草の花

by FUKUNAGA TAKEHIKO

「死に向かってひたすらに疾走する恋」恋愛小説の隠れた名作。ノンフィクション作家・早瀬圭一さん推薦！

研ぎ澄まされた理知ゆえに、青春の途上でめぐりあった藤木忍との純粋な愛に破れ、藤木の妹千枝子との恋にも挫折した汐見茂思。彼は、そのはかなく崩れ易い青春の墓標を、二冊のノートに記したまま、純白の雪が地上をおおった冬の日に、自殺行為にも似た手術を受けて、帰らぬ人となった。まだ熟れきらぬ孤独な魂の愛と死を、透明な時間の中に昇華させた、青春の鎮魂歌である。

Genres: Japan, Fiction, Japanese Literature, Novels, Literature, Literary Fiction, Asia

318 pages, 文庫

First published January 1, 1954

Reviews

[E. G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

--Flowers of Grass

Translator's Afterword

[Matthew Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

117th book of 2023.

3.5. Alan and I frequently discuss this fact and it comes up in our reviews (and you can see it in our reviews, too), that most Japanese novels (for us) never break a 3-star rating, even when we enjoy them, respect them, whatever. Fukunaga is read less now in the west, so I've read, but was at the time very popular in Japan. There's an anecdote in the afterword about how at university in 50s and 60s, everyone in Tokyo had read Flowers of Grass. It was a young person's book. I guess I can see why: it asks if love can be given without asking for any love in return. It's mostly about a lonely, moody teenager who dreams of being a poet/writer, crippled by unrequited love. (''The one of the two whose love is greater usually ends up being hurt by the other, whose love isn't yet great enough''; ''Being loved is like bathing in sun-warmed water - there's nothing lonely about it. To love greatly is to risk one's own solitude.'') It starts in a sanatorium, where philosophical novels seem to frequently appear and slowly deals with death and the discovery of notebooks, reminiscing about past loves, war and failures.

[Eadweard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminded me of Saiichi Maruya's Grass For My Pillow, how honest the character is about the fanaticism sweeping the nation and the war.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a beautiful book.

'Flowers of Grass' is a post-war novel by Takehiko Fukunaga that once enjoyed immense popularity with the young adults of Japan. The principle subject is Shiomi Shigeshi, a man dying of tuberculosis, and the two great loves of his live - Fujiki and Chieko.

There are so many themes and points for discussion that I'm surprised the novel is so short. I can imagine everyone being drawn to something new. Shiomi grapples with the ideals of love, the meaning of his life, Christianity, the point of war and more besides.

A novel that makes me think is always and enjoyable one, but Shiomi is not a likeable person. As a student and a young man he comes across as very self-absorbed. As a patient he's a thoroughly annoying 'cool and mysterious' type that seems to know better than everyone else and I had difficulty reconciling the Shiomi of the past with the one of the present. I'm very happy that his relationship with Chieko ended up as it did; well done Chieko!

Finally, I didn't much like the composition of the book, it jumps around from present to past and used different narrators and framing devices to achieve the timeline. This is my pet peeve and usually makes me put the book down, but the emotions behind the words kept my eyes reading.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unapologetically sentimental and highly indebted to Western literature, Fukunaga's achingly melancholic novel of lost love and lost youth is nevertheless deeply moving. His often flowery prose and fixation on Christianity almost lost me, but his poetic writing eventually proved seductive, and I gave myself over to his story and was able to become lost in it, regardless of how painful it often was. And it was nice to be able to do that.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flowers of Grass 草の花, novel set in wartime Japan by FUKUNAGA Takehiko 福永武彦, expertly translated by Royall Tyler. The relationship between the male and female protagonists did not come alive for me. I am afraid to say that I wish I had spent the time rereading a novel by Sōseki...

[EliG · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got high hopes for this book as I was reading the first chapter! The setting of the sanatorium and the people depicted there drew out my interest and I looked forward to learn more about several of them. Alas, what followed after the first chapter were flat, colorless and tedious yammerings on love that slipped through my eyes without leaving any letters in my brain nor my heart. There could've been so much depth to this story based on how it started!

