Gái Có Chồng là buê đuê kín , buồn chán với cuộc sống hôn nhân tẻ cmn nhạt , chị gái tham gia một lớp học vẽ. Cơ mà chị không có vẽ mẫu được giao , chị vẽ Mitsuko ( hay em gái siu nhơn ) . Bởi thế nên gây ra tin đồn trong trường về chiện tình buê đuê của hai người. Một ngày đẹp trời , em gái siu nhơn liền đề nghị theo chị gái có chồng về nhà để làm mẫu chị vẽ nốt bức tranh phật bà quan âm . À , nhân tiện thì em gái siu nhơn đẹp chong chắng như Phật Bà , em lại làm mẫu nude nữa nên chị gái có chồng phát khùng vì vẻ đẹp của ẻm . Rồi hai người thành bồ thật luôn. Ahihi.
Từ cổ chí kim người ta chỉ thấy những người đàn bà bỏ chồng theo giai chứ mấy khi thấy một người đàn bà vì một người đàn bà khác mà điên cuồng , coi chồng không bằng cái đinh gỉ ? Đọc chữ Vạn này sẽ thấy.
"And even if it was wrong to be secretly in love with another man, what was so bad about being in love with a woman , someone of my own sex ? "
Đại loại tằng tịu với giai mới là có lỗi , còn yêu gái thì không có cái tội tình chi mô. Hihi.
Và mặc dù biết chắc mình đang sa chân vào vũng lầy không có đường thoát , Chị Gái Có Chồng vẫn bất chấp lao vào.
"So I found myself sinking deeper and deeper into the quicksand, and although I said to myself I had to escape, by this time I was helpless. I knew I was being used by Mitsuko and that all the while she was calling me her dear sister she was actually making a fool of me"
Em định nói như thế là ngu như con căng gu ru , nhưng em chợt giật mình , bởi em cũng đã từng có lúc như thế. Ngại quá hí hí .
Có lẽ chưa bao giờ em từng đọc về một nhân vật nữ nào điên cuồng đến thế , đẹp hút hồn đến thế , thao túng giỏi như cái cô em gái siu nhơn Mitsuko này . Bởi vì đơn giản thôi :
’s natural for a man to look at a woman and think she’s beautiful, but when I realize I can have another woman infatuated with me, I ask myself if I’m really that beautiful! It makes me blissfully happy!”
Được đàn ông mê là chuyện thường , được đàn bà mê mới là sướng chết thôi. Well, đấy là suy nghĩ rất thật của những người đàn bà đẹp và biết là mình đẹp. Bởi thế em không trách em gái siu nhơn nhiều. Đấy là bản chất của ẻm mà. Thao túng , dối trá cả chị gái có chồng và cả chồng của chị í , rồi cả anh bạn trai liệt dương của ẻm. Ai cũng mê ẻm. Ai cũng dối trá , lừa lọc , thao túng lẫn nhau. Tất cả nhân danh một chữ tình . Nhưng rồi em chợt nghĩ , có thật là tình không? Kỳ thực ai cũng hành động theo bản năng , thứ bản năng của con người từ thưở hồng hoang : dối trá. Mitsuko nói dối Sonoko , Sonoko nói dối chồng và ngược lại. Watanuki nói dối Sonoko và Mitsuko nói dối tất cả bọn họ.
Mới đầu em định nói hãy tránh xa những em gái siu nhơn như Mitsuko ra , các em gái đẹp và biết mình có thể làm gì với điều đó rất nguy hiểm . Đọc xong rồi em nghĩ ai cũng là người . Ai cũng như nhau cả. Ai cũng đáng sợ. Em sợ. Nỗi sợ bám chặt vào óc như thứ nhựa đường đen sì , đặc quánh.
Đây thực ra là một cuốn sách đáng đọc , tuyệt vời với những ai thích nhìn sâu vào phần bản chất tăm tối , đầy ám ảnh vĩ cuồng , đầy những điên rồ đến vô độ , vô lý của con người. Dạng sách mà em vừa yêu vừa sợ , không dám đọc lần hai.
Chữ Vạn kể theo lời của Sonoko ( tức Chị Gái Có Chồng")Chị Gái Có Chồng là buê đuê kín , buồn chán với cuộc sống hôn nhân tẻ cmn nhạt , chị gái tham gia một lớp học vẽ. Cơ mà chị không có vẽ mẫu được giao , chị vẽ Mitsuko ( hay em gái siu nhơn ) . Bởi thế nên gây ra tin đồn trong trường về chiện tình buê đuê của hai người. Một ngày đẹp trời , em gái siu nhơn liền đề nghị theo chị gái có chồng về nhà để làm mẫu chị vẽ nốt bức tranh phật bà quan âm . À , nhân tiện thì em gái siu nhơn đẹp chong chắng như Phật Bà , em lại làm mẫu nude nữa nên chị gái có chồng phát khùng vì vẻ đẹp của ẻm . Rồi hai người thành bồ thật luôn. Ahihi.
Từ cổ chí kim người ta chỉ thấy những người đàn bà bỏ chồng theo giai chứ mấy khi thấy một người đàn bà vì một người đàn bà khác mà điên cuồng , coi chồng không bằng cái đinh gỉ ? Đọc chữ Vạn này sẽ thấy.
"And even if it was wrong to be secretly in love with another man, what was so bad about being in love with a woman , someone of my own sex ? "
Đại loại tằng tịu với giai mới là có lỗi , còn yêu gái thì không có cái tội tình chi mô. Hihi.
Và mặc dù biết chắc mình đang sa chân vào vũng lầy không có đường thoát , Chị Gái Có Chồng vẫn bất chấp lao vào.
"So I found myself sinking deeper and deeper into the quicksand, and although I said to myself I had to escape, by this time I was helpless. I knew I was being used by Mitsuko and that all the while she was calling me her dear sister she was actually making a fool of me"
Em định nói như thế là ngu như con căng gu ru , nhưng em chợt giật mình , bởi em cũng đã từng có lúc như thế. Ngại quá hí hí .
Có lẽ chưa bao giờ em từng đọc về một nhân vật nữ nào điên cuồng đến thế , đẹp hút hồn đến thế , thao túng giỏi như cái cô em gái siu nhơn Mitsuko này . Bởi vì đơn giản thôi :
’s natural for a man to look at a woman and think she’s beautiful, but when I realize I can have another woman infatuated with me, I ask myself if I’m really that beautiful! It makes me blissfully happy!”
Được đàn ông mê là chuyện thường , được đàn bà mê mới là sướng chết thôi. Well, đấy là suy nghĩ rất thật của những người đàn bà đẹp và biết là mình đẹp. Bởi thế em không trách em gái siu nhơn nhiều. Đấy là bản chất của ẻm mà. Thao túng , dối trá cả chị gái có chồng và cả chồng của chị í , rồi cả anh bạn trai liệt dương của ẻm. Ai cũng mê ẻm. Ai cũng dối trá , lừa lọc , thao túng lẫn nhau. Tất cả nhân danh một chữ tình . Nhưng rồi em chợt nghĩ , có thật là tình không? Kỳ thực ai cũng hành động theo bản năng , thứ bản năng của con người từ thưở hồng hoang : dối trá. Mitsuko nói dối Sonoko , Sonoko nói dối chồng và ngược lại. Watanuki nói dối Sonoko và Mitsuko nói dối tất cả bọn họ.
