石川啄木：日本的第一个现代人

Asia Perspectives: History, Society, and Culture

by Donald Keene, 唐纳德·基恩, 沙青青 (Translator)

石川啄木是最受人喜爱的日本短歌诗人，也是日本第一个真正意义上的现代人。他是“月光族”，发了工资就去喝酒、买书，以致常常要借钱度日。他在诗中抱怨自己不想上班，甚至会旷工去河边玩耍。他一夜能写出上百首诗，却感叹自己是一个对社会没有用处的人。他迫于生计，任凭庸碌的工作空耗生命与才华，直至贫病交加，英年早逝。

本书作者根据石川啄木的日记、书信、诗文等原始材料，还原了这位天才诗人的一生，展现了他在生活、工作、文学创作中的激情和苦闷，他面对亲情与爱情纠葛的焦虑与矛盾，以及他对快速现代化的日本社会持有的批判意识。无论是他的诗还是他的人生，都承载着复杂、深刻的现代性与人性。

Genres: Japan, History, Nonfiction, Biography, Japanese Literature, Poetry

344 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2025

About the author

Donald Keene was a renowned American-born Japanese scholar, translator, and historian of Japanese literature. Born in Brooklyn in 1922, he developed a love for foreign cultures early in life. He graduated from Columbia University in 1942 and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, where he studied Japanese at the Navy Language School. After the war, he returned to Columbia for his master’s and later earned a second master’s at Cambridge, followed by a PhD from Columbia in 1949. He studied further at Kyoto University and became a leading authority on Japanese literature.
Keene taught at Columbia University for over fifty years and published extensively in both English and Japanese, introducing countless readers to Japanese classics. His mentors included Ryusaku Tsunoda and Arthur Waley, whose translations deeply influenced him. After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Keene retired from Columbia, moved to Japan, and became a Japanese citizen under the name Kīn Donarudo. He was awarded the Order of Culture in 2008, the first non-Japanese recipient. Keene remained active in literary and cultural life in Japan until his death in 2019 at the age of 96.

Reviews

[Danlin Zhang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can feel the admiration from Donald Keene, as he manages to tell the life story of Takuboku in such a beautiful and almost lyrical way. I personally enjoy Takuboku's poetry very much, and reading his biography indeed deepens my understanding of his works. A fusawashii life for a young man, in an new era, who were born to be among the best poets ever.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

As this is the only in-depth biography of Takuboku Ishikawa (the world's greatest poet) in the English language, it is invaluable. But it is also surprisingly readable, moving, and fascinating. Thanks, Donald Keene!

[Leo David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sour ending, more to come soon…