[Laurel · Rating 2 out of 5]

While there were passages I found moving and evocative, Flowers of Grass failed to come alive for me, for the most part. I found myself re-reading passages to see whether I had missed something, but never found it. A disappointing shadow of Soseki.

[Ad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A novel of lost youth, as the author himself called it, with some autobiographical elements. The novel is set in a tuberculosis sanatorium just outside Tokyo. The narrator becomes acquainted with another patient, a student of linguistics and budding writer named Shiomi. After Shiomi insists on undergoing a dangerous surgical procedure and dies in the process, the narrator discovers two notebooks written by him. Flowers of Grass unfolds as the narrator reads them, wondering whether Shiomi's death was perhaps a sort of suicide, as he learns the details of his late friend’'s two great loves for a brother and sister, both of whom rejected him.

Fukunaga Takehiko (1918-1979), who belonged to the so-called "first generation of postwar writers," was born in Fukuoka and studied French literature at Tokyo University. Because of ill health (tuberculosis), he was excused from military service and after the war he spent six years in a sanatorium in Kiyose. Fukunaga was active as novelist and poet, as well as translator of Sartre and Baudelaire. Besides Flowers of Grass, his best-known work, a strong novel is Shi no shima ("The Island of Death," 1971), evoking the last 24 hours of a man's life before the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Fukunaga was married to the poetess Harajo Akiko and they were the parents of the well-known author Ikezawa Natsuki.

[ren · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started the book loving the heck out of the first chapter; the characters were very dynamic, the setting compelling, the mysterious Shiomi-san all spooky and humbly above everyone else. But when the book traveled back to Shiomi's past via the notebooks, I began to lose interest. I think the "memoirs" were to depict the colors and vibrancy of youth and how Shiomi became the way he is and etc., but they didn't really appeal to me. Young Shiomi just wasn't an interesting enough character, and there wasn't anything distinct or gripping enough about the writing style to keep my attention, sadly. It's not my cup of tea, I guess.

[Thi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the rhythm of this book - kind of slow and easy to follow.
Some parts I didn't really understand, like Shiomi describing several military procedures, which after a while did bother me.
What stood out for me were little scenes, Shiomi's roommates waiting silently in their room for news on his operation, the description of the whole sanatory building...
I don't think I captured all of Shiomi's motives and reasons for his actions. Maybe I should read the novel once again some time.
If you read it, do it thoroughly and give it time.

[Katie Cat Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Japan. 1954. Sanitorium.

Story: The story begins with our narrator in a sanitorium in Japan having a conversation with another patient, Shiomi, who is about to have surgery. What follows is the story of Shiomi and the effect it has on our narrator.

Language: Translated from Japanese, this is considered a classic in Japanese literature. Told in four parts, introduction from our narrator, Shiomi's first book, then second book, and ending with our narrator. The action and dialogues read almost as a play, with few settings, but people near each other conversing. The text is rather philosophical yet allows the reader to come to their own conclusions and opinions.

Characters: The narrator, unnamed, is an aspiring author in a sanitorium, sharing a room with others. Shiomi is one of those others and the two get on due to their shared interest in writing. Shiomi is a thinker and dreamer and wishes others could see the world as he does, while our narrator is a dreamer and seeks to understand those around him.

While I feel the book was a bit frustrating (a lot of unhappiness and dissatisfaction and hopelessness), it was presented and written very well and I was glad to read it.

[Natasha N · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. The beginning of it is a perspective I've never read about before. How lonesome life can sometimes get for people in sanatoriums, even worse when they each have to shoulder the burden and loneliness of their ailment or condition. I found myself sobbing at the life of Mr.Shiomi Shigeshi. It occurred to me that I may be leading a similar life, but I can't assume what the future holds hence I cannot say our lives are equivalent but I can say they are comparable. To love...is the greatest struggle of youth whether or not it is reciprocated doesn't matter in comparison to the meaning of that single word. I felt rather empathetic to the character in the novel, I find that I am constantly contemplating the intricate dance between love and refined solitude. The novel is a depiction of the aftermath of solitude preponderating the latter. It was eye-opening, intriguing, and inspiring. It is wonderful to read about a man in great strife striving to leave something behind, working on his writing every single day. It has become known to me that a fair share of those who are solitary beings have an affinity to writing. In my mind, this was one life that I lived and I can't wait to pick up a new book and live another life. Many thanks to the author.

