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الإوزة البرية
«رواية ساحرة» جريدة نويه تسوريشر تسايتونج
يُقدِّم الروائي الياباني البارز «أوجاي موري» في «الإوزة البرية» قصةً مؤثرة للحُب غير المتحقق، تدور أحداثها في عام 1880، على خلفية التغيير الاجتماعي المُذهل المُصاحب لقيام نظام ميجي. يجبر الفقرُ البطلة الشابة، أوتاما، أن تصبح عشيقة مرابٍ يحسب ويُخطط لكل خطوة، ولكن هذا الوضع المستقر ينقلب رأسًا على عقب عندما تتعرف على طالب الطب الوسيم أوكادا، وتقع في غرامه، فيصبح هدف رغباتها، ورمز خلاصها، على حد سواء. كمن حولها، وكالإوز البري، تتوق أوتاما إلى الحرية، وبتطور وعيها تصل الرواية إلى ذروتها المؤثرة.
كُتبت هذه القصة في عام 1913، وتُعد إحدى روائع الأدب الياباني المعاصر، وتُرجمت إلى لغات عديدة، واقتُبست للسينما في فيلم شهير نال استحسانًا كبيرًا بعنوان «العشيقة».
عن المؤلف
«أوجاي موري» (1862-1922)، من عمالقة الأدب الياباني المعاصر. كان جراحًا ماهرًا في الجيش، وأديبًا بارعًا في عصري ميجي وتايشو. تتميز أعماله بنظرة إنسانية قوية، ورومانسية تخففها الواقعية، وأسلوب سلس غالبًا ما يرتفع إلى كثافة شعرية كما هي الحال في المقاطع الختامية «للإوزة البرية». هذا أول عمل له يُترجم إلى العربية.
يُقدِّم الروائي الياباني البارز «أوجاي موري» في «الإوزة البرية» قصةً مؤثرة للحُب غير المتحقق، تدور أحداثها في عام 1880، على خلفية التغيير الاجتماعي المُذهل المُصاحب لقيام نظام ميجي. يجبر الفقرُ البطلة الشابة، أوتاما، أن تصبح عشيقة مرابٍ يحسب ويُخطط لكل خطوة، ولكن هذا الوضع المستقر ينقلب رأسًا على عقب عندما تتعرف على طالب الطب الوسيم أوكادا، وتقع في غرامه، فيصبح هدف رغباتها، ورمز خلاصها، على حد سواء. كمن حولها، وكالإوز البري، تتوق أوتاما إلى الحرية، وبتطور وعيها تصل الرواية إلى ذروتها المؤثرة.
كُتبت هذه القصة في عام 1913، وتُعد إحدى روائع الأدب الياباني المعاصر، وتُرجمت إلى لغات عديدة، واقتُبست للسينما في فيلم شهير نال استحسانًا كبيرًا بعنوان «العشيقة».
عن المؤلف
«أوجاي موري» (1862-1922)، من عمالقة الأدب الياباني المعاصر. كان جراحًا ماهرًا في الجيش، وأديبًا بارعًا في عصري ميجي وتايشو. تتميز أعماله بنظرة إنسانية قوية، ورومانسية تخففها الواقعية، وأسلوب سلس غالبًا ما يرتفع إلى كثافة شعرية كما هي الحال في المقاطع الختامية «للإوزة البرية». هذا أول عمل له يُترجم إلى العربية.
232 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1911
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6991 people want to read
About the author
Ōgai Mori
350 books218 followersMori Ōgai, pseudonym of Mori Rintarō (born February 17, 1862, Tsuwano, Japan—died July 9, 1922, Tokyo), one of the creators of modern Japanese literature.
The son of a physician of the aristocratic warrior (samurai) class, Mori Ōgai studied medicine, at first in Tokyo and from 1884 to 1888 in Germany. In 1890 he published the story “Maihime” (“The Dancing Girl”), an account closely based on his own experience of an unhappy attachment between a German girl and a Japanese student in Berlin. It represented a marked departure from the impersonal fiction of preceding generations and initiated a vogue for autobiographical revelations among Japanese writers. Ōgai’s most popular novel, Gan (1911–13; part translation: The Wild Goose), is the story of the undeclared love of a moneylender’s mistress for a medical student who passes by her house each day. Ōgai also translated Hans Christian Andersen’s autobiographical novel Improvisatoren.
In 1912 Ōgai was profoundly moved by the suicide of General Nogi Maresuke, following the death of the emperor Meiji, and he turned to historical fiction depicting the samurai code. The heroes of several works are warriors who, like General Nogi, commit suicide in order to follow their masters to the grave. Despite his early confessional writings, Ōgai came to share with his samurai heroes a reluctance to dwell on emotions. His detachment made his later works seem cold, but their strength and integrity were strikingly close to the samurai ideals he so admired.
The son of a physician of the aristocratic warrior (samurai) class, Mori Ōgai studied medicine, at first in Tokyo and from 1884 to 1888 in Germany. In 1890 he published the story “Maihime” (“The Dancing Girl”), an account closely based on his own experience of an unhappy attachment between a German girl and a Japanese student in Berlin. It represented a marked departure from the impersonal fiction of preceding generations and initiated a vogue for autobiographical revelations among Japanese writers. Ōgai’s most popular novel, Gan (1911–13; part translation: The Wild Goose), is the story of the undeclared love of a moneylender’s mistress for a medical student who passes by her house each day. Ōgai also translated Hans Christian Andersen’s autobiographical novel Improvisatoren.
In 1912 Ōgai was profoundly moved by the suicide of General Nogi Maresuke, following the death of the emperor Meiji, and he turned to historical fiction depicting the samurai code. The heroes of several works are warriors who, like General Nogi, commit suicide in order to follow their masters to the grave. Despite his early confessional writings, Ōgai came to share with his samurai heroes a reluctance to dwell on emotions. His detachment made his later works seem cold, but their strength and integrity were strikingly close to the samurai ideals he so admired.
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June 20, 2024
رواية "الإوزة البرية" من الأدب الياباني المُترجم؛ وهذا نوع من الأدب الذي يجب القراءة فيه والإبحار مع كُتابه ورُبما أشهرهم "هاروكي موراكامي"، ولكن لو أحببت أن أقارن بين كُل ما قرأته في الأدب الياباني.. ستكون هذه الرواية أقل ما قرأته على الإطلاق.
الرواية كانت تسير نحو أنها ستكون رواية لطيفة.. هُناك قضية ما.. المحظية التي داسها الفقر.. تلك الفتاة التي وجدت نفسها محظية لمُرابي بعد تجربة زواج أولى فاشلة من ضابط شرطة.. ومن خلال حكايتها تم تسليط الضوء على بعد القضايا مثل: الفتاة صغيرة السن التي تضطر للعمل من أجل المال.. كُل مرة كانت تظهر ببراءتها ولُطفها كان قلبي ينقبض وأشعر أنني أريد أن أضمها. رُبما ذلك ما زاد من حُبي لهذه الرواية رغم أنه لم يُذكر إلا في صفحات قليلة. ولكن نقطة ضعفي المُتمثلة في الصغار الذين وجدوا نفسهم لا حيلة لهم في الحياة إلا أن يكدوا ويعملوا وينسوا أي شيء له علاقة بالترفيه حتى لو كان ذلك أهم سمات سنهم.
والعديد من القضايا بالطبع تم طرحها.. من خلال زوجة "سويزو" المُرابي.. وقهره لها المتتالي.. حتى عندما علمت أن لديه محظية استطاع أن يقهرها رغم وجاهة حجتها. لنصل إلى الشاب "أوكادا" وزميله في السكن الذي كان دوره هُنا رواياً لقصتنا.
كما أسلفت الذكر الرواية كانت في طريقها إلى أن تكون لطيفة.. حتى النهاية.. مُشكلتي الكُبرى معها.. أنا من مُحبي النهايات المفتوحة.. ولكن ليست النهايات المبتورة.. شعرت أن الكاتب قد مل فجأة من الرواية.. وأخبرنا بهدوء وبساطة.. الرواية انتهت وما لم يتم حكايته لا يُهمنا فقد كتبت ما أريد!