Mới đầu em định nói hãy tránh xa những em gái siu nhơn như Mitsuko ra , các em gái đẹp và biết mình có thể làm gì với điều đó rất nguy hiểm . Đọc xong rồi em nghĩ ai cũng là người . Ai cũng như nhau cả. Ai cũng đáng sợ. Em sợ. Nỗi sợ bám chặt vào óc như thứ nhựa đường đen sì , đặc quánh.
Đây thực ra là một cuốn sách đáng đọc , tuyệt vời với những ai thích nhìn sâu vào phần bản chất tăm tối , đầy ám ảnh vĩ cuồng , đầy những điên rồ đến vô độ , vô lý của con người. Dạng sách mà em vừa yêu vừa sợ , không dám đọc lần hai.
October 2, 2020
Con una prosa que fluye sutil y sencilla, sin artificios, con frases cortas y directas, el autor nos lleva a un enredo que podría haberse presentado más propiamente en esta época de apertura y liberación sexual, sin embargo asombrosamente esta novela fue escrita hace casi 100 años. El autor es capaz de bordar todo un relato con sólo un enredo sentimental entre cuatro personas: Mitsuko, su amante Watanuki; así como con la Sra. Kakiuchi y su marido. Con estos personajes y con una trama que gira alrededor del ansia de atención, de la satisfacción de la vanidad y de la voluntad de dominio, el autor se las ingenia para mantenernos en suspenso durante todo el libro.
Además de la libertad y la apertura tanto sentimental como sexual que el autor no sólo explora sino que plantea abiertamente, también nos va descorriendo gradualmente una cortina que permite ver un complicado entramado pasional, lleno de argucias, engaños, revelaciones inquietantes y triquiñuelas osadas que van hundiendo a los protagonistas en arenas movedizas que implican poder, celos, engaños, traiciones y mentiras.
El autor Junichiro Tanizaki (1886-1965) es uno de los escritores japoneses más reconocidos del siglo XX, quien suele explorar en su obra el conflicto que surge de los valores tradicionales y esta novela no es la excepción.
Además de la libertad y la apertura tanto sentimental como sexual que el autor no sólo explora sino que plantea abiertamente, también nos va descorriendo gradualmente una cortina que permite ver un complicado entramado pasional, lleno de argucias, engaños, revelaciones inquietantes y triquiñuelas osadas que van hundiendo a los protagonistas en arenas movedizas que implican poder, celos, engaños, traiciones y mentiras.
El autor Junichiro Tanizaki (1886-1965) es uno de los escritores japoneses más reconocidos del siglo XX, quien suele explorar en su obra el conflicto que surge de los valores tradicionales y esta novela no es la excepción.
December 20, 2020
Quicksand หรือ Manji โดย Junichiro Tanizaki ชื่อไทยคือ รักแสร้ง แรงเสน่หา แปลโดย วรวดี วงศ์สง่า สนพ. บ้านหนังสือ
ทานิซากิตีพิมพ์เรื่อง Quicksand ใน��ี 1931 พอคิดว่าเรื่องนี้เขียนมาตั้งแต่ยุคที่ญี่ปุ่นยังใส่ชุดกิโมโนเป็นปกติในชีวิตประจำวันก็อดรู้สึกว่าช่างเป็นเรื่องที่ทันสมัยอะไรขนาดนี้ ไม่รู้สึกเก่าเชยเลยสักนิด Quicksand อ่านเพลินๆ ได้สนุกดีค่ะ จัดว่าอ่านสนุกเลยล่ะถ้าเทียบกับงานวรรณกรรมคลาสสิค เจ้าอารมณ์เคลิ้มตกอยู่ในห้วงรักของคุณโซโนโกะคือสุดขีดจริงๆ และการคิดหาเหตุผลมาบอกว่าการมีชู้ของเธอไม่ผิด... นี่ก็คิดเข้าข้างตัวเองได้น่าประทับใจในการช่างสรรหาเหตุผลมาบรรยายมากเลยค่ะ
Quicksand เป็นเรื่องราวของโซโนโกะ คาเคอุจิ ภรรยายังสาวของทนายความหนุ่มแห่งเมืองโอซาก้า
โซโนโกะจะใช้เวลาตอนกลางวันไปเรียนวาดภาพที่โรงเรียนสอนศิลปะ
อยู่มาวันหนึ่ง เธอก็ต้องเผชิญข่าวลือเสียๆ หายๆ ระหว่างเธอกับสาวงามลูกคุณหนูนางหนึ่ง นามว่า มิตสึโกะ
จากเรื่องนินทาสนุกปากไม่มีเค้ามูล จู่ๆ โซโนโกะกลับพบว่าตนเองเกิดลุ่มหลงในตัวมิตสึโกะมากขึ้นทุกที จนกลายมาเป็นเรื่องราวในเล่มนี้ค่ะ
Quicksand แบ่งเป็นช่วงใหญ่ๆ ได้ 3 ช่วง คือ
1.ช่วงโซโนโกะหวานชื่นกับกิ๊กคนใหม่ของเธอซึ่งเป็นสาวสวยหยดย้อยนามว่า มิตสึโกะ
2.ช่วงกลางเรื่องที่มีเหตุการณ์ชวนสับสนว่ามิตสึโกะเป็นคนอย่างไรกันแน่นะ? และ
3. ช่วงท้ายที่เต็มไปด้วยอารมณ์เชี่ยวกรากชนิดกลายสภาพไปเป็นละครชิงรักหักสวาทเลยค่ะ
คำว่า Quicksand ชื่อเรื่องหมายถึง ทรายดูด เป็นการเปรียบเทียบอารมณ์ความรู้สึกถลำลึกของโซโนโกะที่ตกอยู่ในห้วงรักกับมิตสึโกะว่าเหมือนทรายดูด ความลุ่มหลงมัวเมาชนิดที่ไม่สนใจวาจะต้องโกหกหรือปั้นแต่งเรื่องราวอะไร ทั้งหมดทั้งมวลที่ทำลงไปก็เพื่อให้เธอมีเวลาได้อยู่ใกล้ชิดมิตสึโกะเท่านั้น
เราชอบวิธีการเล่าเรื่องในเล่มนี้ค่ะ
1. ทานิซากิทำให้เราลุ้นได้ตลอดเวลา เกิดความสงสัยอยากสอดรู้สอดเห็นเรื่องของสองสาวที่ต้องแอบซ่อนความสัมพันธ์ เช่น โซโนโกะแค่ girl crush กับมิตสึโกะไหม? นางเอาจริงจริงๆ เหรอ? คู่นี้เค้าจริงจังกันแค่ไหน? คู่นี้จะรักกันได้แค่ไหน? สามีโซโนโกะไม่ว่าอะไรเลยเหรอที่ภรรยาตัวเองไปมีชู้? (มีชู้เป็นผู้หญิงด้วย) แล้วสามีนางไม่มีการระแคะระคายเลยเหรอ?
คำเตือน: กรุณาระวังปกหลังฉบับแปลไทยหลุดสปอยด์มาเต็มๆ เลยค่ะ
2. วิธีเล่าเรื่องนี้แปลกดี เหมือนโซโนโกะมานั่งอยู่หน้าเราแล้วนินทาเรื่องตัวเอง เรื่องสามี เรื่องปากหอยปากปู และเรื่องมิตสึโกะให้เราฟัง ถ้าเคยนั่งอยู่ในวงนินทาที่เล่ากันเป็นฉากๆ วิเคราะห์กันทีละเม็ดแล้วล่ะก็... เรื่อง Quicksand ก็ภาษาจัดจ้านแบบนั้นแหล่ะค่ะ แต่ในความจัดจ้าน ภาษาของทานิซากิกลับเรียบร้อยมากเลยด้วยนะคะ
3. การใช้ภาษาที่ไม่บอกตรงๆ - ถ้าใครเคยอ่าน "เยิรเงาสลัว" ของทานิซากิมาก็น่าจะเดาทางทานิซากิได้ว่าเขาเล่าแบบน้อยแต่มาก บรรยากาศและองค์ประกอบมาเต็มทั้งที่ไม่มีตัวหนังสือเขียนกำกับไว้ หลายทีที่เราอ่านฉากที่ชวนเหวอ หรือฉากที่เกินคาดว่าเหตุการณ์มันจะออกมาแบบนี้ หรือฉากที่อ่านไปก็ได้แต่กะพริบตาปริบๆ ... เราพบว่าฉากทั้งหลายเล่านี้ "ไม่มีการเขียนบอกตรงๆ" เลยค่ะ นอกจากจะไม่มีคำพรรณนาแล้วก็ยังไม่ได้ใช้วิธีการเปรียบเปรยเปรียบเทียบด้วย เขาแค่บอกว่ามัน "เกิดอะไรขึ้น" โดยเขยิบข้ามไปเล่าจากจุดอื่น ตอนเราอ่านเจอฉากที่เขาเล่าแบบนี้หนแรกก็รู้สึกอะเมซิ่งมาก แต่อ่านไปเรื่อยๆ ก็พบว่า อ่อ... เป็นวิธีการเล่าแบบทานิซากินี่เองสินะ กระทั่งฉากที่ค่อนข้างรุนแรง ภาษาที่ใช้ก็ยังเรียบร้อย หากแต่เรารู้ว่าตัวละครในเรื่องกำลังอารมณ์ปะทุชนิดภูเขาไฟระเบิดอยู่ค่ะ
สำหรับฉบับแปลไทย เราชอบสำนวนแปลเล่มนี้ของคุณวรวดี วงศ์สง่านะคะ เดาว่าน่าจะแปลมาจากฉบับอังกฤษ ก็เลยอ่านง่ายดี ไหลลื่น เข้าใจง่ายดีด้วยค่ะ (แอบดีใจที่เล่มนี้สะกดชื่อภาษาญี่ปุ่นให้อ่านง่ายค่ะ 555)
ป.ล. ประวัติของทานิซากิที่ทางสนพ.บ้านหนังสือเอามาลงไว้ในช่วงก่อนเข้าเรื่อง ประวัติของเขาแซ่บมากเลยค่ะ
ป.ล.2 นิยายของทานิซากิมีแปลไทยอยู่ทั้งหมด 4 เรื่องกับทางสนพ.บ้านหนังสือ คือ Quicksand, The Key, Diary of a Mad Old Man, Some Prefer Nettles ส่วน non-fiction มีเยิรเงาสลัวกับทางโอเพ่นบุ๊คค่ะ
ทานิซากิตีพิมพ์เรื่อง Quicksand ใน��ี 1931 พอคิดว่าเรื่องนี้เขียนมาตั้งแต่ยุคที่ญี่ปุ่นยังใส่ชุดกิโมโนเป็นปกติในชีวิตประจำวันก็อดรู้สึกว่าช่างเป็นเรื่องที่ทันสมัยอะไรขนาดนี้ ไม่รู้สึกเก่าเชยเลยสักนิด Quicksand อ่านเพลินๆ ได้สนุกดีค่ะ จัดว่าอ่านสนุกเลยล่ะถ้าเทียบกับงานวรรณกรรมคลาสสิค เจ้าอารมณ์เคลิ้มตกอยู่ในห้วงรักของคุณโซโนโกะคือสุดขีดจริงๆ และการคิดหาเหตุผลมาบอกว่าการมีชู้ของเธอไม่ผิด... นี่ก็คิดเข้าข้างตัวเองได้น่าประทับใจในการช่างสรรหาเหตุผลมาบรรยายมากเลยค่ะ
Quicksand เป็นเรื่องราวของโซโนโกะ คาเคอุจิ ภรรยายังสาวของทนายความหนุ่มแห่งเมืองโอซาก้า
โซโนโกะจะใช้เวลาตอนกลางวันไปเรียนวาดภาพที่โรงเรียนสอนศิลปะ
อยู่มาวันหนึ่ง เธอก็ต้องเผชิญข่าวลือเสียๆ หายๆ ระหว่างเธอกับสาวงามลูกคุณหนูนางหนึ่ง นามว่า มิตสึโกะ
จากเรื่องนินทาสนุกปากไม่มีเค้ามูล จู่ๆ โซโนโกะกลับพบว่าตนเองเกิดลุ่มหลงในตัวมิตสึโกะมากขึ้นทุกที จนกลายมาเป็นเรื่องราวในเล่มนี้ค่ะ
Quicksand แบ่งเป็นช่วงใหญ่ๆ ได้ 3 ช่วง คือ
1.ช่วงโซโนโกะหวานชื่นกับกิ๊กคนใหม่ของเธอซึ่งเป็นสาวสวยหยดย้อยนามว่า มิตสึโกะ
2.ช่วงกลางเรื่องที่มีเหตุการณ์ชวนสับสนว่ามิตสึโกะเป็นคนอย่างไรกันแน่นะ? และ
3. ช่วงท้ายที่เต็มไปด้วยอารมณ์เชี่ยวกรากชนิดกลายสภาพไปเป็นละครชิงรักหักสวาทเลยค่ะ
คำว่า Quicksand ชื่อเรื่องหมายถึง ทรายดูด เป็นการเปรียบเทียบอารมณ์ความรู้สึกถลำลึกของโซโนโกะที่ตกอยู่ในห้วงรักกับมิตสึโกะว่าเหมือนทรายดูด ความลุ่มหลงมัวเมาชนิดที่ไม่สนใจวาจะต้องโกหกหรือปั้นแต่งเรื่องราวอะไร ทั้งหมดทั้งมวลที่ทำลงไปก็เพื่อให้เธอมีเวลาได้อยู่ใกล้ชิดมิตสึโกะเท่านั้น
เราชอบวิธีการเล่าเรื่องในเล่มนี้ค่ะ
1. ทานิซากิทำให้เราลุ้นได้ตลอดเวลา เกิดความสงสัยอยากสอดรู้สอดเห็นเรื่องของสองสาวที่ต้องแอบซ่อนความสัมพันธ์ เช่น โซโนโกะแค่ girl crush กับมิตสึโกะไหม? นางเอาจริงจริงๆ เหรอ? คู่นี้เค้าจริงจังกันแค่ไหน? คู่นี้จะรักกันได้แค่ไหน? สามีโซโนโกะไม่ว่าอะไรเลยเหรอที่ภรรยาตัวเองไปมีชู้? (มีชู้เป็นผู้หญิงด้วย) แล้วสามีนางไม่มีการระแคะระคายเลยเหรอ?
