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Дорога-мандала
Лауреат престижных литературных премий японская писательница Масако Бандо (1958-2014) прославилась произведениями в жанре мистики и ужасов, сумев сохранить колорит популярного в средневековой Японии жанра "кайдан" ("рассказы о сверхъестественном"). Но её знаменитый роман "Дорога-Мандала" не умещается в традиционные рамки современного "кайдана", хотя мистические элементы и играют в нём ключевую роль. Это откровенная и временами не по-женски жёсткая книга-размышление о тупике, в который зашла современная Япония. Автор не боится поднимать острые и неудобные вопросы - недаром в Японии к писательнице относятся неоднозначно, и при жизни она даже подвергалась критике и осуждению за чрезмерно резкие высказывания, заслужив репутацию человека, идущего вразрез с общепринятым мнением. В строго регламентированной японской культуре такой тип поведения требует особого мужества и отваги.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 27, 2017
“Mandala Road” is an interesting, complex, and grossly underrated novel. It starts as a contemporary slice-of life tale of marital infidelity that suddenly turns into a post-apocalyptic alternate/parallel reality thriller one third into the book!
Overall, “Mandala Road” is a literary critique and exposé of the brutality of the Japanese during WWII; and more specifically their mistreatment, abuse, and violence against women. The suffering of “comfort-women” (and women in general) during and after WWII and the complexity of marital relationships were elegantly portrayed in the form of a post-apocalyptic fantasy fiction in this book.
Asafumi, a modern-day medicine peddler finds a log book, a sales register that belonged to his grandfather, which listed the name of customers in remote villages along the desolate “mandala” road. To check on the status of his grandfather’s customers, Asafumi embarks on a journey along the now abandoned “mandala road”. While traveling, Asafumi is time-transported to a post-apocalyptic world where all forms of civilization are lost and the few remaining survivors are driven to live by their animal instincts. In this parallel reality, Asafumi is reunited with his grandfather, Rentaro. Their harrowing experiences forces Asafumi and Rentaor (and their wives in the real world) to re evaluate their relationships and the meaning of life. Indirectly, they also force the reader to better grasp the circumstances that drive a normal human being to commit atrocities at times of war.
This was a well written and a very a well-researched novel. I truly enjoyed this book as it has a bit of everything. There is the family drama; a read into the subject of sexuality, adultery, and family dynamics in modern Japanese culture; a bit of science fiction, time transport, and post-apocalyptic terror; and the more serious look into the suffering and abuse of women during and after WWII as alluded to above. This novel was the closest that I found to Murakami’s “Hard Boiled Wonderland”. I would have readily given this book five stars if not for the frequent erotic references and the explicit adult content. From this perspective, it reminds me of “Norwegian Wood”, another Murakami work.
Overall, “Mandala Road” is a literary critique and exposé of the brutality of the Japanese during WWII; and more specifically their mistreatment, abuse, and violence against women. The suffering of “comfort-women” (and women in general) during and after WWII and the complexity of marital relationships were elegantly portrayed in the form of a post-apocalyptic fantasy fiction in this book.
Asafumi, a modern-day medicine peddler finds a log book, a sales register that belonged to his grandfather, which listed the name of customers in remote villages along the desolate “mandala” road. To check on the status of his grandfather’s customers, Asafumi embarks on a journey along the now abandoned “mandala road”. While traveling, Asafumi is time-transported to a post-apocalyptic world where all forms of civilization are lost and the few remaining survivors are driven to live by their animal instincts. In this parallel reality, Asafumi is reunited with his grandfather, Rentaro. Their harrowing experiences forces Asafumi and Rentaor (and their wives in the real world) to re evaluate their relationships and the meaning of life. Indirectly, they also force the reader to better grasp the circumstances that drive a normal human being to commit atrocities at times of war.
This was a well written and a very a well-researched novel. I truly enjoyed this book as it has a bit of everything. There is the family drama; a read into the subject of sexuality, adultery, and family dynamics in modern Japanese culture; a bit of science fiction, time transport, and post-apocalyptic terror; and the more serious look into the suffering and abuse of women during and after WWII as alluded to above. This novel was the closest that I found to Murakami’s “Hard Boiled Wonderland”. I would have readily given this book five stars if not for the frequent erotic references and the explicit adult content. From this perspective, it reminds me of “Norwegian Wood”, another Murakami work.
August 28, 2017
365 pages is somewhat long for a Japanese novel. I'm giving this two stars because it actually compelled me to finish it. The first half is a rather excellent drama, but after 180 pages, it degenerates into a dumbass fantasy. I knew the book was going to have some mystical aspects based on the back cover blurb, but I was hoping, given the restraint shown in the first half, that it wasn't going to be stupid. But it was stupid, and largely pointless, and too easily resolved, leaving you with nothing gained.
August 10, 2015
was interested because I knew her personally.
It was real researched, interesting from an historical point of view in a way but I did not really like her style as there was too much gore and she did not make her characters "likable"
It was real researched, interesting from an historical point of view in a way but I did not really like her style as there was too much gore and she did not make her characters "likable"
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews