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本格小説（上）
Prawdziwa powieść nazywana jest często retellingiem Wichrowych Wzgórz Emily Brontë w powojennej Japonii. Jest tu bowiem Tarō Azuma, sierota i obcy, który zbiegiem wydarzeń trafia pod pieczę Fumiko, pokojówki w domu bogatej rodziny. Tak poznaje zahukaną Yōko, najmłodszą córkę państwa Utagawów. Dziecinna bliskość przeradza się w fascynację, która decyduje o całym późniejszym życiu Tarō i Yōko. On, pchany ambicją, emigruje i staje się jednym z najbardziej wpływowych Japończyków w USA, ona zostaje w Japonii.
Jest więc Heathcliff i Cathy, ale Prawdziwa powieść to dużo więcej. Minae Mizumura jest genialną stylistyką, a każdy jej utwór to próba rozpracowania na nowo jednego konkretnego gatunku – tutaj autorka zmaga się z koncepcją powieści, poddając w wątpliwość, czy jako pisarz/pisarka z Japonii, wychowany na gruncie powieści o sobie (shi-shōsetsu), jest w stanie stworzyć prawdziwą powieść (honkaku shōsetsu) w rozumieniu europejskim. Robi to w niezwykle błyskotliwy sposób, pisząc mimo wszystko o sobie – to ona jest pierwszą narratorką i bohaterką tej historii, a główna opowieść przekazywana jest z ust do ust przez kolejnych bohaterów.
Jest więc Heathcliff i Cathy, ale Prawdziwa powieść to dużo więcej. Minae Mizumura jest genialną stylistyką, a każdy jej utwór to próba rozpracowania na nowo jednego konkretnego gatunku – tutaj autorka zmaga się z koncepcją powieści, poddając w wątpliwość, czy jako pisarz/pisarka z Japonii, wychowany na gruncie powieści o sobie (shi-shōsetsu), jest w stanie stworzyć prawdziwą powieść (honkaku shōsetsu) w rozumieniu europejskim. Robi to w niezwykle błyskotliwy sposób, pisząc mimo wszystko o sobie – to ona jest pierwszą narratorką i bohaterką tej historii, a główna opowieść przekazywana jest z ust do ust przez kolejnych bohaterów.
605 pages, Paperback Bunko
First published September 1, 2002
32 people want to read
About the author
Minae Mizumura
14 books148 followersMinae Mizumura (水村 美苗 Mizumura Minae, born 1951) is a novelist currently writing in the Japanese language.
Educated in the US, she wrote her first published work in the English language, a scholarly essay on the literary criticism of Paul de Man. She is often portrayed as a Japanese novelist who questions the conventional boundaries of national literature. Her novels include Light and Darkness Continued, An I-Novel, and A True Novel, which has been selected for the Japanese Literature Publishing Project, a national program to promote translations of Japanese literature. She also writes essays and literary criticism in major newspapers and journals. Many of Minae Mizumura's works have been described as highly readable and often entertaining, while, at the same time, resonating with historical significance. They are also known for their formalistic innovations, such as making use of unusual printing formats and inserting English texts and photographic illustrations. Because she returned to Japan as an adult and chose to write in the Japanese language despite her coming of age in the United States and her education in the English language, critics have often noted her particular love for Japanese language and her commitment to Japanese literature. Her analysis and observations on the demise of the Japanese language, detailed in her book of criticism called The Fall of the Japanese Language in the Age of English, gained much attention from the mainstream media as well as the Internet. In the same book, she wrote of the significance of preserving the great literary tradition established during the time of building modern Japan.
Minae Mizumura has taught at Princeton University, the University of Michigan and Stanford University. She was a resident novelist in the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa in 2003. She has won the 1991 Agency for Cultural Affairs New Artist Award, the 1996 Noma New Artist Award, and the 2003 Yomiuri Prize for Literature. Minae Mizumura now resides in Tokyo, Japan.
Source: wikipedia
Educated in the US, she wrote her first published work in the English language, a scholarly essay on the literary criticism of Paul de Man. She is often portrayed as a Japanese novelist who questions the conventional boundaries of national literature. Her novels include Light and Darkness Continued, An I-Novel, and A True Novel, which has been selected for the Japanese Literature Publishing Project, a national program to promote translations of Japanese literature. She also writes essays and literary criticism in major newspapers and journals. Many of Minae Mizumura's works have been described as highly readable and often entertaining, while, at the same time, resonating with historical significance. They are also known for their formalistic innovations, such as making use of unusual printing formats and inserting English texts and photographic illustrations. Because she returned to Japan as an adult and chose to write in the Japanese language despite her coming of age in the United States and her education in the English language, critics have often noted her particular love for Japanese language and her commitment to Japanese literature. Her analysis and observations on the demise of the Japanese language, detailed in her book of criticism called The Fall of the Japanese Language in the Age of English, gained much attention from the mainstream media as well as the Internet. In the same book, she wrote of the significance of preserving the great literary tradition established during the time of building modern Japan.
Minae Mizumura has taught at Princeton University, the University of Michigan and Stanford University. She was a resident novelist in the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa in 2003. She has won the 1991 Agency for Cultural Affairs New Artist Award, the 1996 Noma New Artist Award, and the 2003 Yomiuri Prize for Literature. Minae Mizumura now resides in Tokyo, Japan.
Source: wikipedia
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 29, 2021
This is only a review of Volume 1. It's a lot of introduction and not much of the actual plot. You have the prologue, which lasts over 160 pages, where you find out how the author, Minae met the protagonist of the main plot, Taro, as he appears sporadically throughout the author's life. Eventually she meets someone who met Taro in Japan. His name is Yusuke. We then learn Yusuke's story of getting lost and briefly meeting Taro and people who know him, including a maid, Fumiko. Then Fumiko starts telling her story to Yusuke. We are now on page 307. We still haven't gotten to the main plot. Fumiko tells us the history of two families, one of whom takes the child Taro under its wing. We meet the child Taro on page 430. The book ends on page 454.
This is a heck of a lot of introduction. If I didn't read the reviews there's no way I would get Volume 2. I understand the need for background but this is ridiculous.
This is a heck of a lot of introduction. If I didn't read the reviews there's no way I would get Volume 2. I understand the need for background but this is ridiculous.
Displaying 1 of 1 review