Jurnalul unui bătrân nebun

by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Silviu Mihai (Translator)

"Jurnalul unui bătrân nebun" este unul dintre ultimele romane scrise de Tanizaki, centrat, fireşte, în jurul unor teme ca bătrâneţea şi boala, dar din care nu lipsesc deloc subiectele care par să-l fi interesat mereu pe autor: senzualitatea, dragostea obsesivă, dorinţa carnală, dar şi conflictul între valorile tradiţionale şi cele moderne într-o ţară care, la vremea respectivă, era într-un proces accelerat de transformare socială şi culturală.

Remarcabil, la Tanizaki, este acel simţ uimitor al detaliilor, acest spirit de observaţie care dă, până la urmă, substanţa oricărui roman bun. Pe fundalul unei Japonii postbelice în care vechiul şi noul se întîlnesc, cartea dezvăluie, poate autobiografic, experienţele bătrânului Utsugi, care îşi explorează pînă în cele mai mici amănunte trupul bolnav şi spiritul bântuit de dorinţe şi obsesii inconfesabile.

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

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Jun'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.

Reviews

[Valeriu Gherghel · Rating 4 out of 5]

O prezentare necruțătoare a ravagiilor bătrîneții.

Pe bătrînul Tokosuke Utsugi (77 de ani) nu-l știm decît din jurnalul lui și din însemnările de final ale unui medic. El nu-și divulgă trăirile altcuiva, el este (sau ar trebui să fie) singurul destinatar al jurnalului. Îl cunoaștem, așadar, prin propriii lui ochi. Și, în fond, nu știm prea bine ce gîndesc ceilalți despre ceea ce gîndește el. Știm numai că doctorul psihiatru Inoue a pus la cale o „conspirație erotică” (în care rolul principal îl va juca tînăra Satsuko). Și mai știm că numitul doctor are cruzimea de a-i dezvălui în final adevărul, grăbindu-i, probabil, sfîrșitul.

Editorul, în schimb, consideră că e un „bătrîn nebun” și, în acest chip, deturnează în parte semnificația povestirii. Nu-l cred pe Tokosuke Utsugi nebun (mai nebun decît ceilalți) pentru că o divinizează pe Satsuko („E singura mea divinitate imaginabilă”) și vrea să imprime pe piatra lui de mormînt urma piciorului acestei femei naive, manipulate de același doctor inventiv. Nu-l consider nebun nici pentru că spune despre sine că „adevărata lui natură e perversă și rece, pînă la extrem”. A simți atracția unei femei nu este o trăire nevrotică, nici măcar pentru un bătrîn bolnav. A dori să-i contempli nările nu e o formă de irațiune:

„Dacă m-aș lăsa pe spate, într-un scaun, ca ea să mă bărbierească, aș putea, pesemne, să-i văd de jos nările. Carnea aceea transparentă și delicată ar avea o scînteiere de coral”.

Abia dacă bătrînul Tokosuke n-ar mai simți absolut nimic (dar simte durerea în mînă), ar trebui să bănuim că ceva nu este în ordine cu el.

Titlul lui Tanizaki este cu siguranță ironic. Utsugi e bătrîn, dar nu e nebun. Mulți cititori nu-i apreciază sinceritatea și consideră romanul o blasfemie, o carte imposibil de străbătut, dezgustătoare. Dar dacă ne-am scruta minuțios (și am nota într-un jurnal, precum Tokosuke Utsugi) cu franchețe tot ceea ce ne trece prin minte de-a lungul unei zile, s-ar putea să nu ne placă prea tare ceea ce citim și să renunțăm la lectură.

[Luís · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a bitter pill.
I'm disappointed with this diary. I did not find the key's playful construction or Fumiko's foot's devastating humor.
The narrator is a wealthy older man who is sick, powerless, and selfish, but a priori lucid. In his diary, he describes, in large print, his daily life as a suffering older adult. It was punctuated by his medical treatments, as extravagant as they are costly, and by the obsessive and no less expensive passion he feels for his daughter-in-law, precisely for his foot. He goes so far as to desire a grave trodden on by the tremendous white feet of his beautiful daughter.
The old madman, his family, and his doctors are reminiscent of many characters from Molière or the Commedia dell'Arte. The social and moral satire of the bourgeois family is very present in the middle of the suppositories. But the pathos prevails; we smile without laughing, a little disgusted, a little disturbed. That's the goal of the game, you might say. But I found the pill a bit too bitter for my taste.