คำเตือน: กรุณาระวังปกหลังฉบับแปลไทยหลุดสปอยด์มาเต็มๆ เลยค่ะ
2. วิธีเล่าเรื่องนี้แปลกดี เหมือนโซโนโกะมานั่งอยู่หน้าเราแล้วนินทาเรื่องตัวเอง เรื่องสามี เรื่องปากหอยปากปู และเรื่องมิตสึโกะให้เราฟัง ถ้าเคยนั่งอยู่ในวงนินทาที่เล่ากันเป็นฉากๆ วิเคราะห์กันทีละเม็ดแล้วล่ะก็... เรื่อง Quicksand ก็ภาษาจัดจ้านแบบนั้นแหล่ะค่ะ แต่ในความจัดจ้าน ภาษาของทานิซากิกลับเรียบร้อยมากเลยด้วยนะคะ
3. การใช้ภาษาที่ไม่บอกตรงๆ - ถ้าใครเคยอ่าน "เยิรเงาสลัว" ของทานิซากิมาก็น่าจะเดาทางทานิซากิได้ว่าเขาเล่าแบบน้อยแต่มาก บรรยากาศและองค์ประกอบมาเต็มทั้งที่ไม่มีตัวหนังสือเขียนกำกับไว้ หลายทีที่เราอ่านฉากที่ชวนเหวอ หรือฉากที่เกินคาดว่าเหตุการณ์มันจะออกมาแบบนี้ หรือฉากที่อ่านไปก็ได้แต่กะพริบตาปริบๆ ... เราพบว่าฉากทั้งหลายเล่านี้ "ไม่มีการเขียนบอกตรงๆ" เลยค่ะ นอกจากจะไม่มีคำพรรณนาแล้วก็ยังไม่ได้ใช้วิธีการเปรียบเปรยเปรียบเทียบด้วย เขาแค่บอกว่ามัน "เกิดอะไรขึ้น" โดยเขยิบข้ามไปเล่าจากจุดอื่น ตอนเราอ่านเจอฉากที่เขาเล่าแบบนี้หนแรกก็รู้สึกอะเมซิ่งมาก แต่อ่านไปเรื่อยๆ ก็พบว่า อ่อ... เป็นวิธีการเล่าแบบทานิซากินี่เองสินะ กระทั่งฉากที่ค่อนข้างรุนแรง ภาษาที่ใช้ก็ยังเรียบร้อย หากแต่เรารู้ว่าตัวละครในเรื่องกำลังอารมณ์ปะทุชนิดภูเขาไฟระเบิดอยู่ค่ะ
สำหรับฉบับแปลไทย เราชอบสำนวนแปลเล่มนี้ของคุณวรวดี วงศ์สง่านะคะ เดาว่าน่าจะแปลมาจากฉบับอังกฤษ ก็เลยอ่านง่ายดี ไหลลื่น เข้าใจง่ายดีด้วยค่ะ (แอบดีใจที่เล่มนี้สะกดชื่อภาษาญี่ปุ่นให้อ่านง่ายค่ะ 555)
ป.ล. ประวัติของทานิซากิที่ทางสนพ.บ้านหนังสือเอามาลงไว้ในช่วงก่อนเข้าเรื่อง ประวัติของเขาแซ่บมากเลยค่ะ
ป.ล.2 นิยายของทานิซากิมีแปลไทยอยู่ทั้งหมด 4 เรื่องกับทางสนพ.บ้านหนังสือ คือ Quicksand, The Key, Diary of a Mad Old Man, Some Prefer Nettles ส่วน non-fiction มีเยิรเงาสลัวกับทางโอเพ่นบุ๊คค่ะ
October 28, 2014
A sexual thriller with deep cultural under- and overtones. The first impression is that Quicksand is masterfully plotted, like a cheap thriller, with chapter ending cliffhangers and steadily mounting (and increasingly implausible) plot twists; but instead of rendering the book a piece of gripping trash, the implausible plot twists transport the book into higher meaning(s) in its portrayal of culture clash, specifically the pull of "old Japan" in the modern world of modern desires.
It's a book of seduction, lesbian seduction at that, in which a bored housewife takes up with a fellow art student and chapter by chapter sinks into the quicksand of her bottomless and devious desires powered by a darkly magnetic sex appeal; pulling down not only the housewife, but her husband, a hapless impotent, a housekeeper, and probably even others beyond the specific scope of the book.
But what starts as specifically sexual enthrallment by the end becomes literally demonic, as the whole mythic death-worshipping Japanese psyche destroys the housewife's life, her lover and husband dead, leaving her alive but stranded and empty in the "new Japan", weeping.
It's a book of seduction, lesbian seduction at that, in which a bored housewife takes up with a fellow art student and chapter by chapter sinks into the quicksand of her bottomless and devious desires powered by a darkly magnetic sex appeal; pulling down not only the housewife, but her husband, a hapless impotent, a housekeeper, and probably even others beyond the specific scope of the book.
But what starts as specifically sexual enthrallment by the end becomes literally demonic, as the whole mythic death-worshipping Japanese psyche destroys the housewife's life, her lover and husband dead, leaving her alive but stranded and empty in the "new Japan", weeping.
February 1, 2019
“Oggi sono venuto a trovarla, Maestro, con l’intenzione di narrarle ogni cosa.”
Chi racconta è Sonoko, ma chi mostra al lettore la vicenda nel suo fatale dispiegarsi è l’autore, che talvolta interviene a dare chiarimenti. Al centro della storia vi è il pericoloso quadrilatero amoroso (la croce buddista, appunto) costituito da due donne: la narratrice e la bellissima conturbante Mitsuko, avvinte da temeraria passione, e i due uomini che vi sono collegati: il marito di Sonoko e il fidanzato di Mitsuko. Intorno a loro altri personaggi si muovono stagliandosi come ombre tra i paraventi, mentre la città di Osaka, con i suoi giardini, le sue spiagge e i suoi luoghi d’incontro per gli amanti è come uno sfondo palpitante d’acquerelli.
Il contenuto è l’intrecciarsi di verità e menzogne che porterà il gioco dell’“amore crudele” tra i personaggi alle sue estreme conseguenze.
È difficile per un lettore occidentale comprendere le caratteristiche della letteratura giapponese, che è specchio di una cultura per molti aspetti radicalmente diversa dalla nostra. Ma interessante è proprio il fatto che la lettura desti tanta meraviglia e lasci gran parte della comprensione razionale in un cono d’ombra.
Difficile comprendere intimamente, ad esempio, l’attenzione massima alle convenzioni sociali, la vergogna profonda per ciò che può infangare la reputazione; ma anche il fatto che le esperienze più estreme si svolgano sempre dentro un’aura di cura formale e di garbo sostanziale.
Si arriva a sperimentare sentimenti esacerbati, ci si abbandona alle peggiori pulsioni e ciononostante nulla viene mai descritto nei particolari, il tono non diventa mai duro o eccessivo. Ogni esperienza a cui il lettore partecipa rimane dentro precisi limiti del linguaggio: raffinato e cortese. Come un tocco di pennello finissimo sopra una preziosa pergamena.
Un miracolo espressivo lontano da noi anni luce e perciò terribilmente affascinante.
Chi racconta è Sonoko, ma chi mostra al lettore la vicenda nel suo fatale dispiegarsi è l’autore, che talvolta interviene a dare chiarimenti. Al centro della storia vi è il pericoloso quadrilatero amoroso (la croce buddista, appunto) costituito da due donne: la narratrice e la bellissima conturbante Mitsuko, avvinte da temeraria passione, e i due uomini che vi sono collegati: il marito di Sonoko e il fidanzato di Mitsuko. Intorno a loro altri personaggi si muovono stagliandosi come ombre tra i paraventi, mentre la città di Osaka, con i suoi giardini, le sue spiagge e i suoi luoghi d’incontro per gli amanti è come uno sfondo palpitante d’acquerelli.
Il contenuto è l’intrecciarsi di verità e menzogne che porterà il gioco dell’“amore crudele” tra i personaggi alle sue estreme conseguenze.
È difficile per un lettore occidentale comprendere le caratteristiche della letteratura giapponese, che è specchio di una cultura per molti aspetti radicalmente diversa dalla nostra. Ma interessante è proprio il fatto che la lettura desti tanta meraviglia e lasci gran parte della comprensione razionale in un cono d’ombra.
Difficile comprendere intimamente, ad esempio, l’attenzione massima alle convenzioni sociali, la vergogna profonda per ciò che può infangare la reputazione; ma anche il fatto che le esperienze più estreme si svolgano sempre dentro un’aura di cura formale e di garbo sostanziale.
Si arriva a sperimentare sentimenti esacerbati, ci si abbandona alle peggiori pulsioni e ciononostante nulla viene mai descritto nei particolari, il tono non diventa mai duro o eccessivo. Ogni esperienza a cui il lettore partecipa rimane dentro precisi limiti del linguaggio: raffinato e cortese. Come un tocco di pennello finissimo sopra una preziosa pergamena.
Un miracolo espressivo lontano da noi anni luce e perciò terribilmente affascinante.
September 9, 2019
4,5 Mi primer Tanizaki. Ya iba siendo hora que leyera a unos de los escritores más importantes de la literatura japonesa. Ciertamente tenía la expectación por las nubes y ha aprobado con nota. Ahora estoy deseanado leer más cosas de él. Toda su obra en realidad.
La historia nos va a presentar a un conjunto de personajes, cada cual más traicionero y perverso. Por una parte tenemos a Sonoko Kakiuchi, una mujer casada que, huyendo de un matrimonio aburrido, decide tomar clases de pintura en una prestigiosa academia de arte. Allí conocerá a Mitsuko Tokumitsu, hermosa mujer acostumbrada a gustar y a tener un séquito de enamorados detrás. Además, de estos dos grandes personajes femeninos, nos encontraremos con el marido de la primera, Kotaro, hombre aburrido, sin personalidad y poco pasional, y Watanuki, la antítesis al anterior, manipulador, desconfiado y con una personalidad muy marcada.
Las interrelaciones de estos cuatro personajes va a provocar un sin fin de situaciones, que desembocaran en un final espectacular. Y no digo más, porque hay que ir sin saber mucho.
Aquí va un pequeñito spoiler. Creo que lo más importante de esta historia es lo adelantada que me ha parecido. Tratar el tema de la homosexualidad y de la sexualidad femenina estando escrito entre 1928 y 1930 y siendo Asia, me ha parecido increíble. No tanto porque hablen de sexualidad, sino porque esté centrada desde el punto de vista femenino y de su disfrute. Increíble. También me ha gustado mucho las idas y venidas de los personajes, como nunca estabas seguro de quien mentía y quien no. Muy al estilo de Las amistades peligrosas.
En difinitiva, una delicia para los amantes de la literatura japonesa, pero, sin embargo, con una narración mucho más ágil. Tanizaki nos volveremos a encontrar. PRONTO.
La historia nos va a presentar a un conjunto de personajes, cada cual más traicionero y perverso. Por una parte tenemos a Sonoko Kakiuchi, una mujer casada que, huyendo de un matrimonio aburrido, decide tomar clases de pintura en una prestigiosa academia de arte. Allí conocerá a Mitsuko Tokumitsu, hermosa mujer acostumbrada a gustar y a tener un séquito de enamorados detrás. Además, de estos dos grandes personajes femeninos, nos encontraremos con el marido de la primera, Kotaro, hombre aburrido, sin personalidad y poco pasional, y Watanuki, la antítesis al anterior, manipulador, desconfiado y con una personalidad muy marcada.
Las interrelaciones de estos cuatro personajes va a provocar un sin fin de situaciones, que desembocaran en un final espectacular. Y no digo más, porque hay que ir sin saber mucho.
Aquí va un pequeñito spoiler. Creo que lo más importante de esta historia es lo adelantada que me ha parecido. Tratar el tema de la homosexualidad y de la sexualidad femenina estando escrito entre 1928 y 1930 y siendo Asia, me ha parecido increíble. No tanto porque hablen de sexualidad, sino porque esté centrada desde el punto de vista femenino y de su disfrute. Increíble. También me ha gustado mucho las idas y venidas de los personajes, como nunca estabas seguro de quien mentía y quien no. Muy al estilo de Las amistades peligrosas.
En difinitiva, una delicia para los amantes de la literatura japonesa, pero, sin embargo, con una narración mucho más ágil. Tanizaki nos volveremos a encontrar. PRONTO.
March 31, 2016
J'ai déjà lu plusieurs roman de Tanizaki, célèbre écrivain japonais du siècle dernier. Ils explorent les affres de la passion de manière crédible. Celui-ci ne déroge pas à la règle, mettant en scène quatre personnages principaux, empêtrés dans un engrenage d'évènements, un labyrinthe de mensonges, duperies et faux-semblants qui gagne en complexité et en intensité. Le rythme du roman soutient sans faille l'intérêt du lecteur. J'ai beaucoup aimé ce roman, tout comme les autres que j'ai pu lire de ce même auteur.
June 30, 2021
Excellent ! J'ai retrouvé les thématiques et habitudes d'écriture de Tanizaki, mais le tout en mieux. Mon préféré jusqu'à maintenant. Ce fut un régal, vraiment. Cet auteur a un talent de la mise en scène, le rythme est parfait et tout à fait haletant. Hâte d'en parler sur ma chaîne :-) (ce sera avec beaucoup d'enthousiasme.)
July 23, 2017
Mọi tội lỗi đều có lý lẽ để biện hộ. Miễn là còn có luật sư và nhà văn :3
February 18, 2024
En sevdiğim yazarlardan birisi olan Tanizaki, bu eserinde yine, tutkulu bir sevgi/aşkın nasıl sonuçlar doğuabileceğini ve insan psikolojisinde yaratacağı değişimlerin etkilerini çarpıcı bir şekilde anlatmış.
Olayın kahramanı tarafından anlatılan hikayeyi okurken, bakış açısına bağlı belirsizliklerin yarattığı şüphe, anlatıma merak duygusu ve akıcılık kazandırmış. Çok etkileyici.
Elimden bırakamadım. Çok beğendim.
Olayın kahramanı tarafından anlatılan hikayeyi okurken, bakış açısına bağlı belirsizliklerin yarattığı şüphe, anlatıma merak duygusu ve akıcılık kazandırmış. Çok etkileyici.
Elimden bırakamadım. Çok beğendim.
March 16, 2023
In the very helpful and funny introduction, Kristen Roupenian tries to summarise this book for us: it's a "universally understood tale of a four-way love affair involving not only lesbianism and infidelity and couple-swapping, but pregnancy-faking and secret drugging and group suicide and the writing of an elaborate contract signed in blood, in which you promise that you'll break up with your secret girlfriend is she ever attempts to divorce her impotent husband." We've all been there, eh?