فشعرت فجأة أنني قد طُردت خارج الرواية.. مثل نهاية هذه الريفيو.
فجأة.
انتهى.
June 3, 2014
3.5 stars
It was a nice, simple read. I wish the storyline had been developed a little bit more thoroughly and I didn’t like the ambiguity of the ending. Books like this always surprise me, how women can be used as pawns. In this case, a young girl has been chosen by a well-off Japanese man to be his mistress. She accepts the role because she wants to support her aging father. It was all very sad to me, to be honest. What was interesting was her development when she realized her role and how she was perceived in society:
”She had done nothing wrong, yet she was to be persecuted by the world. This pained her. This was her despair. When she had learned that the policeman had deceived and deserted her, she had used the same words for the first time in her life: “It’s not fair! How cruel!”
It was a nice, simple read. I wish the storyline had been developed a little bit more thoroughly and I didn’t like the ambiguity of the ending. Books like this always surprise me, how women can be used as pawns. In this case, a young girl has been chosen by a well-off Japanese man to be his mistress. She accepts the role because she wants to support her aging father. It was all very sad to me, to be honest. What was interesting was her development when she realized her role and how she was perceived in society:
”She had done nothing wrong, yet she was to be persecuted by the world. This pained her. This was her despair. When she had learned that the policeman had deceived and deserted her, she had used the same words for the first time in her life: “It’s not fair! How cruel!”
August 19, 2017
Sin duda alguna, singular; sobre todo por su estructura. No soy mucho de leer literatura japonesa, lo reconozco, en general, puestos a elegir, y sin desviarnos mucho, me quedo con Las aventuras del rey mono o viaje hacia occidente; una obra anónima china del siglo XVI (así como otras novelas y cuentos chinos) Sin embargo, por azar, cogí este libro de la biblioteca y la casualidad me sonrió. Más que una novela, yo diría que es un cuento largo; un sueño sin acabar. Un principio sin un final. Es una delicia de relato cuento que nos transporta a otra realidad.
October 26, 2014
3.5 stars
Ōgai co-mingles nostalgia for a vanished Tokyo of the late 1800's with romanticism as he tells the story of secret longing, isolation, and unrequited love. The main character, Otama, is the subject of pathos in this Meiji- period story: a naïve heroine left with gloomy prospects after her divorce from a bigamist policeman, succumbs to filial duty to her impoverished father by becoming the mistress of a sleazy moneylender.
Her patron, Suezo, while shrewdly building a business on the exploitation of others, compares typically to most Meiji-men: selfish, egotistic. Already married, he secretly sets up Otama in a residence where she wiles away her days like a lonely bird in a gilded cage.
The story of Otama is told in flashback through the narration of a keen observer - a friend of the male protagonist, Okada, a medical student pursuing plans to study in Germany, with ill- managed finances that force him to seek the services of the calculating moneylender. During one of her days often filled with boredom, Otama takes notice of, and becomes infatuated with the handsome medical student as he passes by her balcony. Their meeting develops into unfulfilling entanglements for all.
Ōgai vividly details everyday life in the village from shopkeepers, street performers, housemaids, geisha, and policemen to university students and their landladies: giving a strong impression of a transitioning Japan moving into the 20th century; though his characterization of women seem less than flattering, possibly suggesting once more, a distinctive Meiji societal attitude. For example, Otama early in the story is depicted with a flaccid personality, weak and too easily compromised to be completely sympathetic to the modern reader. Suezo, on the other hand, adulterous, serpentine and slithering; unlikable from the beginning, describes his wife as 'ugly and quarrelsome.'
Ōgai's imagery may seem clumsy or indelicate in areas as noted in the scene where Okada accidentally kills a wild goose.
Among these bitumen-colored stems and over the dark gray surface of the water reflecting faint lights, we saw a dozen wild geese slowly moving back and forth. Some rested motionless on the water.
"Can you throw that far with a stone?" Ishihara asked, turning to Okada.
Okada hesitated. "They're going to sleep, aren't they? It's cruel to throw at them... I'll make them fly away," said Okada, reluctantly picking up a stone.
The small stone hissed faintly through the air. I watched where it landed, and I saw the neck of a goose drop down. At the same time a few flapped their wings and, uttering cries, dispersed and glided over the water . But they did not rise high into the air. The one that was hit remained where it was.(111)
The image of the dead goose linked with Otama's fate is just one of several less subtle scenes, branding the story in general with a fable-like signature.
Not all wild geese can fly.
The Wild Geese was my first Mori Ōgai novel; a quick read at 119 pages, I have to admit that it didn't impress me as a 'classic' piece of Japanese literature. It truly leaned more to a charming fable whose heroine disregards the coveted riches of golden eggs, and finds freedom in the spreading of her own wings.
Ōgai co-mingles nostalgia for a vanished Tokyo of the late 1800's with romanticism as he tells the story of secret longing, isolation, and unrequited love. The main character, Otama, is the subject of pathos in this Meiji- period story: a naïve heroine left with gloomy prospects after her divorce from a bigamist policeman, succumbs to filial duty to her impoverished father by becoming the mistress of a sleazy moneylender.
Her patron, Suezo, while shrewdly building a business on the exploitation of others, compares typically to most Meiji-men: selfish, egotistic. Already married, he secretly sets up Otama in a residence where she wiles away her days like a lonely bird in a gilded cage.
The story of Otama is told in flashback through the narration of a keen observer - a friend of the male protagonist, Okada, a medical student pursuing plans to study in Germany, with ill- managed finances that force him to seek the services of the calculating moneylender. During one of her days often filled with boredom, Otama takes notice of, and becomes infatuated with the handsome medical student as he passes by her balcony. Their meeting develops into unfulfilling entanglements for all.
Ōgai vividly details everyday life in the village from shopkeepers, street performers, housemaids, geisha, and policemen to university students and their landladies: giving a strong impression of a transitioning Japan moving into the 20th century; though his characterization of women seem less than flattering, possibly suggesting once more, a distinctive Meiji societal attitude. For example, Otama early in the story is depicted with a flaccid personality, weak and too easily compromised to be completely sympathetic to the modern reader. Suezo, on the other hand, adulterous, serpentine and slithering; unlikable from the beginning, describes his wife as 'ugly and quarrelsome.'
Ōgai's imagery may seem clumsy or indelicate in areas as noted in the scene where Okada accidentally kills a wild goose.
Among these bitumen-colored stems and over the dark gray surface of the water reflecting faint lights, we saw a dozen wild geese slowly moving back and forth. Some rested motionless on the water.
"Can you throw that far with a stone?" Ishihara asked, turning to Okada.
Okada hesitated. "They're going to sleep, aren't they? It's cruel to throw at them... I'll make them fly away," said Okada, reluctantly picking up a stone.
The small stone hissed faintly through the air. I watched where it landed, and I saw the neck of a goose drop down. At the same time a few flapped their wings and, uttering cries, dispersed and glided over the water . But they did not rise high into the air. The one that was hit remained where it was.(111)
The image of the dead goose linked with Otama's fate is just one of several less subtle scenes, branding the story in general with a fable-like signature.
Not all wild geese can fly.
The Wild Geese was my first Mori Ōgai novel; a quick read at 119 pages, I have to admit that it didn't impress me as a 'classic' piece of Japanese literature. It truly leaned more to a charming fable whose heroine disregards the coveted riches of golden eggs, and finds freedom in the spreading of her own wings.
May 3, 2022
Mart ayındaki Ankara Kitap Fuarında İthaki standında farklı kapak tasarımlarıyla gözüme çarpan Japon Klasikleri serisinden aldığım iki kitaptan biriydi Yaban Kazı. Japon edebiyatına sempatiyle yaklaştığımdan tatlı bir sürpriz oldu benim için. Rahat okunan, ama basit olmayan, 1880’lerin Japonyası’nın toplumsal ortamına pencere açan hoş bir roman. Ana karakter Otama’nın, başına gelen ciddi talihsizlikleri (sonradan evli çıktığı anlaşılan bir polisle evlendirilmesi, ardından evli bir tefeciye metres verilmesi) kaderci bir yaklaşımla karşılaması tabii günümüz optiğinden bakınca rahatsız edici gelebiliyor. Kitabın bir güzel yönü de, birçok sayfada verilen kısa dipnotlarla özellikle Japon kültürü bakımından faydalı bilgiler vermesi. Bu notları da yazan Alper Kaan Bilir’in çevirisi de akıcı, berrak.