[Praj · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't the slightest desire to cling to life, yet as long as I live, I cannot help feeling attracted to the opposite sex.....

Arousal, when the does the trickery of eroticism salvage the ironies of life? The seduction of youth stemmed from the perversion of old. The seduction of beauty leached on to the perversion of ugliness. The dichotomy of potent sexuality surpassing physical impotency cultivating a sovereign desire in pursuit of an alluring beauty. The aesthetics of romanticism nurtured by the unconventional social gestures cautiously recreated a psychological world of ambiguity. Pleasure, the prerogative of a vital stimulation, when does it stop terrifying the existing physiological banalities foreshadowing the vociferous artistic interpretations? The pleasure of eating, the pleasure of sexual stimulus, the pleasure of death and the gratification in the pervasiveness of dual worlds; Utsugi Tokusuke was man who created a spellbinding multifaceted world of stimulating beauty in the dusk of his life.





.....lately I never spend a day without thinking of my own death........ Two or three times a day I think to myself – Maybe I’ll die today. Not that I am necessarily frightened by those thoughts. When I was young they did terrify me, but now they even give me certain pleasure......

I’m fascinated with the idea of death. Especially, the gradual disintegration of time feebly clutching the strings of a looming death. An incapable body satiated in the desirability of constructing a tombstone whereas the potency of the mind still lured by the stimulation of life. Encumbered by the agonising symptoms of neuralgia, Utsugi finds tranquillity in the thought of his death, synchronising an imaginative illustrations of his funeral service with his yearnings of an ideal Bodhisattva Stone for his cremated remains. The allure of his death brings a certain pleasure contrasting the monotony of the neck stretching Glisson’s Swing exercises applied for the betterment of Utsugi’s medical treatment, which he has no desire to pursue. The ambiguity of Utsugi’s existence exhibiting the premonitions of death and the desperation to enjoy the animated vigour of sexual stimulations signify the quintessential dichotomies of volte-face social and psychological ironies. When scrutinized through several Tanizaki’s literary sojourns, the recurring thematic design of cultural dualities prevalent in the 20th century Japanese society and the norm of pursuing beauty through the diabolical lens of eroticism become highly evident. Nonetheless, given the genius of Junichiro Tanizaki, the elemental premise is masterfully knitted into a diverse literary quilt with each thread vibrantly patterned within hemispheric socio-philosophical perceptions.

In this chronicled diary of a 77yr old man, Tanizaki maintains a sense of balance between the distortion of the old and new. The “pervert” Utsugi seems to be confused in his implementation of traditional values and his desperate sexual pursuit of the young ex-chorus girl Satsuko. Tanizaki comes in his narrative element depicting Utsugi’s pandemonium of the past and present as the universal quandary of desiring the avant-garde overshadowing the persisting traditionalism. Utsugi’s perceptive elaborations differentiating between his wife and Satsuko’s life-style choices highlight the flourishing concepts of Westernizations in the prevailing conservative core of the Japanese society. The duality of beauty v/s ugliness, cultural shock-values and illness v/s healthiness and the innate need to adhere to archaic superstitions and home grown cultural theology embodies the capricious nature of the altering society as a whole and the thriving civilians.





I intend to have a Buddha’s Footprint Stone carved on the model of your feet, Satsu. When I'm dead my ashes will lie under that stone. That will be my nirvana.