If you've read a number of Tanizaki's novels, you'll be familiar with some of these themes. His work consistently pushes boundaries, and not just those of 1920s Japan, but also of this 2020s Dubliner. You think you're up for anything and then you read "The Key" or "Quicksand" and you realise that you're actually quite easily shocked. I've enjoyed every Tanizaki novel I've read, though I think they vary in quality: "The Makioka Sisters" is strange, beautiful and poignant; "Some Prefer Nettles" is moving and tender; "The Key" is deeply uncomfortable. They all look at themes of transgression, of infidelity, and Tanizaki writes about the body with a frankness and a keen interest in its realities, which seems remarkably open even today. Sometimes his interests come across as voyeuristic, and sometimes as simply an exploration of reality. "Quicksand" is difficult reading, and Tanizaki pushes a lot of readers' boundaries, but it's certainly entertaining, and remains in the mind.
If you've read a number of Tanizaki's novels, you'll be familiar with some of these themes. His work consistently pushes boundaries, and not just those of 1920s Japan, but also of this 2020s Dubliner. You think you're up for anything and then you read "The Key" or "Quicksand" and you realise that you're actually quite easily shocked. I've enjoyed every Tanizaki novel I've read, though I think they vary in quality: "The Makioka Sisters" is strange, beautiful and poignant; "Some Prefer Nettles" is moving and tender; "The Key" is deeply uncomfortable. They all look at themes of transgression, of infidelity, and Tanizaki writes about the body with a frankness and a keen interest in its realities, which seems remarkably open even today. Sometimes his interests come across as voyeuristic, and sometimes as simply an exploration of reality. "Quicksand" is difficult reading, and Tanizaki pushes a lot of readers' boundaries, but it's certainly entertaining, and remains in the mind.
January 7, 2023
اگه کسی براتون داستان رو سریع تعریف کنه احتمالا یاد داستانهای سایت شهوانی میفتیدಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ با حجم زیادی از ملودرام. اما اگه خود کتاب رو بخونید و یادتون نره که تو دهه بیست نوشته شده چنان لایههای زیرینش که شوکهاتون میکنه که احتمالا نتونید زمینش بذارید. خط به خط این داستان تو لایه های دروغ و فریب و سواستفاده پیچیده شده، و به دنبال اینها بیاعتمادی شدید شخصیتها نسبت به هم.
چیزی که به داستان عمق میده شرایط فرهنگیایه که با جزئیات توصیف میشه. روابط ازاد و پیچیدهای که در تعارض با فرهنگ در حال گذار از سنت به مدرنیته، برای افرادی که درگیرشن مقادیر زیادی بدنامی و عذاب وجدان میاره. و کم کم تو شن روان فروشون میبره. اما نمیشه گفت این فرهنگه که اون شن رو روان میکنه یا خود رفتارها.
پ.ن. اخرش میخواستم برم کانسپت تریسام رو بشون معرفی کنم.
چیزی که به داستان عمق میده شرایط فرهنگیایه که با جزئیات توصیف میشه. روابط ازاد و پیچیدهای که در تعارض با فرهنگ در حال گذار از سنت به مدرنیته، برای افرادی که درگیرشن مقادیر زیادی بدنامی و عذاب وجدان میاره. و کم کم تو شن روان فروشون میبره. اما نمیشه گفت این فرهنگه که اون شن رو روان میکنه یا خود رفتارها.
پ.ن. اخرش میخواستم برم کانسپت تریسام رو بشون معرفی کنم.
November 30, 2012
I found reading Junichiro Tanizaki’s novel “Quicksand” a bit disappointing as compared to his “Some Prefer Nettles” since I enjoyed reading its early chapters but I did not in the middle till the end. Essentially, the plot focuses on a kind of love triangle arguably mischievous, sensual and semi-erotic related to Mrs. Sonoko Kakiuchi (as “I” through the story), Mitsuko and Watanuki whose significant role first appears in Chapter 11. Some complex problems inevitably ensue and there are a few points worth sharing with my friends who might read it soon.
First, we may wonder, I think, whom the narrator is talking to (i.e. ‘you’) from the first sentence in Chapter 1, that is, “DO FORGIVE ME for bothering you again, but I simply had to see you today – I want you to hear my side of the story, from beginning to end.” (p. 3) because it is mysteriously not revealed as subsequent chapters proceed till the end, Chapter 33, in which the first sentence typically starts, “I’M SURE YOU CAN imagine how suspicious of each other, how jealous, this scheme of Mitsuko’s made us.” (p. 213) In a word, his/her name remains anonymous forever.
Second, Mitsuko is successful by her means of addressing Mrs. Kakiuchi as ‘Sister’ essentially expressed to show her respects and intimacy for her goal. In fact, she wisely applies her knowledge on Japanese culture which is, interestingly, similar to Thai culture by addressing such a title. This is a bit difficult to understand for the Westerners, as far as I know, this is one of our customs in Asia. Moreover, dubbed “as vain as she was beautiful” (p. 119), she can entice Mr. Kakiuchi into her traps. Therefore, we soon know there is another triangle, viz. Mrs. Kakiuchi, Mitsuo and Mr. Kakiuchi (Watanuki excluded) near the end.
Finally, some episodes involve fantasy in which we need to take care not to believe every one or character we are reading. For instance, one mentions “committing double suicide” (p. 159) and I recalled reading this unthinkable thought somewhere once or twice. One of the reasons is that this issue should not be regarded as an escapist idea since it is highly elusive, complex and psychological. In other words, this kind of ‘suicide’ might be one of the writers’ crafts as written by some famous Japanese authors, e. g. Ihara Kaikaku, etc. but we should keep in mind that it needs expertise or advice from the doctors/psychiatrists having studied/researched in this field and it is interesting why we came across this once in a while in Japanese literature. I mean it is an effective way of writing with a sad and gloomy impact on the readers, that is, we can't help wondering why.
In brief, I think I’d wait for a while to reread it.
First, we may wonder, I think, whom the narrator is talking to (i.e. ‘you’) from the first sentence in Chapter 1, that is, “DO FORGIVE ME for bothering you again, but I simply had to see you today – I want you to hear my side of the story, from beginning to end.” (p. 3) because it is mysteriously not revealed as subsequent chapters proceed till the end, Chapter 33, in which the first sentence typically starts, “I’M SURE YOU CAN imagine how suspicious of each other, how jealous, this scheme of Mitsuko’s made us.” (p. 213) In a word, his/her name remains anonymous forever.
Second, Mitsuko is successful by her means of addressing Mrs. Kakiuchi as ‘Sister’ essentially expressed to show her respects and intimacy for her goal. In fact, she wisely applies her knowledge on Japanese culture which is, interestingly, similar to Thai culture by addressing such a title. This is a bit difficult to understand for the Westerners, as far as I know, this is one of our customs in Asia. Moreover, dubbed “as vain as she was beautiful” (p. 119), she can entice Mr. Kakiuchi into her traps. Therefore, we soon know there is another triangle, viz. Mrs. Kakiuchi, Mitsuo and Mr. Kakiuchi (Watanuki excluded) near the end.
Finally, some episodes involve fantasy in which we need to take care not to believe every one or character we are reading. For instance, one mentions “committing double suicide” (p. 159) and I recalled reading this unthinkable thought somewhere once or twice. One of the reasons is that this issue should not be regarded as an escapist idea since it is highly elusive, complex and psychological. In other words, this kind of ‘suicide’ might be one of the writers’ crafts as written by some famous Japanese authors, e. g. Ihara Kaikaku, etc. but we should keep in mind that it needs expertise or advice from the doctors/psychiatrists having studied/researched in this field and it is interesting why we came across this once in a while in Japanese literature. I mean it is an effective way of writing with a sad and gloomy impact on the readers, that is, we can't help wondering why.
