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The Maids
The Maids is a jewel: an astonishing complement to The Makioka Sisters, set in the same house, in the same turbulent decades, but among the servants as much as the masters. The Maids concerns all the young women who work—before, during, and after WWII—in the pampered, elegant household of the famous author Chikura Raikichi, his wife Sanko, and her younger sister. Though quite well-to-do, Raikichi has a small house: the family and the maids (usually a few, sharing a little room next to the kitchen) are on top of one another. This proximity helps to explain Raikichi’s extremely close observation of the maids and their daily lives, although his interest carries with it more than a dash of the erotic, calling to mind Tanizaki’s raciest books such as Diary of a Mad Old Man and The Key.
In the sensualist, semi-innocent, sexist patrician Raikichi, Tanizaki offers a richly ironic self-portrait, but he presents as well a moving, nuanced chronicle of change and loss: centuries-old values and manners are vanishing, and here—in the evanescent beauty of the small gestures and intricacies of private life—we find a whole world to be mourned. And yet, there is such vivacity and such beauty of writing that Tanizaki creates an intensely compelling epic in a kitchen full of lively girls.
Ethereally suggestive, sensational yet serious, witty but psychologically complex, The Maids is in many ways The Makioka Sisters revisited in a lighter, more comic mode.
In the sensualist, semi-innocent, sexist patrician Raikichi, Tanizaki offers a richly ironic self-portrait, but he presents as well a moving, nuanced chronicle of change and loss: centuries-old values and manners are vanishing, and here—in the evanescent beauty of the small gestures and intricacies of private life—we find a whole world to be mourned. And yet, there is such vivacity and such beauty of writing that Tanizaki creates an intensely compelling epic in a kitchen full of lively girls.
Ethereally suggestive, sensational yet serious, witty but psychologically complex, The Maids is in many ways The Makioka Sisters revisited in a lighter, more comic mode.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1962
13 people are currently reading
930 people want to read
About the author
Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
594 books2,177 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 47 reviews
September 16, 2023
"Those former maids often said, 'Come visit, Sensei: we'll give you a warm welcome!' but, even as he thought, Yes, I'll do that when I have the chance, he had slipped somehow into old age. Times had changed. Even now, unable to forget the old days of Hatsu and Ume, he occasionally sends a letter to Kagoshima asking them to recommend a 'helper,' but the girls today can all find better conditions working in offices or factories, and very few want to enter service; even if one does come every once in a while, she never settles down for long, but stays for one year and then returns home." (167)The Maids, Tanizaki's final work, is a loose novel—almost a collection of vignettes—about the Chikura household and, in particular, the many maids that work for them over the years (from 1935 to 1962). Even though not much happens in the novel, the various stories of the maids are intriguing and provide a subtle and fascinating reflection of some of the social changes taking place in Japan from the prewar period through the second Sino-Japanese war, World War II, and postwar recovery.
February 25, 2022
Junichiro Tanizaki’s The Makioka Sisters is considered the greatest Japanese novel and is a favorite of mine. It’s about the familial and marital dilemmas of four sisters in an upper-class family, and in it, their maids are merely shadows. In Tanizaki’s final novel, The Maids, originally published in 1963, and for the first time translated into English this year, he focuses on those shadowy maids, a retinue who work in the various households of Chikura Raikichi, a famous elderly novelist, and his wife Sanko. When one thinks of upper-crust families and their domestic help, the formal distance between them is mostly a given, but not here. There is a great familiarity between employers and employees; the homes, as luxurious as they may be, are small, everyone is on top of everyone else. Raikichi and Sanko discuss the maids, judging them on their skills as housekeepers, cooks, account-keepers, calligraphers, as well as on their liveliness, conversational skills, and aesthetic sensibility. Raikichi has his favorite maids who join him, at his invitation, for walks or for dinner. The maids feel so close to Raikichi and Sanko that they become stand-ins for their own faraway parents, inviting the couple to their weddings, often asking Raikichi to provide a name for their newborn infants. A first-person narrator is telling the story of these women who work and live in the Chikuras' households, all of them integral even as they are moved around like chess pieces. The narrator, ostensibly a stand-in for the elderly novelist, is likely loosely based on Tanizaki himself. His focus is the pleasure and drama of everyday life, but also encompasses an ethnographic view, highlighting provinces that have been renamed, distances between train stations, what they were once called, how the maids are addressed. The ethnographic elements kept me at a remove in the beginning, but when I settled into it, this small gem of a book, blossomed for me. And the maids, once a group of undefined women, become fully defined, as we learn who they are, where they come from, how they speak, how they peel vegetables, what they look like, who they love, what their distinct gifts and flaws and personalities are.
December 5, 2017
Junichiro Tanizaki's last novel was The Maids (posthumously published in Japanese in 1974, but has just been published in English in 2017). It can be seen as a companion piece to his greatest triumph, The Makioka Sisters. It is the keenly observed lives of several maids who worked for a well-off author and his family, Raikichi Chikura (a stand in for the author) through the post war years and three house holds (Sumiyoshi in Kobe, Atami in Shizuoka, and Yuagara in Kanagawa). It also calls to mind the sexually infused novels of observation like The Key and Diary of a Mad Old Man in his obsessive observations and considerations of the young maids that have lived among the Chikuras over time. There are a number of episodic vignettes about the different maids that are essentially character portraits. Tanizaki is a displaced Tokyo-ite who moved to the Kansai area and immersed himself in Japanese culture. The fact that the majority of the maids in this tale come from Kagoshima in the southern most main island of Kyushu allows for him to list the characteristics of the women from the region as well as note the dialect much like an ethnographer. I think it belies Tanizaki's preoccupation with the fairer sex-although Raikichi is absent from sexual escapes some stories recount how certain maids were wooed for marriage and in one case he recounts how two maids who end up in a lesbian affair that scandalizes everyone. I found it entertaining and full of life. There's an informative afterword by translator Michael P. Cronin included as well.