Tanizaki expertly puts the expression of ‘eroticism’ in an imperative twofold creativity exploring the dominion of sex. The focus in the meaning of sex / erotic pleasures widens the boundaries of perversion and the subsequent freedom. Utsugi’s incessant erotic fantasies about his daughter-in-law, his bizarre attraction to the cruel streak reflecting in the gorgeous feminine faces and the daintiness of the Kabuki ‘onnagata’ (men who play female roles their authentic personalities distilling in the feminine essence) , the gradual progression to his alternate versions of sexual reality, the indulgent crude act of kissing the delicate white foot of a bathing Satsuko and the haughtiness coming from his abnormal sexual urges, defines the character of Utsugi and his relationships with the surrounding manipulative collective milieu. Comparing the notion of Satusko’s sexual innuendos, it veers toward the scheming nature of creative eroticism employed by Satsuko as a path for materialistic gains and autonomy from a smothering exasperating marriage. Utsugi’s sexual enthralment in the grotesque obsession with Satsuko’s feet reveals the charade of an old man with confused societal values who uses Satsuko’s feet as a fulfilment of his erotic explorations while at the same time poetically revere them as a human model for Buddha’s footprint for his tombstone revealing the traditional cultural fidelity. Tanizaki, employs the reality of sex with the illusion of a seductive beauty that brings along greed, materialistic manipulation and concurrently profound freedom; a vague representation of the misinterpreted Western mores. The ailing artist perplexed in the erotic trance seeking the illusion of beauty from the alluring femininity of youth and the ambiguity of final deterioration is humorous and sympathetic as he is artfully perverted in his audacious pursuits and his daydreams of constructing a swimming pool for Satsuko.

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*** The photographic illustrations are taken from the namesake movie.

[Adam Dalva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bleak, weird, and an unrelentingly interesting psychological drama. It casts a spell.

[Sara Woś · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piękna opowieść o strachu przed starością i śmiercią i o godzeniu się z ich nieuniknionym nadejściem

[Murat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Japanese Müge Anlısan - Utsugi Ailesi..

Gelinine sarkan kayınbaba, birbirlerini aldatan karı/koca, kayınbabasını dolandıran gelin falan..

Utsugi hayatımın herhangi bir döneminde anlamak istemediğim bir karakter.

Beni rahatsız eden, ihtiyarın "sapıklıklar"ından ziyade, kendini düşürdüğü hal ve özsaygı yoksunluğu olsa gerek diye düşündüm.

"Bu hallere düşmeden canımı al, ölümün de hayırlısını ver yareppi" diyerek bu gereksiz yorumumu noktalıyorum.

Allaaah, sen çok şükür hmhmhmhm....

[Kamil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Myślę, że mogę zacząć nazywać okres czytelniczy w którym się teraz znajduję „okresem dalekowschodnim”. Planowałem go określić jako „Kamila okres dalekowschodni”, ale powszechnie wiadomo, że mówienie czy pisanie o sobie w trzeciej osobie świadczy o zaburzeniach narcystycznych, więc tego zaniechałem :D.

Zaczynam wspominać o „okresie”, gdyż czytam już kolejną książkę z Dalekiego Wschodu @panstwowy.instytut.wydawniczy , ale dziś kilka zaległych słów o „Dzienniku szalonego starca" Junichiro Tanizaki’ego.

Ten utwór to przede wszystkim medytacja nad starością. Powieść przesiąknięta jest procesem przemijania, obrazowanym nie tylko pierwszoosobowo, za pomocą dziennika starca, ale również poprzez tematykę cytowanych wierszy haiku, przywoływane dzieła sztuki czy symbolikę pór roku. Ciekawym zabiegiem jest wprowadzenie do narracji dzienników pielęgniarki i lekarza, którzy kontynuują opowieść wtedy, gdy stan zdrowia „szalonego starca” mu na to nie pozwala.

Fabuła, jakkolwiek nierozbudowana, gdyż opowiadająca przede wszystkim o niesmacznej i pogłębiającej się fascynacji jaką starzec czuje wobec młodej synowej, jest dość wartka i nie nużąca. Pewnym utrudnieniem dla niejapońskiego czytelnika będą nierzadkie odwołania do wielkich nazwisk związanych z teatrem kabuki czy artefaktów kultury japońskiej, których pojawianie się w tekście wymaga częstego zaglądania do słowniczka znajdującego się na ostatnich stronach książki. Niemniej jednak to bardzo dobra literatura, odważny i rzetelny obraz starości.