February 23, 2018
نهاية الرواية دي فكرتني بحتة من مسرحية شاهد مشافش حاجة ..
- إنت عارف حضرتك نفق العباسية ؟؟
- أه
- مش فيه راجل بتاع عصير هناك ؟؟
- أيوة
- عارفه ؟؟
- أيوة
- وحش ، متبقاش تشرب من عنده يعني
تقريبأ دي من المرات القليلة اللي بندم فيها على قراءة رواية .. يعني مش كفاية من أول بدأت الرواية كل يوم أجي أقرأ أنام .. لا كمان النهاية تطلع ( ألشة كبيرة ) .. أنا اتصدمت و الله ..
- إنت عارف حضرتك نفق العباسية ؟؟
- أه
- مش فيه راجل بتاع عصير هناك ؟؟
- أيوة
- عارفه ؟؟
- أيوة
- وحش ، متبقاش تشرب من عنده يعني
تقريبأ دي من المرات القليلة اللي بندم فيها على قراءة رواية .. يعني مش كفاية من أول بدأت الرواية كل يوم أجي أقرأ أنام .. لا كمان النهاية تطلع ( ألشة كبيرة ) .. أنا اتصدمت و الله ..
August 8, 2022
Мори Огаи нам кроз причу о Отами, која постаје љубавница познатог зеленаша и њену платонску љубав према студенту медицине Окади, представља Токио с краја 19. века и његову трансформацију. Иако јапанско друштво започиње са модернизацијом и отварањем ка свету, традиција је у њему и даље значајна. Сукоб традиционалног и модерног тако ће и овде бити једна од тема.
Ликови нису значајније продубљени, нити је "радња" овде важна, с обзиром да писац пре свега пише роман у коме жели да изнесе своје идеје и да представи одређене друштвене типове.
П.С. За оне који бележе мучења/убијања животиња у књижевности - да се дода пресецање змије на пола и случајни погодак и убијање дивље гуске каменом.
Ликови нису значајније продубљени, нити је "радња" овде важна, с обзиром да писац пре свега пише роман у коме жели да изнесе своје идеје и да представи одређене друштвене типове.
П.С. За оне који бележе мучења/убијања животиња у књижевности - да се дода пресецање змије на пола и случајни погодак и убијање дивље гуске каменом.
January 17, 2016
The events of my story took place some time ago—in 1880, the thirteenth year of the Meiji era, to be exact.
At the start of this short novel, the narrator described his friendship with a handsome student named Okada. Okada often walked the streets of Muenzaka in the evening and one time he happened upon a beautiful young woman living in a house in a silent neighborhood. Through his regular walks he had become acquainted with her, even if "the appearance of the house and the way the woman dressed strongly suggested that she was someone's mistress."
Even in ill health she would have been beautiful, but in fact she was young and healthy, and today her usual good looks had been heightened by careful makeup and grooming. To my eyes she seemed to possess a beauty wholly beyond anything I had noted earlier, and her face shone with a kind of radiance. The effect was dazzling.
The Wild Goose, also known as The Wild Geese, by Mori Ōgai (1862-1922) was a dazzling and iconic Japanese novel about Otama, the woman who agreed to become the mistress of Suezō, a shrewd moneylender, and her acquaintance with Okada, the young student she fell in love with. Through gentle prose, Ōgai presented their interlinked stories while illuminating the attitudes and mores of late nineteenth century Japan, at the cusp of its transition to a modernist society.
It was a time when men of means like Suezō could hire go-betweens to negotiate and procure for them a mistress. The practice was then taboo and mistresses were then, as now, strongly discriminated against. Otama's previous marriage to a policeman turned out to be a sham, leaving her completely discouraged about her future prospects. Her plight was to be poor and her acquiescence to become a rich man's mistress was driven by her need to secure material comforts for herself and her old father.
Part of the charm of the story was the narrator's close observations of Otama, Suezō, and Okada's motives and actions. Like the character of Suezō, the man despised by society for his occupation as moneylender, the narrator had "keen powers of observation", in the way he delineated not only three strong characters but believable secondary characters as well. Suezō's suspicious wife Otsune and Otama's father had their own complexities.
Ōgai's marked evocation of a distinct place and culture and the marginal status of women at the time revealed a "not-quite" vanished age, in the sense that his characters' desires, despair, and anguish were just as transparent as the present. In addition, Ōgai's use of animal symbols (a pair of caged birds, a fierce snake, a flock of geese) and references to classical Chinese and Japanese literature had such cunning and grace that they didn't feel like literary devices at all but the very essence of the story, like fire to the brazier.
In her mortification there was very little hatred for the world or for people. If one were to ask exactly what in fact she resented, one would have to answer that it was her own fate. Through no fault of her own she was made to suffer persecution, and this was what she found so painful. When she was deceived and abandoned by the police officer, she had felt this mortification, and recently, when she realized that she must become a mistress, she experienced it again. Now she learned that she was not only a mistress but the mistress of a despised moneylender, and her despair, which had been ground smooth between the teeth of time and washed of its color in the waters of resignation, assumed once more in her heart its stark outline.
The unnamed narrator was a voice of kindness. His large sympathy for the fates of Otama and his friend Okada was unmistakable, relating their stories with penetrating understanding, even affecting a degree of respect and love for the two characters. He later revealed his storytelling method as a play on two perspectives: "Just as two images combine in a stereoscope to form a single picture, so the events I observed earlier and those that were described to me later have been fitted together to make this story of mine."
With Natsume Sōseki, Tōson Shimazaki, Shiga Naoya, and Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Ōgai was an exemplary prewar Japanese writer of national stature, and The Wild Goose (Gan), published serially in 1911-13, was his most esteemed work. According to Murakami Haruki (if I remember him correctly), Gan had the same special status in Japan as Sōseki's I Am a Cat, Botchan, and Kokoro, Akutagawa's stories, and Shiga's A Dark Night's Passing.
Translator Burton Watson mentioned in his thorough introduction that the original title Gan could mean both the singular and plural words, hence the two distinct English titles.
In 2010 I have read the earlier 1959 translation, The Wild Geese, by Kingo Ochiai and Sanford Goldstein, and in fact selected it as one of my favorite reads of 2010. I don't have that copy anymore and so I can't make a general comparison of the translations. But this full translation by Watson contains endorsements from Edwin McClellan and Edward Seidensticker, two powerhouse Japanese translators, so that should count for something. Indeed this version I find quite beautiful.
Gan was adapted into a movie in 1953.
Earlier review of the Ochiai-Goldstein translation:
A beautiful symbolic novel about the two states of nature that an individual can simultaneously experience: freedom and imprisonment. The story centers on a young woman who consented to become a rich man's mistress in exchange for material comforts for her and her father. The rich man's life and relationship with his legal wife are also explored. A complication arises when the mistress falls in love with a young man. Mori Ōgai's deft touch with characterization is evident in this small novel.
The story is presented with a unique mix of romantic suspense and psychological mystery. The ending delivers an open-ended resolution that sustains the originality of the story. If it had been the usual neat ending, then I would not recommend this book highly enough.
October 20, 2012
It's the Meiji Period's answer to "Lost in Translation".
I'm so right about this. If Sofia Coppola is on goodreads, someone needs to see if "The Wild Geese" is "read". I bet it's even on her "made-a-movie-about-it" shelf.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITVS2r...
The stories: She's feeling lost and alone, doing the right thing for her [father / husband], and yet feeling that there's more to life than this. Why did she [become this rich man's mistress / marry this photographer]?
"What does she do?" "She's not sure yet, actually..."
To make matters worse, the man she's tied to [is a usurer / has really vacuous celebrity friends]! But then she keeps bumping into an attractive [younger / older] man. A relationship is formed over the crisis of her [caged birds being eaten by snakes / broken toe].
But his duty is to take him overseas. The end has her in the street feeling sad and confused about her life, and him going past [with a goose in his underpants / in a taxi to the airport].
They made a film of "The Wild Geese" in the 1950s. This "two roosters in the hen house" scene doesn't happen in the book:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YjL-A...
I'm so right about this. If Sofia Coppola is on goodreads, someone needs to see if "The Wild Geese" is "read". I bet it's even on her "made-a-movie-about-it" shelf.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITVS2r...
The stories: She's feeling lost and alone, doing the right thing for her [father / husband], and yet feeling that there's more to life than this. Why did she [become this rich man's mistress / marry this photographer]?
"What does she do?" "She's not sure yet, actually..."
To make matters worse, the man she's tied to [is a usurer / has really vacuous celebrity friends]! But then she keeps bumping into an attractive [younger / older] man. A relationship is formed over the crisis of her [caged birds being eaten by snakes / broken toe].
But his duty is to take him overseas. The end has her in the street feeling sad and confused about her life, and him going past [with a goose in his underpants / in a taxi to the airport].
They made a film of "The Wild Geese" in the 1950s. This "two roosters in the hen house" scene doesn't happen in the book:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YjL-A...
February 11, 2023
رواية لايت خفيفة بدون نقطة ذروة او صراع بدات بهدوء وانتهت بهدوء
٣،٥
٣،٥
July 17, 2025
Konusu yavaş ilerleyen ama bir o kadar da güzel bir kitap. Kitaptaki hikaye yazarın da içinde olduğu bir konuya bağlı o da kitaba farklı güzellik katıyor.
October 12, 2018
3.75 stars
N. B. : Interested readers may find this film interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQekl...
SECOND REVIEW [August 18, 2014]
I think Ogai Mori's avid readers should read this novel's review by Roger Pulvers as informed in my private notes above since it is so informative, authoritative and reader-friendly that they should read its new translation as soon as possible. So would I when I can find a copy.
After my second reading, its nostalgic theme has still lingered on due to their hopelessly unfruitful love between Otama the young lady and Okada the student; Otada's decision to become Suezo's mistress has suggested such a docile and submissive tradition in Meiji Japan.
FIRST REVIEW [January 20, 2013]
I found reading "The Wild Geese" by Ogai Mori semi-sentimental due to its scope, plot and sentimentality. Surprisingly short for such a novel, its length for each chapter varies, that is, from merely one page + 7 lines (Chapter 3), two pages + 5 lines (Chapter 18), three pages + 7 lines (Chapter 2), etc. This might suggest, I wonder, lack of thick description or "stream of writing flow" (my idea) seemingly required for good and great novels written by Natsume Soseki, Junichiro Tanazaki, Yukio Mishima, etc. Therefore, reading this novel didn't satisfy me to its fullest literary stature since it should have been detailed in more pages and I was not happy to express my humble verdict.
Written in 1913 in the Meiji era, a century ago, its plot was quite simple because it depicted an interesting story of "unfulfilled love" ( back cover) between Otama, a mistress of Suezo, and Okada, a university student in Tokyo. Indeed our heroine often visited by her husband (who arranged a new lodging away from his wife and children) rarely met Okada, they happened to meet each other by chance one evening when he passed her house after having passed some times before, such an instinctive gaze had a glimpse of love impact on her since then (pp. 21-22). Eventually, she kept loving him in mind as a secret and never revealed to anyone even to her father who stayed away nearby. Till the day he had to meet her in person due to his help she needed for the getting rid of a snake that intruded in a bird cage she kept upstairs. According to the narrator, this is Okada's reaction:
When Okada was telling me this, he said: "The woman was quite beautiful." But he didn't say that he had seen her before and that he had greeted her each time he passed her house. (p. 117)
Since then, after a few words of thanks and responses, this is Otama's perspective:
Otama's longing for Okada had been like that of a woman for an expensive article she admired from a distance, but he now turned into an article she wanted to buy.
His rescue of her bird had given her an opportunity for becoming better acquainted with him. Should she send Ume to him with some token of gratitude? And if so, what should it be? ... (p. 124)
In short this was of course a one-sided love affair as mostly narrated from Otama's side while its readers knew little from Okada's. Consequently, he would leave her to study medicine in Germany (like the author) before his graduation (p. 148) and I simply couldn't help being disappointed due to the novel's insufficient supporting plot for their possible formal meeting and bidding goodbye. There were none, our reading thirst pitifully unfulfilled; we thus couldn't help being deprived of our right to be gratified for such a satisfactory privilege.
As for the question of sentimentality, since it was one-sided love as longingly reflected by Otama, therefore, its readers simply could achieve their limited sentimental emotion from this "poignant story" (back cover). So what should we do to solve this problem arisen from reading some few pages or chapters? I think there was no ready-made solution, rather we should feel sufficient and console ourselves with what we're reading, trying to appreciate this novel's descriptions of various Japanese characters or ways of life a century ago, for instance, Suezo whose business with students was interesting (pp. 31-32), incense burner "to drive away the mosquitoes" (p. 42), such an inhumane or cruel reason why Otama became a mistress, that is, "Her aim in life had been her father's happiness, so she had become a mistress, almost forcibly persuading the old man to accept. She knew she had degraded herself to the lowest limits, yet she had still sought a kind of spiritual comfort in the unselfishness of her choice. ..." (p. 100), etc.
In brief, it should be enjoyably readable if its readers are not overcritical of the novel narrative focused on a kind of vague love affairs.
N. B. : Interested readers may find this film interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQekl...
SECOND REVIEW [August 18, 2014]
I think Ogai Mori's avid readers should read this novel's review by Roger Pulvers as informed in my private notes above since it is so informative, authoritative and reader-friendly that they should read its new translation as soon as possible. So would I when I can find a copy.
After my second reading, its nostalgic theme has still lingered on due to their hopelessly unfruitful love between Otama the young lady and Okada the student; Otada's decision to become Suezo's mistress has suggested such a docile and submissive tradition in Meiji Japan.
FIRST REVIEW [January 20, 2013]
I found reading "The Wild Geese" by Ogai Mori semi-sentimental due to its scope, plot and sentimentality. Surprisingly short for such a novel, its length for each chapter varies, that is, from merely one page + 7 lines (Chapter 3), two pages + 5 lines (Chapter 18), three pages + 7 lines (Chapter 2), etc. This might suggest, I wonder, lack of thick description or "stream of writing flow" (my idea) seemingly required for good and great novels written by Natsume Soseki, Junichiro Tanazaki, Yukio Mishima, etc. Therefore, reading this novel didn't satisfy me to its fullest literary stature since it should have been detailed in more pages and I was not happy to express my humble verdict.
Written in 1913 in the Meiji era, a century ago, its plot was quite simple because it depicted an interesting story of "unfulfilled love" ( back cover) between Otama, a mistress of Suezo, and Okada, a university student in Tokyo. Indeed our heroine often visited by her husband (who arranged a new lodging away from his wife and children) rarely met Okada, they happened to meet each other by chance one evening when he passed her house after having passed some times before, such an instinctive gaze had a glimpse of love impact on her since then (pp. 21-22). Eventually, she kept loving him in mind as a secret and never revealed to anyone even to her father who stayed away nearby. Till the day he had to meet her in person due to his help she needed for the getting rid of a snake that intruded in a bird cage she kept upstairs. According to the narrator, this is Okada's reaction:
When Okada was telling me this, he said: "The woman was quite beautiful." But he didn't say that he had seen her before and that he had greeted her each time he passed her house. (p. 117)
Since then, after a few words of thanks and responses, this is Otama's perspective:
Otama's longing for Okada had been like that of a woman for an expensive article she admired from a distance, but he now turned into an article she wanted to buy.
His rescue of her bird had given her an opportunity for becoming better acquainted with him. Should she send Ume to him with some token of gratitude? And if so, what should it be? ... (p. 124)
In short this was of course a one-sided love affair as mostly narrated from Otama's side while its readers knew little from Okada's. Consequently, he would leave her to study medicine in Germany (like the author) before his graduation (p. 148) and I simply couldn't help being disappointed due to the novel's insufficient supporting plot for their possible formal meeting and bidding goodbye. There were none, our reading thirst pitifully unfulfilled; we thus couldn't help being deprived of our right to be gratified for such a satisfactory privilege.
As for the question of sentimentality, since it was one-sided love as longingly reflected by Otama, therefore, its readers simply could achieve their limited sentimental emotion from this "poignant story" (back cover). So what should we do to solve this problem arisen from reading some few pages or chapters? I think there was no ready-made solution, rather we should feel sufficient and console ourselves with what we're reading, trying to appreciate this novel's descriptions of various Japanese characters or ways of life a century ago, for instance, Suezo whose business with students was interesting (pp. 31-32), incense burner "to drive away the mosquitoes" (p. 42), such an inhumane or cruel reason why Otama became a mistress, that is, "Her aim in life had been her father's happiness, so she had become a mistress, almost forcibly persuading the old man to accept. She knew she had degraded herself to the lowest limits, yet she had still sought a kind of spiritual comfort in the unselfishness of her choice. ..." (p. 100), etc.
In brief, it should be enjoyably readable if its readers are not overcritical of the novel narrative focused on a kind of vague love affairs.
September 10, 2020
This was on my TBR list. I just finished it. When I looked at my TBR list as to what possessed me to procure this book was the note “sounds interesting”. Well I was wrong on that count.
I think I need to get used to Japanese literature more…so I am not going to critique this book written by a novelist who is a well-respected master of Japanese lit. This is not the first time I was flummoxed by the lack of anything much happening in a novel written by a Japanese author for a Japanese audience (i.e., the novels were first published in Japan and then some years after translated into English). However, in the past year and a half I have come to really like some modern-day Japanese authors including Yoko Ogawa. Hiromi Kawakami, and Shuichi Yoshida. I do have “The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories” and a short story by Ogai is in there (The Last Testament of Okitsu Yagoemon), and I read it, but I had no comments made regarding the story in my review.
It was helpful to have an introduction to this novel written by the fellow who translated it and is well versed in Japanese lit. I read it after I read the novel, and he gave a good rationale for why nothing much seemed to happen in the novel (or an explanation that it was for the best that something that could have happened didn’t because of the nature of Japanese culture at the time the story took place, Tokyo ca. 1870s).
Characters in this novel are:
• Okada – a student who is almost ready to graduate from university, who has met Otama, and finds her attractive
• Otama – a mistress of Suezo, she is young and has mixed feelings about being a mistress to a moneylender, and waves to Okada every time he passes her residence (which Suezo has rented for Otama). She is attracted to Okada. They have had one brief encounter in which Okada tried to rescue one of Otama’s linnets (a songbird from the finch family) in a birdcage from a big-ass snake who managed to get in the house and already has one linnet in its mouth and wants the second one for dessert. 😦
• Suezo – a moneylender who doesn’t seem to be a bad chap except he is cheating on his wife and being dishonest about it
• Otune – Suezo’s wife who has a lot of children to look after and she is fairly convinced Suezo has a mistress, but she feels helpless in doing anything about it, plus he swears he does not have a mistress.
• The narrator of the story who is Okada’s friend
Here is what one scholar says about the book and its translation:
“…The author is numbered among the giants of modern Japanese prose, and it is among his last exercises in realistic fiction, and probably the best. It is a lively, well-told story the ending of which, unlike endings to much Japanese fiction, is very effective, with the gratuitous happening that spoils Otama’s chances for happiness. We must be grateful to have, at length, a full translation from the skillful hand of Burton Watson.” Edward Seidensticker, Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature, Columbia University
Reviews:
http://www.complete-review.com/review...
http://nihondistractions.blogspot.com...
from a blogger: http://booktrek.blogspot.com/2012/04/...
from a blogger: http://tonysreadinglist.blogspot.com/...
from a blogger who gives it all away regarding ending so you might want to hold off on reading this until after you read the novel: http://inborneowithbooks.blogspot.com...
another blogger who gives pretty much everything away in the review: http://novelconversations.blogspot.co...
Note: some of the reviews above reviewed an edition of this novel by other translators (Kingo Ochiai and Sanford Goldstein) and it was apparently abridged and it was called The Wild Geese…it was close to 100 pages. What I read was the complete version, and it was 166 pages (Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 1995).
I think I need to get used to Japanese literature more…so I am not going to critique this book written by a novelist who is a well-respected master of Japanese lit. This is not the first time I was flummoxed by the lack of anything much happening in a novel written by a Japanese author for a Japanese audience (i.e., the novels were first published in Japan and then some years after translated into English). However, in the past year and a half I have come to really like some modern-day Japanese authors including Yoko Ogawa. Hiromi Kawakami, and Shuichi Yoshida. I do have “The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories” and a short story by Ogai is in there (The Last Testament of Okitsu Yagoemon), and I read it, but I had no comments made regarding the story in my review.
It was helpful to have an introduction to this novel written by the fellow who translated it and is well versed in Japanese lit. I read it after I read the novel, and he gave a good rationale for why nothing much seemed to happen in the novel (or an explanation that it was for the best that something that could have happened didn’t because of the nature of Japanese culture at the time the story took place, Tokyo ca. 1870s).
Characters in this novel are:
• Okada – a student who is almost ready to graduate from university, who has met Otama, and finds her attractive
• Otama – a mistress of Suezo, she is young and has mixed feelings about being a mistress to a moneylender, and waves to Okada every time he passes her residence (which Suezo has rented for Otama). She is attracted to Okada. They have had one brief encounter in which Okada tried to rescue one of Otama’s linnets (a songbird from the finch family) in a birdcage from a big-ass snake who managed to get in the house and already has one linnet in its mouth and wants the second one for dessert. 😦
• Suezo – a moneylender who doesn’t seem to be a bad chap except he is cheating on his wife and being dishonest about it
• Otune – Suezo’s wife who has a lot of children to look after and she is fairly convinced Suezo has a mistress, but she feels helpless in doing anything about it, plus he swears he does not have a mistress.
• The narrator of the story who is Okada’s friend
Here is what one scholar says about the book and its translation:
“…The author is numbered among the giants of modern Japanese prose, and it is among his last exercises in realistic fiction, and probably the best. It is a lively, well-told story the ending of which, unlike endings to much Japanese fiction, is very effective, with the gratuitous happening that spoils Otama’s chances for happiness. We must be grateful to have, at length, a full translation from the skillful hand of Burton Watson.” Edward Seidensticker, Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature, Columbia University
Reviews:
http://www.complete-review.com/review...
http://nihondistractions.blogspot.com...
from a blogger: http://booktrek.blogspot.com/2012/04/...
from a blogger: http://tonysreadinglist.blogspot.com/...
from a blogger who gives it all away regarding ending so you might want to hold off on reading this until after you read the novel: http://inborneowithbooks.blogspot.com...
another blogger who gives pretty much everything away in the review: http://novelconversations.blogspot.co...
Note: some of the reviews above reviewed an edition of this novel by other translators (Kingo Ochiai and Sanford Goldstein) and it was apparently abridged and it was called The Wild Geese…it was close to 100 pages. What I read was the complete version, and it was 166 pages (Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 1995).
February 10, 2022
Beklentim yüksek değildi fakat o düşük beklentimi dahi karşılamadı kitap. Serinin diğer kitabı Şeytanın Çırağı da müthiş bir kitap değildi fakat bu kitaba nazaran çok daha iyiydi. Benim gibi aradığını bulamayanlara Ayrıntı'nın basmış olduğu Takici'nin Yengeç Konserveleme Gemisi kitabını tavsiye ederim. Erken dönem Japon klasiklerinden birisi olmasına rağmen çok başarılı bir kitaptı. Bu ikiliden sonra seriye normalde devam etmezdim fakat üçüncü ve dördüncü kitaplar Dazai ve Soseki'nin. İlk ikiliye nazaran daha büyük isimler. Bu ikiliyi okuduktan sonra seriye devam edip etmeme kararımı alacağım sanırım.
July 3, 2023
Gdyby ta historia była bardziej rozwinięta, to jestem pewna, że mogłabym mocniej się w nią zaangażować.
December 23, 2019
Libro que tenga una planta en el titulo
es un libro pequeño , tenia muchas ganas de leerlo pero no tenia muy buenos resultados con autores japoneses a menos uno o dos.
lo leí mientras estaba recostada bebiendo leche , es una cosa hermosa. como se conoce dos extraños verse de lejos y sentir la atracción pero que por cosas del destino no se pudo concretar esa relación . quizás en la siguiente vida.
quizás no.
( mi vida amorosa actual)
es un libro pequeño , tenia muchas ganas de leerlo pero no tenia muy buenos resultados con autores japoneses a menos uno o dos.
lo leí mientras estaba recostada bebiendo leche , es una cosa hermosa. como se conoce dos extraños verse de lejos y sentir la atracción pero que por cosas del destino no se pudo concretar esa relación . quizás en la siguiente vida.
quizás no.
( mi vida amorosa actual)
January 2, 2022
Suezo, Otama và Okada, chỉ có một nhúm nhân vật, câu chuyện cũng không có gì nhiều nhặn, với lối dẫn dắt chậm rãi. Thế nhưng, tác phẩm này ghi điểm cực mạnh cho mình ở chất ngôn từ vô cùng thanh nhã, đẹp tựa như một phiến lụa. Cho nên, câu chuyện này mình đọc để cảm nhận, nhiều hơn là để bàn luận. Một quyển mà mình cảm thấy rất giá trị vì đã mở đọc.
Ồ, nhưng mình lại chưa hiểu tựa truyện "Nhạn" là có nghĩa gì.
Ồ, nhưng mình lại chưa hiểu tựa truyện "Nhạn" là có nghĩa gì.
October 15, 2018
A graceful novella highlighting the lack of agency of women in traditional Japanese society. Otama is a beautiful young woman who dotes on her gentle, ineffectual father. Her prospects in life have been blighted by a forced marriage to a policeman. In fact, the policeman had a wife already, and deserted Otama as soon as he was found out. Otama, left in a vulnerable position when the bigamist abandonded her, accepts to become the mistress of Suezo, another unscrupulous bully. At first, Otama, relieved that Suezo doesn't behave like a complete brute, although he has effectively bought her, fulfills her obligations to the letter, only too grateful that her father is now well taken care of. Yet, when she finds out first that Suezo too has a wife, then that he is a moneylender, her attitude starts to change. Since usurers are universally despised, some shopkeepers are rude to Otama and her maid. Lonely and put upon, Otama starts to fantasize about Okada, a good-looking student who seems to admire her from afar. One day, Okada happens to pass by her house when a snake, having broken into her birdcage, is busy eating her pet birds alive. After Okada kills the snake, Otama's obession with Okada reaches new heights and a couple of weeks later, she decides to speak to him, a very daring thing to do for a young woman in her position. However, the meeting never takes place because on the day Otama finally has the nerve to try and ambush her beloved, he is inveigled by some friends into changing his routine and participating in catching a wild goose. During this expedition, Okada tells the narrator that an opportunity has opened up for him to pursue his studies in Germany. One can only surmise that had he not gone overseas, he might have responded to Otama's overtures. As it is, Otama's procrastination has cost her her one chance of connecting to someone outside the confines of her societal prison and maybe, getting a measure of sympathy to help her go on. Otama's transformation from sacrificial victim to someone determined to take her fate in her own hands is delicately told and I enjoyed all the little details about Japanese customs.
January 14, 2022
Modern Japon Edebiyatı’nın temellerini atan yazar Ogai Mori’den harika bir eser. Yaşadığı olumsuzluklardan ve fakirlikten bir tefecinin metresi olmak zorunda kalan O-Tama’nın hikayesini anlatıyor kitap. Bu hikayeyi anlatırkende 1800’lerin sonunda Japonya’daki hayatı çok yönlü olarak resmediyor. Eğer farklı kültürlere ilginiz varsa bu kitaba mutlaka zaman ayırın. Son olarak harika çeviri için Alper Kaan Bilir’e teşekkürlerimi sunarım. Kitabı daha da güzel yapmış Alper Bey’in çevirisi.
February 25, 2022
* توجد بضائع لا تفكر المرأة في المبادرة بشرائها على الرغم من إحساسها بالرغبة في امتلاكها. تقف المرأة في كل مرة تمر فيها أمام خزانة العرض الزجاجية التي تتزين ببضائع مثل ساعات أو خواتم فتتأملها. لا تذهب المرأة خصيصا إلى مكان تلك البضائع، و لكن عندما تمر من أمامها أثناء ذهابها لشيء آخر فهي بالتأكيد تقوم بالنظر إليها. تتوحد رغبتها في الحصول على تلك البضائع مع يأسها الذي يجعلها في النهاية لا تصل إلى حد وضع خطة للقيام بالشراء، فتتولد لديها مشاعر اسى محبب و لكنه ليس حادا. و تستمتع المرأة بتذوق ذلك الإحساس. و على النقيض من ذلك، المنتج الذي تقرر المرأة شراءه يجعلها تشعر بآلام مبرحة. تعاني المرأة بسبب ذلك الشيء لدرجة لا تجعل لديها القدرة على البقاء في حالة هدوء. حتى و لو كانت تعلم أنها ستحصل عليه إذا انتظرت أياما قليلة، فليس لديها متسع للانتظار ، بل إن المرأة في بعض الأحيان تذهب لشراء ذلك الشيء في هبّة مفاجئة من دون التفكير في حر أو برد ، ليل أو نهار ، مطر أو ثلوج. و حتى المرأة التي تسرق ذلك الشيء خلسة من المحل ، ليست بدعاً من النساء أو امرأة شاذة. و لكن لا يزيد الأمر على أنها امرأة صارت الحدود لديها بين الشيء الذي تريد الحصول عليه و الشيء الذي تريد شراءه مبهمة.
March 22, 2022
Ogai Mori'nin 19. Yüzyıl donları Japonyasına ışık tuttuğu bu kitap, güzel bir öyküyü bizlere sunuyor. Birkaç katmanlı bir aşk hikayesi diyebiliriz kitaba.
Bir tefeci var, onun metresi olmayı kabul etmiş bir kızımız var ve o kızımızla masumane bir şekilde, uzaktan uzağa flörtleşen öğrenci gencimiz var. Tüm bunları gözlemleyen, yine öğrenci olan Ogai Mori de anlatıcı olarak bazen görünüp bazen kayboluyor. Yani öykünün başrolünde değil ama biz onun civarda olduğunu hissediyoruz. Hikayeye dahil oluyor her zaman.
Finalini ve birkaç konudaki bağlama noktasını sıkıntılı ve eksik bulsam da, ana temasını beğendiğim bir kitaptı. Böyle gölgede kalmış(türkiye için) eserleri çeviren İthaki’ye de teşekkürü bir borç bilirim.
Bir tefeci var, onun metresi olmayı kabul etmiş bir kızımız var ve o kızımızla masumane bir şekilde, uzaktan uzağa flörtleşen öğrenci gencimiz var. Tüm bunları gözlemleyen, yine öğrenci olan Ogai Mori de anlatıcı olarak bazen görünüp bazen kayboluyor. Yani öykünün başrolünde değil ama biz onun civarda olduğunu hissediyoruz. Hikayeye dahil oluyor her zaman.
Finalini ve birkaç konudaki bağlama noktasını sıkıntılı ve eksik bulsam da, ana temasını beğendiğim bir kitaptı. Böyle gölgede kalmış(türkiye için) eserleri çeviren İthaki’ye de teşekkürü bir borç bilirim.
August 27, 2018
#2018ReadingChallenge #nonPopSugar
Quyển này chắc phải đem đi dạy học như môn Văn trong nhà trường phổ thông, để các cô cẩn thận chỉ tận tay day tận mặt cái hay cái đẹp cái ý nghĩa sâu xa nghệ thuật tinh diệu không thể thấy bằng mắt thường của nó thì tôi đây may ra mới thấm nổi. Chứ đọc kiểu chơi bời thơ thẩn cốt hướng đến sự thỏa mãn như tôi bây giờ thì quả là khó. Đọc chỉ thấy nhạt nhẽo khiếp lên được chứ bói mãi chả thấy hay ho ở đâu. Cốt truyện tình tiết đơn giản đã đành, nhân vật có hành động có suy nghĩ đấy mà cảm giác vẫn mỏng dính như tranh 2D. Chưa kể thi thoảng nó lại sến sến theo cái nét khó tả kiểu gì í.
Đến là kiếu văn học cận đại Nhật thôi.
Quyển này chắc phải đem đi dạy học như môn Văn trong nhà trường phổ thông, để các cô cẩn thận chỉ tận tay day tận mặt cái hay cái đẹp cái ý nghĩa sâu xa nghệ thuật tinh diệu không thể thấy bằng mắt thường của nó thì tôi đây may ra mới thấm nổi. Chứ đọc kiểu chơi bời thơ thẩn cốt hướng đến sự thỏa mãn như tôi bây giờ thì quả là khó. Đọc chỉ thấy nhạt nhẽo khiếp lên được chứ bói mãi chả thấy hay ho ở đâu. Cốt truyện tình tiết đơn giản đã đành, nhân vật có hành động có suy nghĩ đấy mà cảm giác vẫn mỏng dính như tranh 2D. Chưa kể thi thoảng nó lại sến sến theo cái nét khó tả kiểu gì í.
Đến là kiếu văn học cận đại Nhật thôi.
June 21, 2020
Deja una sensación extraña leer esta breve novela. Pareciera ser el preludio de una historia que nunca llega a ser. Pero las historias que no llegan a ser, también son historias.
¿Hay algo que no valga la pena ser contado?
¿Hay algo que no valga la pena ser contado?
January 5, 2024
I discovered 'The Wild Goose' by Mori Ōgai through a friend's recommendation. The translation that I read was by Burton Watson. There is another translation of the book called 'The Wild Geese'.
The story goes like this. Otama is a beautiful young woman who is the mistress of Suezō. One day when she opens the window, she spots Okada taking a walk. Okada is a university student. Their eyes meet and something happens. Otama has never felt like this before. What happens after that forms the rest of the story.
The story brings vividly to life the Japan of that era. The unspoken, unrequited love that Otama feels for Okada is very beautifully depicted. The ending is haunting and makes our heart ache. The narrator of the story who is Okada's friend, says something at the end and it makes us wonder what happened after the story ended. That adds to the beauty and the poignancy of the story. The whole story evokes a feeling of 'Saudade' (I'm sure there is a Japanese equivalent for 'Saudade', but I'm not able to find it).
(From Wiki – "Saudade is an emotional state of melancholic or profoundly nostalgic longing for a beloved yet absent something or someone. It is often associated with a repressed understanding that one might never encounter the object of longing ever again. It is a recollection of feelings, experiences, places, or events, often elusive, that cause a sense of separation from the exciting, pleasant, or joyous sensations they once caused. It derives from the Latin word for solitude.")
I loved 'The Wild Goose'. I'm glad I read it. Edward Seidensticker described the book beautifully –
"I have long been fond of The Wild Goose. For more than a quarter of a century I have had an apartment at the top of the Muenzaka slope, where Otama lived and up and down which Okada had his evening walks. No house survives that is old enough to have been hers, but the Iwasaki wall still runs along one side of the narrow street, and people speak of her as if she were real and still among the inhabitants of the neighborhood."
I got goosebumps when I read that.
Have you read 'The Wild Goose'? What do you think about it?
The story goes like this. Otama is a beautiful young woman who is the mistress of Suezō. One day when she opens the window, she spots Okada taking a walk. Okada is a university student. Their eyes meet and something happens. Otama has never felt like this before. What happens after that forms the rest of the story.
The story brings vividly to life the Japan of that era. The unspoken, unrequited love that Otama feels for Okada is very beautifully depicted. The ending is haunting and makes our heart ache. The narrator of the story who is Okada's friend, says something at the end and it makes us wonder what happened after the story ended. That adds to the beauty and the poignancy of the story. The whole story evokes a feeling of 'Saudade' (I'm sure there is a Japanese equivalent for 'Saudade', but I'm not able to find it).
(From Wiki – "Saudade is an emotional state of melancholic or profoundly nostalgic longing for a beloved yet absent something or someone. It is often associated with a repressed understanding that one might never encounter the object of longing ever again. It is a recollection of feelings, experiences, places, or events, often elusive, that cause a sense of separation from the exciting, pleasant, or joyous sensations they once caused. It derives from the Latin word for solitude.")
I loved 'The Wild Goose'. I'm glad I read it. Edward Seidensticker described the book beautifully –
"I have long been fond of The Wild Goose. For more than a quarter of a century I have had an apartment at the top of the Muenzaka slope, where Otama lived and up and down which Okada had his evening walks. No house survives that is old enough to have been hers, but the Iwasaki wall still runs along one side of the narrow street, and people speak of her as if she were real and still among the inhabitants of the neighborhood."
I got goosebumps when I read that.
Have you read 'The Wild Goose'? What do you think about it?
January 14, 2022
Sakura ayında kiraz ağaçlarının güzelliği ile büyülenirken üstümüzde birer kimono altımızda hasırdan Zōri terlikler rahat bir yürüyüş yapmamızı sağlıyor. Kulağımıza çalınan Japon enstrümanlarıysa olmazsa olmazımız.
Okada, üniversitenin en başarılı öğrencilerindendir. Herkes onu ve yaptığı başarıları örnek alıp konuşur. Kızımız O-Tama ise daha önceki evliliğini mutsuzlukla sonuçlandırmıştır. Fakat babasının rahat etmesi için tefeci Seuzo'nun metresi olmayı kabul eder.
O-Tama taşındığı yeni mahallede Okada'ya komşu olmuştur. Ve zamanla birbirlerine aşık olmuşlardır. Fakat kader dediğimiz olgu işte bu noktada devreye girer ve bu ikiliye tıpkı ülkenin ekonomik değişimi gibi onlarında yaşamlarını farklı evrelere sokacaktır.
Burada gözyaşı arıyorsan ya da sağlam bir son bekliyorsan orada durmanı tavsiye ederim. Bu metin kısa olmasına rağmen Tokyo'yu Meici döneminin son evresindeki yaşanılan en küçük ayrıntısına kadar aktarıyor. İnsan ilişkileri, geleneklerin değişme, toplumun dış dünyaya göz kırpıp ülkesine yenilikler getirmesini ve elbette hayatın içinden pek çok öğretiyi zihnimize bırakıyor.
Çeviri, kapak tasarımı, yazım düzeni ve yazarın şahane anlatımıyla hikayenin içinde o görenekleri, sokakları, tarihi ve japonlara özgü o mistik kokuyu duyumsayarak yaşamanızı sağlayan şahane bir metindi. Kimisine zor kimisine dinleti gibi gelebilecek bir kitapta denebilir.
Mübalağa etmeden bir okur gözüyle gönülden okumanızı isterim. Özellikle Japon Edebiyatına mükemmel bir giriş düşünenler için güzel bir başlangıç olabilir.
"Eski bir tarihçinin dediği gibi: Her kahramanın sakladığı bir yüzü vardır"
#yabankazı #ogaimori #ithakiyayınları
Okada, üniversitenin en başarılı öğrencilerindendir. Herkes onu ve yaptığı başarıları örnek alıp konuşur. Kızımız O-Tama ise daha önceki evliliğini mutsuzlukla sonuçlandırmıştır. Fakat babasının rahat etmesi için tefeci Seuzo'nun metresi olmayı kabul eder.
O-Tama taşındığı yeni mahallede Okada'ya komşu olmuştur. Ve zamanla birbirlerine aşık olmuşlardır. Fakat kader dediğimiz olgu işte bu noktada devreye girer ve bu ikiliye tıpkı ülkenin ekonomik değişimi gibi onlarında yaşamlarını farklı evrelere sokacaktır.
Burada gözyaşı arıyorsan ya da sağlam bir son bekliyorsan orada durmanı tavsiye ederim. Bu metin kısa olmasına rağmen Tokyo'yu Meici döneminin son evresindeki yaşanılan en küçük ayrıntısına kadar aktarıyor. İnsan ilişkileri, geleneklerin değişme, toplumun dış dünyaya göz kırpıp ülkesine yenilikler getirmesini ve elbette hayatın içinden pek çok öğretiyi zihnimize bırakıyor.
Çeviri, kapak tasarımı, yazım düzeni ve yazarın şahane anlatımıyla hikayenin içinde o görenekleri, sokakları, tarihi ve japonlara özgü o mistik kokuyu duyumsayarak yaşamanızı sağlayan şahane bir metindi. Kimisine zor kimisine dinleti gibi gelebilecek bir kitapta denebilir.
Mübalağa etmeden bir okur gözüyle gönülden okumanızı isterim. Özellikle Japon Edebiyatına mükemmel bir giriş düşünenler için güzel bir başlangıç olabilir.
"Eski bir tarihçinin dediği gibi: Her kahramanın sakladığı bir yüzü vardır"
#yabankazı #ogaimori #ithakiyayınları
May 29, 2022
Akıcı ve güzel bir çeviri. Güzel bir hikaye. Meici döneminde geçmesi nedeniyle biraz Juniçiro Tanizaki ve özellikle anlatım tarzı ve konusu bakımından da Natsume Soseki eserlerini hatırlattı bana.
“… Can sıkıntısı denen duyguyu geçim sıkıntısından kurtulduğu an öğrenmişti…”, sf; 41.
“… Can sıkıntısı denen duyguyu geçim sıkıntısından kurtulduğu an öğrenmişti…”, sf; 41.
January 8, 2022
sonu böyle bitmeseydi çok daha güzel olabilirdi
January 16, 2022
Dönemin Japonyasını güzel anlatıyor ama okumasam büyük kayıp mı? Yooo.
March 11, 2022
3,5/5
Ambientada en Tokio, en el año 1880 (decimotercer año de la era Meiji), esta bonita novela de Ogai Mori fue publicada en 1911. “El ganso salvaje” es mi primera toma de contacto con el autor y sin duda una puerta muy acertada para sumergirte en la literatura japonesa. Gracias a @acantilado podemos disfrutar de esta breve pero estupenda obra.
El narrador, amable y bondadoso, describe en un comienzo su amistad con su compañero de estudios llamado Okada. Okada es un joven estudiante de medicina que se aloja en una residencia en Tokio que uno de sus paseos diarios se encuentra con Otama. Cuando sus miradas se cruzan día tras día empieza a nacer una curiosidad entre ambos, pero hay un problema porque ella, forzada por necesidades económicas se convierte en la amante de Suezo, un prestamista.
Estamos ante un libro muy “japonés” que te permite sentir muy cercana la cultura, costumbres y desentrañar parte de la sociedad japonesa. Esto lo consigue gracias a la construcción de un retrato minucioso de la vida y de las frustraciones a las que se enfrentaban las mujeres en esa época (aunque en el presente ese estatus marginal de la mujer sigue siendo).
A través de un tono sobrio y tirando de una narración muy simbólica y con muchas referencias a la cultura y literatura china, el autor nos muestra claramente un ejemplo de los cambios que habían en el Japón de la era Meiji (cuando el país comenzó a occidentalizarse). También tenemos una crítica al adulterio y al trato discriminatorio a las mujeres.
En general es una lectura que me ha agradado, es ligera, tierna y delicada con una estructura diferente y me ha encantado ser partícipe de la perspectiva de todos los personajes… Una historia de amor inacabada que tampoco empezó, una relación que pudo ser pero no fue por circunstancias y acciones que alteran el destino. Es un sueño del que despiertas de sopetón con un ritmo lento y contemplativo.
Ambientada en Tokio, en el año 1880 (decimotercer año de la era Meiji), esta bonita novela de Ogai Mori fue publicada en 1911. “El ganso salvaje” es mi primera toma de contacto con el autor y sin duda una puerta muy acertada para sumergirte en la literatura japonesa. Gracias a @acantilado podemos disfrutar de esta breve pero estupenda obra.
El narrador, amable y bondadoso, describe en un comienzo su amistad con su compañero de estudios llamado Okada. Okada es un joven estudiante de medicina que se aloja en una residencia en Tokio que uno de sus paseos diarios se encuentra con Otama. Cuando sus miradas se cruzan día tras día empieza a nacer una curiosidad entre ambos, pero hay un problema porque ella, forzada por necesidades económicas se convierte en la amante de Suezo, un prestamista.
Estamos ante un libro muy “japonés” que te permite sentir muy cercana la cultura, costumbres y desentrañar parte de la sociedad japonesa. Esto lo consigue gracias a la construcción de un retrato minucioso de la vida y de las frustraciones a las que se enfrentaban las mujeres en esa época (aunque en el presente ese estatus marginal de la mujer sigue siendo).
A través de un tono sobrio y tirando de una narración muy simbólica y con muchas referencias a la cultura y literatura china, el autor nos muestra claramente un ejemplo de los cambios que habían en el Japón de la era Meiji (cuando el país comenzó a occidentalizarse). También tenemos una crítica al adulterio y al trato discriminatorio a las mujeres.
En general es una lectura que me ha agradado, es ligera, tierna y delicada con una estructura diferente y me ha encantado ser partícipe de la perspectiva de todos los personajes… Una historia de amor inacabada que tampoco empezó, una relación que pudo ser pero no fue por circunstancias y acciones que alteran el destino. Es un sueño del que despiertas de sopetón con un ritmo lento y contemplativo.
November 21, 2018
A woman conscious of her social status, which prevents her from being worthy of a decent man, still falls in love, hopelessly, with someone, who returns her infatuation. Still, the two would-be lovers don't have a chance to meet, because he is sent abroad and on the last evening in town, he is hijacked by friends and too embarrassed to admit that he yearned for something else.
The wild geese (which the friends admire and kill at the end of the story) are meant to be a metaphor for the wild beauty and vulnerability of the heroine, which ends up something to be victimized and consumed by those who admire her.
All in all, the novel is easy to read and does give some nice insights into Japanese society, even if I wouldn't count it among my faves.
Here is a funny sample of the author's views of the Chinese as a more superficial culture and as the source of superficial attitudes in his own culture:
“A type of woman in these romantic tales also appealed to Okada. She is the woman who makes beauty her sole aim in life so that, with perfect ease, she goes through an elaborate toilet even while the angel of death waits outside her door. Okada felt that a woman should be only a beautiful object, something lovable, a being who keeps her beauty and loveliness no matter what situation she is in. Okada probably picked up this sentiment unconsciously, partly under the influence of his habitual reading of old Chinese romantic love poetry and the sentimental and fatalistic prose works of the so-called wits of the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties.”
Also, a matter-of-fact description that moved me:
“Gradually her thoughts settled. Resignation was the mental attitude she had most experienced. And in this direction her mind adjusted itself like a well-oiled machine.”
The wild geese (which the friends admire and kill at the end of the story) are meant to be a metaphor for the wild beauty and vulnerability of the heroine, which ends up something to be victimized and consumed by those who admire her.
All in all, the novel is easy to read and does give some nice insights into Japanese society, even if I wouldn't count it among my faves.
Here is a funny sample of the author's views of the Chinese as a more superficial culture and as the source of superficial attitudes in his own culture:
“A type of woman in these romantic tales also appealed to Okada. She is the woman who makes beauty her sole aim in life so that, with perfect ease, she goes through an elaborate toilet even while the angel of death waits outside her door. Okada felt that a woman should be only a beautiful object, something lovable, a being who keeps her beauty and loveliness no matter what situation she is in. Okada probably picked up this sentiment unconsciously, partly under the influence of his habitual reading of old Chinese romantic love poetry and the sentimental and fatalistic prose works of the so-called wits of the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties.”
Also, a matter-of-fact description that moved me:
“Gradually her thoughts settled. Resignation was the mental attitude she had most experienced. And in this direction her mind adjusted itself like a well-oiled machine.”
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