January 10, 2024
Nie przekonacie mnie, że Mitsuo się zmienił i przestał być dupiarzem, nie wierzę w mężczyzn like that
March 12, 2017
This is a fascinating book for those with a strong interest in Japan (1930s to 1960s) and for those with an interest in Kyoto in particular. I enjoyed the writing style and structure, which is more complex than it at first appears. The book provides intriguing glimpses of attitudes toward class differences, regional differences, lesbianism, master & servant relationships, epilepsy, female beauty, marriage, sexual relations, cooking & food, fashion... and so on. The main characters are the maids. Their personalities are given centre-stage, which must have been quite unusual for the times. The novel could be read as a sort of love letter from the author to these quirky and strong-willed women (which is not to say that attitudes towards them, and women in general, are egalitarian, not by any means).
This quotation, late in the book, tells a lot about the aims and values of the author. The master, Raikichi (a version of the author) and his wife, Sanko are discussing the maids:
"...while most people had both strong point and weak points--that's normal, after all--Suzu was just about average in all of her abilities. While each of the other maids--starting with Hatsu, and then Koma, Sada, Yuri, and Gin--had possessed some special quality that no one else could imitate, they said, each also had her undeniable faults; and, even though you could find faults in Suzu too if you nitpicked, she had very few. On the other hand, that sort of personality wasn't very interesting, and compared to Koma, Yuri, and Gin she provided little in the way of diverting material for conversation."
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Read The Makioka Sisters first, if you wish, but The Maids is certainly a stand-alone volume.
(from an advance readers' copy)
This quotation, late in the book, tells a lot about the aims and values of the author. The master, Raikichi (a version of the author) and his wife, Sanko are discussing the maids:
"...while most people had both strong point and weak points--that's normal, after all--Suzu was just about average in all of her abilities. While each of the other maids--starting with Hatsu, and then Koma, Sada, Yuri, and Gin--had possessed some special quality that no one else could imitate, they said, each also had her undeniable faults; and, even though you could find faults in Suzu too if you nitpicked, she had very few. On the other hand, that sort of personality wasn't very interesting, and compared to Koma, Yuri, and Gin she provided little in the way of diverting material for conversation."
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Read The Makioka Sisters first, if you wish, but The Maids is certainly a stand-alone volume.
(from an advance readers' copy)
May 24, 2025
This was the first book I read by Tanizaki. At the time, I thought it was directly related to The Makioka Sisters -- the reviews of the book lead to this confusion. It takes place in a suburb of Osaka, like The Makioka Sisters, and it covers an inter-war period, but otherwise it's an unrelated story. We meet the maids of a household belonging the Chikura family, a husband, wife, daughter, and wife's unmarried sister. Although it's not a large house, they usually have at least three maids. This is a series of anecdotes and interconnected stories about the lives of these maids, and how they interact with the family. The narrator keeps the reader at a distance -- we don't get much sense of the inner lives of the maids, or the family they work for, but what we're told of the maids is what is known by their employers -- their histories, their quirks and habits, their accidents and illnesses. The novel demonstrates the intimacy that exists between a maid and an employer, and how the distinctions of servant and master are artificial ones -- the masters are just as fallible as the maids. Though there are elements of this book that are recognisably Tanizaki, it's one of his loosest narratives, and the story meanders more than most of his books. Nevertheless, it's relaxing and enjoyable to read.
Review from 2022:
This is a pretty strange entry point into Tanizaki, as it's his final book and was published posthumously, and is a companion piece to a much more famous novel, The Makioka Sisters. I enjoyed it, despite feeling a bit adrift at times. Nothing at all happens in this book: it's an account of the maids who work in the house of a famous novelist over a twenty year period, beginning in the 1930s. During this time, much changes in Japan, and the social changes are reflected in the lives of the maids and their relationships with their employers. There is a sense of intimacy within the relationships: while the maids are in a servile position, their employers help them in periods of sickness, during courtships, and sometimes even stand in for them as parents. They come to know each other well: likes and dislikes, interests, weaknesses, even handwriting and reading habits. There is a feeling of earthiness to the relationships and a sense that the author views everyone as human and fallible, even if the employers see themselves as being in an elevated position. This makes engaging, even charming, reading, though naturally some of the opinions, gossip and scandals feel dated now. I will look for more by Tanizaki.
Review from 2022:
This is a pretty strange entry point into Tanizaki, as it's his final book and was published posthumously, and is a companion piece to a much more famous novel, The Makioka Sisters. I enjoyed it, despite feeling a bit adrift at times. Nothing at all happens in this book: it's an account of the maids who work in the house of a famous novelist over a twenty year period, beginning in the 1930s. During this time, much changes in Japan, and the social changes are reflected in the lives of the maids and their relationships with their employers. There is a sense of intimacy within the relationships: while the maids are in a servile position, their employers help them in periods of sickness, during courtships, and sometimes even stand in for them as parents. They come to know each other well: likes and dislikes, interests, weaknesses, even handwriting and reading habits. There is a feeling of earthiness to the relationships and a sense that the author views everyone as human and fallible, even if the employers see themselves as being in an elevated position. This makes engaging, even charming, reading, though naturally some of the opinions, gossip and scandals feel dated now. I will look for more by Tanizaki.
July 25, 2024
Through vignettes of the various maids that have worked there over decades, the author tells the story of a Japanese household from the nineteen-thirties to the nineteen-sixties. Through this he presents a picture of social change in the nation. The author creates distinctive characters whom the reader comes to know and love, but the narrative never fully came together for me.
Ratings:
Writing 3
Story line 3
Characters 4
Impact 4
Overall rating 3.5
Ratings:
Writing 3
Story line 3
Characters 4
Impact 4
Overall rating 3.5
March 21, 2018
all literature is gossip: exhibit one...
December 21, 2017
It would hardly be radical (may in fact be totally lame, not stopping me) to suggest that the core of the Japanese spirit may be found in the haiku: the concision, the restive quality, the foregrounding of the natural, the concern with the seasonal suggesting pattern at the heart of time's ineluctable flow. Tanizaki maintains a formidable reputation as (less confoundingly than you might think) both a radical and a traditional Japanese voice, representing as he does an Edo sensibility grappling (almost meditatively) w/ modernization (which in some sense means post-war Westernization). THE MAIDS, his final novel, appearing first in serialized form, is concise, restive, and buttressed by the flow of time. It is in many ways simply a compendium of observances regarding a series of maids, but one would be remiss in failing to acknowledge that the novel sublimates a very rigorous and multifaceted scaffolding. A lot of places, people, and incidents are interwoven herein w/ great finesse. The novel is fluid and digressive; it almost feels free-form. Linearity in suspended. We are never given particularly firm grounding temporally, and the various localities where Chikura clan (plus its offshoots) reside w/ their maids have a tendency to blur. One would almost have to methodically diagram the book whilst reading it in order to get a proper sense of its timeline and geography. What stands out are individual idiosyncrasies (primarily of the maids themselves), relationships, and the drift of relational politics over time. Traversing the sociocultural landscape from pre-war to post-war there is a sense of current and subtle-to-the-point-day-to-day-imperceptible transformation. The novel's central intelligence belongs to Tanizaki stand-in Raikichi, head of the Chikura clan. He is attentive and sympathetic (for the most part) to the many maids who come to serve his family at their various residences. There is a combination in him of both the paternalistic and the clinical / curious (in a manner that fundamentally speaks to sexuality, but in the least ostentatious way imaginable). This sensitivity to women who serve, toil, and negotiate the dramas and upheavals of their circumscribed worlds, links Tanizaki to my two favourite Japanese film directors, Kenji Mizoguchi and Mikio Naruse, men not much younger than Tanizaki himself.
August 31, 2020
« The Maids » is for you, if you’re eager to learn about 1930-1960´s Japan and it can be seen as a companion piece to his other novel, The Makioka Sisters. Tanizaki very keenly writes about the the lives of the young maids that do service for Chikuras family in Kyoto and obsessively observes the details of their relationships with the family.
Reading this book was a great introduction to Tanizaki’s work for me and I’ll definitely be reading him more!
Reading this book was a great introduction to Tanizaki’s work for me and I’ll definitely be reading him more!
August 5, 2024
The Maids is a grower, not a show-er. It begins with an almost archival recounting of the different places this bourgeois Japanese family moved to and from, who was employed, where they came from, and their humdrum habits, etc.
However, the novel quickly blossoms into something beautiful. Tanizaki devotedly chronicles the lives of various maids employed by his household around the life-altering WWII period in Japan. A feeling of warmth and admiration permeates his depictions of these women and their charming idiosyncrasies, maybe made charming only by the author's ability to see them as so.
The Tanizaki family itself becomes a hearth around which many come and go to warm themselves during their personal journeys. There are accounts of budding romances and interesting details about how marriages were arranged back then as well.
The most touching part for me are the final two chapters, where Tanizaki, in his failing health, becomes a soft, grandfatherly figure. Children become a bright light of joy to him, and the community of people comprising his family seem to be his primary focus in his final reflections on his life.
Capturing life as it is, with very little flourish, when done with acute and caring attention, results in something undeniable.
However, the novel quickly blossoms into something beautiful. Tanizaki devotedly chronicles the lives of various maids employed by his household around the life-altering WWII period in Japan. A feeling of warmth and admiration permeates his depictions of these women and their charming idiosyncrasies, maybe made charming only by the author's ability to see them as so.
The Tanizaki family itself becomes a hearth around which many come and go to warm themselves during their personal journeys. There are accounts of budding romances and interesting details about how marriages were arranged back then as well.
The most touching part for me are the final two chapters, where Tanizaki, in his failing health, becomes a soft, grandfatherly figure. Children become a bright light of joy to him, and the community of people comprising his family seem to be his primary focus in his final reflections on his life.
Capturing life as it is, with very little flourish, when done with acute and caring attention, results in something undeniable.
January 16, 2025
A lot more wholesome than most Tanizaki stories. I really enjoyed this one despite it’s simplicity, and it even made me smile on some occasions - 4⭐️
August 9, 2017
Pointless book :( I just couldn't get into it or even follow a storyline
September 4, 2022
I see I put off reading this one for three years I guess thinking it sounded like the least interesting of the handful of new Tanizaki translations to appear in recent years. I thought this last "novel" of his was probably just transparently fictionalized compiled reminiscences of the housekeepers he had known through the years. And since I am not that into memoir-like stuff ... but finally having that one single unread Tanizaki book on the shelf weighed on me ... and a bit surprised to find myself charmed from the get go and by the middle I am certain that I like this better than the more sensationally plotted early Tanizaki works that have found their way into English translation lately - like "In Black and White" and "Devils in Daylight" ... and I like it better than the former "last Tanizaki novel" - "Diary of a Mad Old Man", published in English decades ago ...
so anyway, maids are introduced through the years, they have different characters, things happen while not much happens, no plot to speak of, the 20 chapters pass by in the same eight-page bite-size morsels since they were originally published monthly in a periodical ... and I am delighted, Tanizaki was once my "favorite novelist" and still high on my list, there are plenty of easter eggs for a fan like me - starting with the amusing conflation of the never identified "I" narrator, the head of the house "Raikichi", and Tanizaki himself, who share biographic details ...
then close to the ending: "The most selfish of all the maids, with her unwavering arrogance and obstinacy - but wasn't it remarkable that, by persisting in her selfishness till the very end, she was able to defeat all her rivals? By patient persuasion, she had convinced (him) to completely correct all his former faults one by one..." ... and I thought, wait, isn't this maid one of "The Makioka Sisters"? ... and then I thought: and wasn't that maid "Naomi"? ... and those two maids possibly characters from "Manji"? ... and etc. etc. ...
then final thought: for a memoir it is remarkable that every single maid seems to share some of the various (often femme fatale) traits that Tanizaki gave the female characters in his greatest novels and stories, quite the coincidence, hmmm ... instead of a memoir tribute, might this book be a sneaky sort of tongue in cheek homage to his favorite fictional creations? ... probably a lot more "novel" that it first appears ... certainly a lot more art and artifice than it first appears ...
so anyway, maids are introduced through the years, they have different characters, things happen while not much happens, no plot to speak of, the 20 chapters pass by in the same eight-page bite-size morsels since they were originally published monthly in a periodical ... and I am delighted, Tanizaki was once my "favorite novelist" and still high on my list, there are plenty of easter eggs for a fan like me - starting with the amusing conflation of the never identified "I" narrator, the head of the house "Raikichi", and Tanizaki himself, who share biographic details ...
then close to the ending: "The most selfish of all the maids, with her unwavering arrogance and obstinacy - but wasn't it remarkable that, by persisting in her selfishness till the very end, she was able to defeat all her rivals? By patient persuasion, she had convinced (him) to completely correct all his former faults one by one..." ... and I thought, wait, isn't this maid one of "The Makioka Sisters"? ... and then I thought: and wasn't that maid "Naomi"? ... and those two maids possibly characters from "Manji"? ... and etc. etc. ...
then final thought: for a memoir it is remarkable that every single maid seems to share some of the various (often femme fatale) traits that Tanizaki gave the female characters in his greatest novels and stories, quite the coincidence, hmmm ... instead of a memoir tribute, might this book be a sneaky sort of tongue in cheek homage to his favorite fictional creations? ... probably a lot more "novel" that it first appears ... certainly a lot more art and artifice than it first appears ...
December 19, 2020
In the Chikura family household, maids come and go. Only the special few provide the family with lasting impressions, for better or worse.
So goes the theme in Junichiro Tanizaki's novel "The Maids". Published as his final novel, "The Maids" is a well written book with nicely detailed cultural references of different areas in Japan (such as Osaka, Kyoto, etc.), however the characters in the story are many and with personalities that are, with select few exceptions, difficult to distinguish from one another.
The story is about the antics of the various maids employed by a husband and wife, Mr. Raikichi and Mrs. Sanko Chikura, and how their somewhat bizarre actions affect the family situation. Each maid has a peculiarity that is sometimes very minor (such as their first maid Hatsu's taller-than-average big-boned stature) and at other times horrifying (Ume's eyes-rolled-back seizure attacks that make her appear to be possessed). The unusual character traits of the maids are brushed off later in the story just as fast as they are introduced, which can make it hard to remember all the maid characters as they are large in number.
Whenever drama takes place, the family is rarely involved and curiously the maids are only affected the most. These parts of the story are interesting and can sometimes be funny and shocking at the same time, but there are not enough of these scenes to help spice things up. Instead, the majority of the story is fluffy in nature and lacks the witty situations and humor present in the author's previous novels such as "Naomi" and "Devils in Daylight". It is truly a thematic departure from his usual way of writing.
To sum things up, "The Maids" is a novel that could have been a very funny story dealing with the challenges of many maids employed in a household, but instead it went for the softer route of a typical family drama story with the occasional humorous event and shocking subject matter. I would only recommend this book for readers that are die-hard fans of Junichiro Tanizaki's works.
So goes the theme in Junichiro Tanizaki's novel "The Maids". Published as his final novel, "The Maids" is a well written book with nicely detailed cultural references of different areas in Japan (such as Osaka, Kyoto, etc.), however the characters in the story are many and with personalities that are, with select few exceptions, difficult to distinguish from one another.
The story is about the antics of the various maids employed by a husband and wife, Mr. Raikichi and Mrs. Sanko Chikura, and how their somewhat bizarre actions affect the family situation. Each maid has a peculiarity that is sometimes very minor (such as their first maid Hatsu's taller-than-average big-boned stature) and at other times horrifying (Ume's eyes-rolled-back seizure attacks that make her appear to be possessed). The unusual character traits of the maids are brushed off later in the story just as fast as they are introduced, which can make it hard to remember all the maid characters as they are large in number.
Whenever drama takes place, the family is rarely involved and curiously the maids are only affected the most. These parts of the story are interesting and can sometimes be funny and shocking at the same time, but there are not enough of these scenes to help spice things up. Instead, the majority of the story is fluffy in nature and lacks the witty situations and humor present in the author's previous novels such as "Naomi" and "Devils in Daylight". It is truly a thematic departure from his usual way of writing.
To sum things up, "The Maids" is a novel that could have been a very funny story dealing with the challenges of many maids employed in a household, but instead it went for the softer route of a typical family drama story with the occasional humorous event and shocking subject matter. I would only recommend this book for readers that are die-hard fans of Junichiro Tanizaki's works.
August 11, 2021
The Maids is a lesser work of Junichiro Tanizaki, the greatest Japanese novelist (for my money). It chronicles the lives of various maids in Raikichi’s, a wealthy novelist based on Tanizaki, households. Each short chapter contains an anecdote or event surrounding Tanizaki’s many quirky maids, with some maids receiving quite a bit of exposure. There is a sexual undertone to many of the events as a Tanizaki reader might anticipate. The novella considers the many changes Japan experienced between the mid 1930s and mid 1950s, especially changes surrounding war. The English reader may enjoy juggling several handfuls of Japanese names and locations that are frequently changing throughout the story as Japan modernizes.
The Maids is not really a traditional narrative. It’s mainly a collection of out-of-chronological-order reminiscences. Tanizaki, who wrote this story at the end of his life, seems to reflect on what it means to live a life by reminiscing on the colorful cast of maids. Their lives are a microcosm, both individually and as tethered to one another through their work in Raikichi’s homes, of how a life can be spent, especially in Japan surrounding World War II. Tanizaki is primarily interested in the largely indirect consequences of how social changes affect individual lives. The prose is extremely light-hearted and as far from self-serious as one can imagine. I assume Tanizaki did not want his final work to be a serious, impactful one; the comical tone and amusing anecdotes suggest Tanizaki enjoyed his life because of the characters in it. The Maids is a realization that these people, taken for granted as simply women who worked for him throughout his life, represented what matters most: the connections made and the small experiences had that make a life.
The Maids is not really a traditional narrative. It’s mainly a collection of out-of-chronological-order reminiscences. Tanizaki, who wrote this story at the end of his life, seems to reflect on what it means to live a life by reminiscing on the colorful cast of maids. Their lives are a microcosm, both individually and as tethered to one another through their work in Raikichi’s homes, of how a life can be spent, especially in Japan surrounding World War II. Tanizaki is primarily interested in the largely indirect consequences of how social changes affect individual lives. The prose is extremely light-hearted and as far from self-serious as one can imagine. I assume Tanizaki did not want his final work to be a serious, impactful one; the comical tone and amusing anecdotes suggest Tanizaki enjoyed his life because of the characters in it. The Maids is a realization that these people, taken for granted as simply women who worked for him throughout his life, represented what matters most: the connections made and the small experiences had that make a life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 6, 2019
This book wasn't exactly what I thought it would be. That doesn't mean that it was bad, quite the contrary. However, Tanizaki's vision was clearly different than mine.
When I picked this book up, I envisioned that it would be about a group of maids and their dealings with the family they served. This felt more like a book of short stories. The focus is on one maid at a time and only gives a brief overview of their times with the Chikura family. Additionally, the book doesn't cover all of the maids. Just certain ones that have left an impression on the author. By the way, the audience has no idea who the author is. While he / she tells the stories, periodically it will go into first person. But the author covers everyone in the family so it is difficult to tell who is chronicling these stories.
I always enjoy Tanizaki's novels. He is a magnificent storyteller and should be more well known than he is. My biggest complaint with this novel is that the audience doesn't get more information. I would have loved to follow some of these maids into a full story rather than the overview.
I do recommend this. But you may need a score card to keep all the players in order.
When I picked this book up, I envisioned that it would be about a group of maids and their dealings with the family they served. This felt more like a book of short stories. The focus is on one maid at a time and only gives a brief overview of their times with the Chikura family. Additionally, the book doesn't cover all of the maids. Just certain ones that have left an impression on the author. By the way, the audience has no idea who the author is. While he / she tells the stories, periodically it will go into first person. But the author covers everyone in the family so it is difficult to tell who is chronicling these stories.
I always enjoy Tanizaki's novels. He is a magnificent storyteller and should be more well known than he is. My biggest complaint with this novel is that the audience doesn't get more information. I would have loved to follow some of these maids into a full story rather than the overview.
I do recommend this. But you may need a score card to keep all the players in order.
December 9, 2018
Un romanzo lento, ozioso e flessuoso che mi ha fatto pensare, per tutta la sua durata, alla "danza dei ventagli", ballo tradizionale giapponese. Il ritratto di un Giappone che cambia, quel paese anteguerra che non esiste più, travolto e cancellato da una nuova epoca
Questo cambiamento è descritto attraverso la vita delle varie e diverse domestiche che hanno prestato servizio in casa dello scrittore Chikura Raikichi per un ventennio, dal 1938 al 1958, "studiate" con occhio attento del padrone di casa, che amava attorniarsi di giovani donne capaci ed affidabili, veicoli per conoscere l'altro sesso.
Un racconto intimo e domestico incentrato su una quotidianità normale ma non banale, con un registro stilistico notevole, che ci fa entrare nella lenta e piacevole routine passata. Incantevole nella sua, apparente, semplicità.
Questo cambiamento è descritto attraverso la vita delle varie e diverse domestiche che hanno prestato servizio in casa dello scrittore Chikura Raikichi per un ventennio, dal 1938 al 1958, "studiate" con occhio attento del padrone di casa, che amava attorniarsi di giovani donne capaci ed affidabili, veicoli per conoscere l'altro sesso.
Un racconto intimo e domestico incentrato su una quotidianità normale ma non banale, con un registro stilistico notevole, che ci fa entrare nella lenta e piacevole routine passata. Incantevole nella sua, apparente, semplicità.
September 24, 2019
A weird little gem. There's not much of a storyline in any traditional sense of the word, nor a strict chronological order. It's like an old man reminiscing about the past, about places that have been, people that have gone and the ever changing world that they all live in.
Tanizaki writes all this with his usual sense of humour, romanticism, slightly melancholy tone and paints a beautiful picture of Japanese life from the 30's to the 50's. It's a curious little book, but I love it. Don't know if I'd recommend it to anyone else though.
Tanizaki writes all this with his usual sense of humour, romanticism, slightly melancholy tone and paints a beautiful picture of Japanese life from the 30's to the 50's. It's a curious little book, but I love it. Don't know if I'd recommend it to anyone else though.
December 12, 2020
A subtle novel which spans the household of a writer and the maids who worked in the household over the course of years. The novel was complied from a serialization — so there is some repetitious text. The interaction of the characters between social class both before and after the Second World War, subtly communicates the changes in how classes interact, with the patriarch of the household becoming a grandfatherly figure rather than a former employer, one who sometimes appreciated the beauty of his maids.
July 23, 2020
Kind of a period piece. I loved the Makioka Sisters, but this one is quirkier. It helps to know a bit about the long standing beef between Tokyo (Kanto) and western Japan (Kansai). The class issues are interesting because they're sort of hidden from outsiders in Japan. Anyway, I liked it but it was hard to feel too connected to the story, and a little hard to keep all the characters straight. Good for someone studying Japanese or Japanese history maybe.
September 25, 2020
A fun lighthearted novel about the daily lives of numerous maids that a household employed during, and, after WW2 Japan. There isn't any plot to this book or anything specific going on, just simply an old man reminiscing about the past. What is truly spectacular is Tanizaki's writing style, the way he tells the various stories and the goings-on of the maids is very sophisticated and intricate. I highly recommend this book, especially to those interested in Japanese history.
March 27, 2022
Good writing. Nice scenery and very good view into older japanese ways. But a bit tedious and no real plot to follow. Simply a beautiful description.
November 8, 2023
Hell for someone with ADHD! Such a short book, but after numerous stops and starts I was finally defeated at page 110.
I had a beautifully written (maybe), thoughtful review all ready to go but it was devoured by browser-error demons...
TO SUM UP: Lovely writing, very real and diverse characters, completely disjointed storyline that made it impossible for me to stay engaged. I've never been so sad to not finish a book. I really, really tried!
I had a beautifully written (maybe), thoughtful review all ready to go but it was devoured by browser-error demons...
TO SUM UP: Lovely writing, very real and diverse characters, completely disjointed storyline that made it impossible for me to stay engaged. I've never been so sad to not finish a book. I really, really tried!
June 16, 2023
L'idea centrale di questo libro è lo scherzo.
Quali sono i pregi maggiori del libro?
A
Ci sono molti formati:
1 prosa: saggio (etnologico/linguistico, le prime 7 pagine), lettera (p.109), il "manoscritto ritrovato" (pp.82-87)
2 poesia:
2.1 (pp.101, tema della dipartita dei genitori nella menzione e, nell'uso, uno scherzo sul carattere giallo...della ripetizione (che invece dovrebbe (sofisticamente, perché ogni ripetizione ha un effetto) essere chiara se si conosce anche solo una volta quello che va ripetendosi)
2.2 pp. 135 e 136, (nella menzione sono descrizioni paesaggistiche da parte di due personaggi, nell'uso sono chiusure poetiche di un piccolo brano di viaggio, che sfumano nella caratterizzazione di altri due personaggi, tra cui il "protagonista" Raikichi, rispetto al luogo descritto attraverso la poesia.)
2.3 pp.249 e 250 dove la poesia del Maestro è corretta, col beneplacito dello stesso, dalla madre e ex domestica in cucina dei Chikura, Gin; e, per ironia, presso colui al quale questi versi erano destinati, si legge che sono appesi dei cartoncini con due poesie del tutto diverse (p.251).
Lo stile è sempre chiaro e per nulla pretenzioso, a tratti divertente senza perdere in grazia.
B
2 Quali sono i maggiori difetti?
Amo e condivido quella distinzione fondamentale della cultura giapponese tra pubblico e privato, dove questa distinzione porta a concepire con grande creatività, eleganza e non violenza diretta contro gli altri rituali sociali.
Mi chiedo dunque perché qui manchi del tutto una cosa del genere, proprio laddove sembra che l'autore esplori il cambiamento del mondo giapponese dal tradizionale al nuovo, che forse includerà le tradizioni, ma in modi sfuggenti a chi delle tradizioni è più il custode che l'innovatore, siccome quelle gli servono più da abitudine per mantenersi in vita più che da mezzo per creare un equilibrio tra la vita e la morte.
In breve, mi pare uno scherzo fondato sull'età e l'esperienza dello scrittore, che trasforma in una specie di ragioneria faceta quegli ardori e desideri che ormai non guidano né tentano un uomo in età avanzata oltre l'età adulta.
Tutte le vie traverse, sottili tipiche della cultura giapponese per arrivare allo scopo CON ELEGANZA ,sembrano narcotizzate nel desiderio mero di non essere RUDI, e si finisce con l'annacquare il desiderio in una specie di amnesia piuttosto goffa che riprende sempre a narrare in modo delicato, ma anche senza incisività.
Tante autocitazioni, che possono avere fatto piacere allo scrittore durante la scrittura e ai lettori fedeli invecchiati con lo scrittore, ma mancano del tutto dei sentimenti in questo equilibrio, è un equilibrio PIATTO.
Si può sapere come si può, persino da più anziani, descrivere così (prendo, per correttezza, il brano più erotico di tutto il libro, e prego chi ne trovasse uno migliore di correggermi senz'altro) la bellezza di una donna giovane?
" Per fortuna le sue braccia e le sue gambe erano sempre belle e affusolate, anche se aveva lavorato nei campi fino da bambina, e non si erano irrobustite. Aveva conservata una figura oltremodo aggraziata, nonostante il seno sodo e prosperoso. L'unico difetto fisico.." p.142 edizione Guanda
Ma per dio, sembra la descrizione di una scarpa in vetrina! Quello che voglio dire è che il concentrarsi sui dettagli scivola nella rendicontazione, e non è un mezzo creativo per serbare l'eleganza del desiderio o almeno la forza del desiderio (cose in cui Mishima, per esempio, era un vero maestro).
Frustrante come andare a trovare un vecchio parente, cercare saggezza e trovarla in una pace che "non è adatta alla nostra età".
Questo libro mi lascia con la seguente sensazione: "Se arriverò a 85 anni, avrò qualcosa di cui sorridere. Nel mentre, per ascoltare la cosa che ha così formato il ricordo che mi farà sorridere, il morso del desiderio mi ha strappato la carne dell'attenzione, facendo sgorgare di fastidio un piccolo, giovane dolore."
Come direbbe Richard Benson: Tanizaki "STA RICICLANDO IL SUO PEGGIO"
Quali sono i pregi maggiori del libro?
A
Ci sono molti formati:
1 prosa: saggio (etnologico/linguistico, le prime 7 pagine), lettera (p.109), il "manoscritto ritrovato" (pp.82-87)
2 poesia:
2.1 (pp.101, tema della dipartita dei genitori nella menzione e, nell'uso, uno scherzo sul carattere giallo...della ripetizione (che invece dovrebbe (sofisticamente, perché ogni ripetizione ha un effetto) essere chiara se si conosce anche solo una volta quello che va ripetendosi)
2.2 pp. 135 e 136, (nella menzione sono descrizioni paesaggistiche da parte di due personaggi, nell'uso sono chiusure poetiche di un piccolo brano di viaggio, che sfumano nella caratterizzazione di altri due personaggi, tra cui il "protagonista" Raikichi, rispetto al luogo descritto attraverso la poesia.)
2.3 pp.249 e 250 dove la poesia del Maestro è corretta, col beneplacito dello stesso, dalla madre e ex domestica in cucina dei Chikura, Gin; e, per ironia, presso colui al quale questi versi erano destinati, si legge che sono appesi dei cartoncini con due poesie del tutto diverse (p.251).
Lo stile è sempre chiaro e per nulla pretenzioso, a tratti divertente senza perdere in grazia.
B
2 Quali sono i maggiori difetti?
Amo e condivido quella distinzione fondamentale della cultura giapponese tra pubblico e privato, dove questa distinzione porta a concepire con grande creatività, eleganza e non violenza diretta contro gli altri rituali sociali.
Mi chiedo dunque perché qui manchi del tutto una cosa del genere, proprio laddove sembra che l'autore esplori il cambiamento del mondo giapponese dal tradizionale al nuovo, che forse includerà le tradizioni, ma in modi sfuggenti a chi delle tradizioni è più il custode che l'innovatore, siccome quelle gli servono più da abitudine per mantenersi in vita più che da mezzo per creare un equilibrio tra la vita e la morte.
In breve, mi pare uno scherzo fondato sull'età e l'esperienza dello scrittore, che trasforma in una specie di ragioneria faceta quegli ardori e desideri che ormai non guidano né tentano un uomo in età avanzata oltre l'età adulta.
Tutte le vie traverse, sottili tipiche della cultura giapponese per arrivare allo scopo CON ELEGANZA ,sembrano narcotizzate nel desiderio mero di non essere RUDI, e si finisce con l'annacquare il desiderio in una specie di amnesia piuttosto goffa che riprende sempre a narrare in modo delicato, ma anche senza incisività.
Tante autocitazioni, che possono avere fatto piacere allo scrittore durante la scrittura e ai lettori fedeli invecchiati con lo scrittore, ma mancano del tutto dei sentimenti in questo equilibrio, è un equilibrio PIATTO.
Si può sapere come si può, persino da più anziani, descrivere così (prendo, per correttezza, il brano più erotico di tutto il libro, e prego chi ne trovasse uno migliore di correggermi senz'altro) la bellezza di una donna giovane?
" Per fortuna le sue braccia e le sue gambe erano sempre belle e affusolate, anche se aveva lavorato nei campi fino da bambina, e non si erano irrobustite. Aveva conservata una figura oltremodo aggraziata, nonostante il seno sodo e prosperoso. L'unico difetto fisico.." p.142 edizione Guanda
Ma per dio, sembra la descrizione di una scarpa in vetrina! Quello che voglio dire è che il concentrarsi sui dettagli scivola nella rendicontazione, e non è un mezzo creativo per serbare l'eleganza del desiderio o almeno la forza del desiderio (cose in cui Mishima, per esempio, era un vero maestro).
Frustrante come andare a trovare un vecchio parente, cercare saggezza e trovarla in una pace che "non è adatta alla nostra età".
Questo libro mi lascia con la seguente sensazione: "Se arriverò a 85 anni, avrò qualcosa di cui sorridere. Nel mentre, per ascoltare la cosa che ha così formato il ricordo che mi farà sorridere, il morso del desiderio mi ha strappato la carne dell'attenzione, facendo sgorgare di fastidio un piccolo, giovane dolore."
Come direbbe Richard Benson: Tanizaki "STA RICICLANDO IL SUO PEGGIO"
December 3, 2018
La storia - o le tante storie minute - inizia negli anni trenta e si conclude più di un ventennio dopo, un tempo piuttosto lungo e portatore di grandi cambiamenti nei costumi, nei pensieri e nei comportamenti dell’intero paese. In primo piano ci le domestiche a servizio dello scrittore Raikichi e della moglie Sanko, una serie di ragazze descritte con dovizia di particolari. Di loro sappiamo la provenienza, l’aspetto fisico, quale sia la loro famiglia d’origine. Apprendiamo anche dell’abitudine di cambiare il nome delle ragazze - una forma di rispetto, quasi che il vero nome fosse una proprietà esclusiva dei genitori. Di ognuna conosciamo le preferenze alimentari e seguiamo, negli anni, dapprima la vita sentimentale e poi quella coniugale. E’ chiaro che la famiglia Chikura instaura con le domestiche un rapporto di fiducia, che si occupa di loro con la benevolenza del ‘buon signore’ che si preoccupa della felicità e del benessere dei suoi ‘sottoposti’.
La cosa che mi ha lasciato un pò perplessa è che non c’è traccia dei grandi avvenimenti storici. Non si parla della guerra, né della bomba su Hiroshima, si accenna giusto qualcosina qui e là. Il tempo che cambia è sottolineato, ancora una volta, dai dettagli in quella che è la vita delle domestiche.
Prima volta che affronto questo autore e devo dire che forse mi aspettavo qualcosa di più. Il ritmo di tutto il romanzo scorre lento ed inesorabile, ma nonostante questo resta sempre una piacevole lettura che consiglio a chi è amante della cultura Giapponese.
La cosa che mi ha lasciato un pò perplessa è che non c’è traccia dei grandi avvenimenti storici. Non si parla della guerra, né della bomba su Hiroshima, si accenna giusto qualcosina qui e là. Il tempo che cambia è sottolineato, ancora una volta, dai dettagli in quella che è la vita delle domestiche.
Prima volta che affronto questo autore e devo dire che forse mi aspettavo qualcosa di più. Il ritmo di tutto il romanzo scorre lento ed inesorabile, ma nonostante questo resta sempre una piacevole lettura che consiglio a chi è amante della cultura Giapponese.
October 28, 2020
Titolo: Le Domestiche
Autore: Junichiro Tanizaki
Anno: 1963
Premetto che il presunto autore, ormai, è divenuto uno dei miei preferiti (insieme a Stephen King e Philippa Gregory) di conseguenza sarà molto probabile che arriveranno altri libri recensiti.
Detto questo, andiamo avanti:
Le Domestiche è un ‘romanzo’, più somigliante ad una novella leggera, molto fluente e interessante.
Tutto ruota intorno alla famiglia Chikura, di cui il capofamiglia è Raikichi uno scrittore di versi, ove per anni vi passano, chi per più o meno tempo, alcune ragazze come domestiche.
Ognuna di loro è unica e speciale, con un carattere ed un modo di porsi particolare, ma nessuna di esse è migliore dell’altra agli occhi dei padroni di casa come dovrebbero essere viste delle figlie in una famiglia numerosa.
Arrivano, chi lavora per uno e chi per tredici anni, e poi se ne vanno perché finalmente trovano un compagno per la vita, la gioia di avere figli, ma ciò non le allontana mai davvero da quella famiglia importante per cui hanno lavorato.
Quindi si, per chi volesse leggere qualcosa di leggero e nuovo, Domestiche fa per lui (ad un certo punto l’autore si autonomina durante la narrazione stessa).
Quindi buona lettura a tutti!
Autore: Junichiro Tanizaki
Anno: 1963
Premetto che il presunto autore, ormai, è divenuto uno dei miei preferiti (insieme a Stephen King e Philippa Gregory) di conseguenza sarà molto probabile che arriveranno altri libri recensiti.
Detto questo, andiamo avanti:
Le Domestiche è un ‘romanzo’, più somigliante ad una novella leggera, molto fluente e interessante.
Tutto ruota intorno alla famiglia Chikura, di cui il capofamiglia è Raikichi uno scrittore di versi, ove per anni vi passano, chi per più o meno tempo, alcune ragazze come domestiche.
Ognuna di loro è unica e speciale, con un carattere ed un modo di porsi particolare, ma nessuna di esse è migliore dell’altra agli occhi dei padroni di casa come dovrebbero essere viste delle figlie in una famiglia numerosa.
Arrivano, chi lavora per uno e chi per tredici anni, e poi se ne vanno perché finalmente trovano un compagno per la vita, la gioia di avere figli, ma ciò non le allontana mai davvero da quella famiglia importante per cui hanno lavorato.
Quindi si, per chi volesse leggere qualcosa di leggero e nuovo, Domestiche fa per lui (ad un certo punto l’autore si autonomina durante la narrazione stessa).
Quindi buona lettura a tutti!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 16, 2020
Lunga vita al nostro caro signor Raikichi: banzai!
(194)
I mille tetti di tegole di Bōnotsu sono nascosti dalle mille vele delle navi in partenza...
(32)
Vieni usignolo,
presto, fa’ in fretta!
Qui a Nishiyama
nel mio piccolo giardino
i susini sono già in fiore!
(33)
A notte fonda
il gelido vento
soffia dal lago.
Nei pressi della rada di Mano
si ode un piviere gridare.
(99)
Venire a sapere che una sposa era già incinta non costituiva un problema, né tanto meno uno scandalo. Era ben più importante rispettare l’usanza dell’iwata obi e altre simili tradizioni al momento giusto.
(176-7)
(194)
I mille tetti di tegole di Bōnotsu sono nascosti dalle mille vele delle navi in partenza...
(32)
Vieni usignolo,
presto, fa’ in fretta!
Qui a Nishiyama
nel mio piccolo giardino
i susini sono già in fiore!
(33)
A notte fonda
il gelido vento
soffia dal lago.
Nei pressi della rada di Mano
si ode un piviere gridare.
(99)
Venire a sapere che una sposa era già incinta non costituiva un problema, né tanto meno uno scandalo. Era ben più importante rispettare l’usanza dell’iwata obi e altre simili tradizioni al momento giusto.
(176-7)
May 13, 2022
The Maids is an interesting novel which is essentially a historical chronicling of a fictional family's maids over time. This could be a daunting obstacle if a reader isn't familiar with Japanese novels, as this rapid-fire trip through a roster of maids could appear to be merely an onslaught of names. On its own, with its choice of structure, it doesn't have much narrative poignancy, but its strength is that the story of any single one of these maids could make a great novel in itself. This is basically The Makioka Sisters in miniature, with the driving force of the novel being the unraveling of traditions.
December 30, 2023
Rating this book 2-stars because I am so weary of plotless books and books based on little vignettes. If you are a fan of The Makioka Sisters, as I am, you might be disappointed in this book. The Maids describes various maids that worked for the fictional Raikichi family, over the decades—and little details about their appearances, habits, characters, and where they came from and moved to. Nothing really happens. I know a lot of people are completely unbothered by plotless books or even prefer them, but my goal for the next year is to get swept up in compelling, well written stories.
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