In brief, I think I’d wait for a while to reread it.
May 17, 2012
Gaudy Osaka lesbians panting and gurning at each other, like something from the kabuki, on beautiful Nara hillsides.
I liked Watanuki and his … problems. Why couldn't he have had a bit more to do? He simpered in the background and was all prissy when anyone spoke to him. I wanted a bit more.
Mitsuko's parents were totally rubbish, weren't they? I thought rich Japanese people would have been pissed off if their daughter's arranged marriage fell through due to rumours of hot lesbian fun-times. They seemed a bit "comme ci, comme ca" about it all.
But I like Tanizaki, he can be so tacky! Quicksand's title in Japanese is "卍".
I liked Watanuki and his … problems. Why couldn't he have had a bit more to do? He simpered in the background and was all prissy when anyone spoke to him. I wanted a bit more.
Mitsuko's parents were totally rubbish, weren't they? I thought rich Japanese people would have been pissed off if their daughter's arranged marriage fell through due to rumours of hot lesbian fun-times. They seemed a bit "comme ci, comme ca" about it all.
But I like Tanizaki, he can be so tacky! Quicksand's title in Japanese is "卍".
May 21, 2017
Đọc quảng cáo nhiều quá nên truyện bớt hấp dẫn ở tính bất ngờ. Truyện rất hóm, nhất là ở phần chú thích của tác giả :D Đại loại câu chuyện cả 1 lũ lên đồng vì tình mà càng về cuối càng hài, nhất là từ khi anh chồng cũng vướng vào.
Đọc truyện này ngoài cái mọi người vẫn bàn luận thì ấn tượng nhất là xã hội Nhật Bản ngày ấy sao văn minh thế. Truyện viết những năm 1928-1939. Thế mà hồi ấy các nhân vật đi chơi xa chơi gần thoải mái, phương tiện sẵn, về khuya vẫn có tàu taxi này nọ. Taxi cũng vẫy cái là có. VN mình giừo còn chưa đc thế. Đi chơi hàng ăn quán trọ đầy đường. Ủ mưu cũng chụp ảnh photo đàng hoàng. Con gái đi chơi xem phim đến đêm cũng ko sao :-)
Đọc truyện này ngoài cái mọi người vẫn bàn luận thì ấn tượng nhất là xã hội Nhật Bản ngày ấy sao văn minh thế. Truyện viết những năm 1928-1939. Thế mà hồi ấy các nhân vật đi chơi xa chơi gần thoải mái, phương tiện sẵn, về khuya vẫn có tàu taxi này nọ. Taxi cũng vẫy cái là có. VN mình giừo còn chưa đc thế. Đi chơi hàng ăn quán trọ đầy đường. Ủ mưu cũng chụp ảnh photo đàng hoàng. Con gái đi chơi xem phim đến đêm cũng ko sao :-)
May 28, 2017
Đọc thấy bất ngờ, được viết khá lâu nhưng đã có những tư tưởng rất táo bạo và tiến bộ.
Bài mình viết trên trang Đọc Sách: https://docsach.org/2017/05/20/chu-van/
Bài mình viết trên trang Đọc Sách: https://docsach.org/2017/05/20/chu-van/
July 11, 2021
Both of us were simply trying to maintain mutual deception.
3.5 stars. A twisty, messy historical Japanese drama where everyone is bi and everything hurts. And maybe both uses of "every" in that sentence aren't quite accurate, but it's pretty close. It's all about the underside of love; the obsession, the perversity, infidelity and betrayal.
Sonoko, dissatisfied in her marriage, begins an affair with Mitsuko, another student at her art school. For Sonoko, she represents ideal beauty and charm, but their relationship soon takes a darker turn. The framework of the story is that Sonoko is narrating it in hindsight to a narrator, a "you" that sometimes breaks into the narrative with his own notes. We know from the beginning that things aren't going to have the best ending, but the ride to getting there isn't what I'd call predictable. Sonoko's husband and Mitsuko's lover both play important parts, and it's interesting trying to find out who's the puppet and who's the puppeteer; who's being manipulated versus who is pulling the strings. There's no clear-cut victim here, and gradually things take interesting, and more complicated turns. It honestly gets a little bonkers.
So I liked this a lot, but not quite as much as I wanted to. I enjoy Tanizaki's writing, but in this, more than in any other his other books that I've read, I felt more disconnected and distanced from the characters. I enjoyed the simplicity of the writing, but with a plot and characters like this, I thought I'd be utterly entranced, swept away. And I wasn't! It was fun, no doubt, and easy to read, but I just wasn't as drawn to this as much as I thought I would be. It was just a little too dry. As with all translations, the fault of that might not lie with the original writer. I do think that the "narrating the events to a third (fourth? fifth???) party" conceit just kinda got in the way; I won't say I minded it, but I think I'd have liked the story more without it.
Really engrossing stuff though; I always love a good tale of unhealthy, co-dependant, obsessive love. And the fact that this is a queer Japanese classic? Outstanding.
Content warnings: .
March 8, 2017
First of all I have to warn you as readers, if you are going to read this book you have to forget about your ethical issues, if you can not transfer yourself in an impartial point of view you are not going to like this book. Personally I loved the novel, it was something surprising: the story, the characters, the very unusual trio, later another person is implied. It is not an every day love story, not a common erotic novel, it is about people that are always in between paths: live as you want or live by others expectations. The characters in this novel are quite confused, I don't believe is it love what they feel, it's more a mixed feeling, desire, envy, lust, it was like they lived perfect lives until one day when they felt tired of being the perfect citizen and followed their inner desires. I don't think is right to say that all that happens in this book is immorality, or "sick people doing sick things", it's more like they decided to meet their inner desires, and humans they all have dirty minds. Sonoko and her husband are the common married couple until they meet Mitsuko, after that their world changes, life takes it's way to a path that it's considered immoral, but if we transfer our thoughts outside our mind and just take a look at them i think we'll see that we are all selfish, countless thinking to reach our desires.
Junichiro Tanizaki is great at capturing this dark side of the people were the primary instincts are coming out, where we can see how life, culture, standards, family, prejudices, etc. can drive people crazy, and the only way to get out from that madness is clinging to that feeling that is close to love.”
Junichiro Tanizaki is great at capturing this dark side of the people were the primary instincts are coming out, where we can see how life, culture, standards, family, prejudices, etc. can drive people crazy, and the only way to get out from that madness is clinging to that feeling that is close to love.”
May 7, 2009
Ok the cast: one bored housewife, one timid husband, one impotent young man, and one gorgeous young girl.
A quick recap... bored housewife falls in love with gorgeous young girl but then finds out that she is seeing an impotent young man while the bored housewife's timid husband gets suspicious over everybody seeing everybody so he gets seen too and everyone is lying and scheming and then tears, threats of suicide pacts and general goofiness abounds.
Tanizaki wrote this book in the 1920's about a lesbian relationship. A bit like Fatal Attraction meets Brokeback Mountain meets Romeo & Juliet. Considering the time he wrote it, this was a pretty radical story that is still relevant today. It doesn't feel dated at all.