[Kathryn Hemmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Takehiro Fukunaga’s 1954 novel Flowers of Grass tells the tragic story of Shiomi, an intelligent but sad young man who’s deeply concerned with spiritual and philosophical matters.

Shiomi has a tendency to fall in love with the idealistic versions of people he creates in his head instead of the actual people themselves. It's entirely possible to read him as bisexual (or asexual and biromantic), which complicates his friendships and love affairs.

Putting the matter of sexuality aside, the bulk of Flowers of Grass is set during the late 1930s and early 1940s, and the story is of historical interest for its clear and unapologetic stance against the military aggression of the Japanese imperial state.

The love stories at the core of Flowers of Grass are intriguing, as is the mystery of Shiomi's death posed by the novel's frame story. This short classic of Japanese literature requires patience, but it rewards thought and reflection.

[Valerie Osborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written, though sometimes maybe a bit too cerebral (confessions of love devolve into esoteric philosophical debates, and idk no on talks like that, especially not teenagers). This book is heavily philosophical…but sometimes I wish philosophical novels would be a little more subtle.

According to the afterward, this is the only novel by Fukunaga still in print (at least in English). Which is a shame. I would have liked to have read more. I think Fukunaga has a lot in common stylistically and thematically with many other classic mid-20th century Japanese writers. I wonder why he has not received similar recognition.

[Franca Chase · Rating 4 out of 5]

I disliked and was really confused about this book when I started. The first part of the journal is very woe is me, which I find frustrating. But it morphed into a really beautiful story and in the words of the translator explores the struggle between love and irreducible human solitude. Grateful to have read it.

[Theodora Flores · Rating 5 out of 5]

After my fourth read of the novel, I can confidently say that Flowers of Grass by Takehiko Fukunaga is my favorite novel ever. Gripping, relatable, and extremely well written, the novel is certainly one of, if not the finest ever produced. The underlying tragedy of the whole novel serves as the crux serves the novel greatly, and the equal division of the two halves is good for pacing.

[Emi · Rating 4 out of 5]

愛や信仰、孤独について、私には難しく感じる部分もあったけど、引き込まれる話だった。全てではないにしろ汐見の言わんとすることも藤木兄妹の思いもどちらも分かるから切ない。

[Jack Flores · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good!

[Rafael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Find my Book Review on: https://theroyalpolarbearreads.wordpr...

Flower of Grass by Takehiko Fukunaga is a classic Japanese story that I wouldn’t thought I’ll get hook. I just give it a try and before I knew it, I was already at the end of it. It was a story of romance and finding yourself. A story who will hurt you deeply and indirectly and unknowingly. Flower of Grass is deep and wide journey of someone’s life trying to uncover the realizations of his decisions. What will you do when you couldn’t felt it? What will you do if you felt the same with your lover’s siblings? Sometimes, the one you seek is in front of you and not all the time, you all have the chances. Sometimes, you don’t have the latter and most of the time, you don’t have any of the two. Fukunaga written this story very well that you couldn’t put the book down. This book is one of my greatest finds and one of the stories that I will never let go of.

[Lily Ruban · Rating 5 out of 5]

Я во что-то верю. Если рассматривать страсть как крещение огнем, то вода вымыла из меня все прошлое. Ты не позвал меня, так как не было у меня имени. Крещенный Риу-чан обхитрил механику суицида, а мне даже не прийдется идти на хитрости.

День за днем бежит, хлопая в ладоши, ночь спускается на набережную и прыгает в воду с разбегу. Что это за повседневная радость, никак рутинное счастье? Было так невыносимо, что вдруг поняла: ни один день не упущен, не крещен, не разбит. И как нет двух одинаковых снежинок, так все дни идентичны - не просто похожи, а повторяются (Позвать меня ты не можешь, но пошли за мной - когда настанет тот, другой день - день суда...). Твое временное имя и моя безымянная исступленность в плену у Бога, под балдахином Сатаны. Я верю, как мы с тобой непреложно равны.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written 1954 post war Japan story of love, idealism
portrait of a young man very bright, very sad in a sanatorium for life threatening illness who is still very much alive.
It is interesting to read something written in post war Japan when they were still in the mind set of a beaten country.