A good book. Tanizaki understood beauty... that comes through clearly in his writing. He made me really want to lay my eyes on that one gorgeous young girl. I think she could have turned me into a lesbian too.
A quick recap... bored housewife falls in love with gorgeous young girl but then finds out that she is seeing an impotent young man while the bored housewife's timid husband gets suspicious over everybody seeing everybody so he gets seen too and everyone is lying and scheming and then tears, threats of suicide pacts and general goofiness abounds.
Tanizaki wrote this book in the 1920's about a lesbian relationship. A bit like Fatal Attraction meets Brokeback Mountain meets Romeo & Juliet. Considering the time he wrote it, this was a pretty radical story that is still relevant today. It doesn't feel dated at all.
A good book. Tanizaki understood beauty... that comes through clearly in his writing. He made me really want to lay my eyes on that one gorgeous young girl. I think she could have turned me into a lesbian too.
June 21, 2018
Quando eu terminei de ler Avenida Niévski, eu escrevi "Uma avenida em São Petersburgo, dois homens, duas mulheres. E o russo faz miséria em menos de 100 páginas." Aqui não é muito diferente. Voragem conta, principalmente, a história de um romance entre duas mulheres. Sonoko Kakiuchi apaixona-se perdidamente por Mitsuko, sua colega do curso de pintura. O amor torna-se então uma força destruidora que consumirá esses quatro personagens (o terceiro é o marido de Sonoko e o quarto aparece perto da metade do livro) em uma rede de traições, mentiras, chantagens e reviravoltas incríveis. A trama nunca para de surpreender, até o final. E a prosa é uma seda, uma coisa linda e extasiante. Um livro super econômico, curto, preciso e memorável.
December 18, 2023
Cuando a una narración (en forma de película o novela) se pone mucho empeño en enmarcarla en una época hay que tener claro que no se habla de una obra magistral. Se puede ver "The quiet man" de John Ford como fruto de su época, apreciándola y gustándote si es el caso, pero en absoluto hablamos de una obra atemporal porque se ha de subrayar que ciertas escenas machistas no pueden ser vistas a ojos de hoy, que aquel lejanísimo 1952 es prácticamente otra era geológica, no seas bárbaro en tachar a John Wayne de bestia tarada o de cavernícola mostrenco.
Pero la realidad es otra, cualquiera que se haya molestado en leer o mirar narraciones lúcidas y dramáticamente rigurosas habrá descubierto que esa consideración es una excusa barata. Porque lees esta novela de Tanizaki y todos los pudores de los personajes respecto a la sociedad o los impulsos que les arrebatan y les alejan de su mentalidad más racional para caer en pasiones destructivas resultan comprensibles a día de hoy, casi cien años después de publicación. No necesita realmente ninguna contextualización de urgencia, sencillamente abre el libro y sumérgete en sus páginas.
Porque en esta novela, más que hablarnos de los cambios sociales de Japón a principios del siglo XX, me parece que habla en un primer momento de la obsesión, de esos impulsos que empujan a muchas personas fuera de sus costumbres, de sus pensamientos cuando están en situaciones más tranquilas, alejadas de tumultuosas pasiones.
La narración se inicia cuando una mujer casada, culta y acomodada de Osaka asiste a unas clases de pintura y ahí conoce a Mitsuko, otra joven (las dos tienen 22 o 23 años) de deslumbrante belleza poco común que le abre el plano de sus gustos sexuales. La relación matrimonial de la señora Kakiuchi se ajusta al modelo socialmente aceptado, de los matrimonios concertados, antes proyectos de futuro para llevar una vida reglada y sostenida y no como consolidación de un gran amor. Pero desde el momento en que un día pinta de forma inconsciente el rostro de Mitsuko en la modelo que estaba retratando en una clase de pintura, los rumores se disparan y al final las dos mujeres entablan primero una amistad y luego se inicia un idilio extramatrimonial para la señora Kakiuchi.
Hace años vi la adaptación cinematográfica, filmada en los años 60, y no la recuerdo tan profunda, parecía más centrada en el hecho del romance lésbico que no en examinar los sentimientos de los personajes y utilizar esta pasión escandalosa para su época y establecer el clásico modelo de la literatura romántica (en el sentido literario del término), el de los individuos contra la sociedad. Porque el matrimonio en esta novela es puesto en examen, se ilumina sus vaporosas conexiones, fluctuantes y huidizas, tan pronto surge una historia que secuestra los sentidos, los personajes deben afrontar estos deseos que les resultan problemáticos, intentan domarlos por mor a cumplir con las convenciones de la época, sin embargo es como parar una bala ocultándose tras una mesa del Ikea.
El matrimonio es también expuesto como una espada de Damocles, pues las familias de los personajes urgen a las mujeres a que se casen mientras todavía son un buen partido, y no pueden casarse con cualquier, debe ser un candidato idóneo y conforme a la posición social de la familia. Esto se ajusta a la percepción oriental, donde la familia está por encima del individuo, se entiende entonces la presión que atenaza a sus personajes. Tampoco se puede decir que sea un torpedo contra la institución, me parece que en muchos aspectos, desde ángulos más conservadores, la novela podría ser observada como un toque de atención a propósito de dejarse arrastrar por los deseos más carnales. Esto también confirma la excelencia de Manji, que admite diferentes lecturas según el sesgo de cada lector.
Obra atemporal, descarnada y sin embargo templada con una prosa reflexiva, que recurre a diversos artificios (como ahora enfocar al escritor de la novela como un personaje secundario de la misma) para crear esa atmósfera de reflexión entorno a las complejidades entorno a las relaciones humanas. Junto con Retrato de Shunkin de lo que más me ha gustado de Tanizaki.
August 6, 2021
La protagonista es una mujer recién casada que acude a clases de pintura. Un día, se empieza a comentar que la mujer que ha pintado en su cuadro se parece mucho a Mitsuko, una joven de la misma academia. A raíz de unos rumores que intentan asociarlas, ambas se harán amigas y prácticamente amantes. No obstante, toda la relación se complicará mucho, tanto entre ellas como por el amante de Mitsuko.
Pese a que la historia está bien narrada y cuenta con una premisa que es llamativa, para mí este libro desbarra por completo y un poco más allá. Si el lector sigue el curso de la novela, encontrará un plan malévolo donde unos personajes tóxicos intentan constantemente manipular a la protagonista. Tanto la propia Mitsuko como su amante son como para darles de comer aparte. Y eso es un punto muy flojo del libro, ya que no se puede desarrollar simpatía por ningún personaje, cada uno tiene unas conductas si cabe más extrañas. Lo peor es que la trama acaba llevando a una situación totalmente carente de sentido en el último tercio del libro. La historia crea una sensación de constante desasosiego que no sabe resolver de forma coherente.
Pese a que la historia está bien narrada y cuenta con una premisa que es llamativa, para mí este libro desbarra por completo y un poco más allá. Si el lector sigue el curso de la novela, encontrará un plan malévolo donde unos personajes tóxicos intentan constantemente manipular a la protagonista. Tanto la propia Mitsuko como su amante son como para darles de comer aparte. Y eso es un punto muy flojo del libro, ya que no se puede desarrollar simpatía por ningún personaje, cada uno tiene unas conductas si cabe más extrañas. Lo peor es que la trama acaba llevando a una situación totalmente carente de sentido en el último tercio del libro. La historia crea una sensación de constante desasosiego que no sabe resolver de forma coherente.
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