[Hakan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tanizaki’den okuduğum ilk kitap. Benim için pek parlak bir giriş olmadı bu yazara. 77 yaşındaki bir ihtiyarın, artık iktidarsız olmasına karşın, kendisi de biraz “hoppa” olan ve eşini aldatmakta olan gelinine yönelik cinsel arzusu, gelinin de bu arzuyla hem biraz dalga geçmesi, hem de biraz istismar etmesi anlatılıyor. Erkeklerde libidonun mezara kadar yok olmadığına işaret edilmesi ilginç tabii. Üslup çok sade, hatta kuru bile denilebilir. Roman zaten, son kısımdaki bakıcının ifadesi ve doktor raporları dışında ihtiyar kahramanın güncesinden oluşuyor. Belki yazar bunu özellikle amaçlamış ancak, aldığı ilaçlara kadar detay içeren banalliğe varan anlatı bir yerde sıkıyor. Romanın 1962’de, yazar 76 yaşındayken basılmış olması akla otobiyografik paralellelikler olabileceğini getiriyor, klişe bir düşünce olsa da. Vaner Alper’in çevirisi gayet iyi. Meraklısına diyelim...

[Banu Yıldıran Genç · Rating 3 out of 5]

tanizaki’nin ölmeden son dönemlerinde yazdığı bu romanı daha önce okuduğum kitaplarından daha az beğendim.
yine de japon modernleşmesi ve hayat tarzının değişmesi her satırda belli.
alaturka alafranga tuvalet ayrımı ve tiyatroda kadın oyuncuların oynamaması gibi detaylar bonus oldu. ne kadar benzermiş bizle...

[Кремена Михайлова · Rating 4 out of 5]

Светът на възрастните хора ми става все по-интересен, може би преди съм ги пренебрегвала, подценявала, дори страняла от тях. Така че както харесвам книги с главни герои деца и юноши, напоследък откривам все по-голямо очарование и в света на старците.

В самото начало ми беше трудно да свикна с писането тип „дневник” (а то в заглавието си го пише). Но бързо възприех, че това е откровеното споделяне на този дядо по начина, по който би го направил всеки „нелитературен” човек. Видях един своенравен самотник, който няма истински близки хора и дневникът се оказва нужен „другар”, отдушник. Където имаше диалози, също бяха неошлайфани, така, както биха излизали от устата на всеки обикновен човек в ежедневието и отговаряха на отношенията между героите.

Всички мисли на стареца възприех нормално, като си спомних, че подобни японци особняци съм срещала и преди (не само японци разбира се). В сексуалните му фантазии не видях нищо перверзно (освен че обектът е снаха му), особено ако цял живот това е било обичайно за него. Дори във втората част еротика почти изчезна. Може би човечецът нямаше да издържи на повече.

Направи ми впечатление липсата на топлота в отношенията - само интерес и стремеж за надмощие дори във фамилията. Единствено някаква степен на близост старецът имаше със снаха си, не само заради сексуалното привличане, но и поради сходните характери и това, че харесва безскрупулни, властни жени.

Това богаташко семейство беше в голяма степен патриархално, но глас се опитваха да имат и уж послушната му жена, а дори и подчинената болногледачка, която също имаше авторитет (т.е. жените винаги са скрито силни). Интересни отношения! По-скоро отблъскващи (особено между бащата и трите му деца... )

Изненада ме вземането на лекарства с шепи (макар и от възрастен човек) - имах някаква представя, че в Япония не се прекалява с лекарства и че се прилага много повече източната медицина... Също не очаквах чак толкова медицински подробности, но е разбираемо... Може би за да се подсили контрастът с младежките пориви в главата на стареца и да не се избегне истината – „здрав дух” невинаги може да означава здраво тяло за един 77-годишен човек...

[ُEmanMarhoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

يوميات عجوز مجنون

انتهيت بالامس من هذا الكتاب للكاتب الياباني جونيشيرو تانيزاكي ، يبدو من خلال بحثي عن الكاتب انه مغرم بتأليف الكتب التي تكون بصيغة يوميات

حاول الكاتب هنا ان يوضح الحاله الانسانيه للفرد المقبل على الموت وكيف انه من الممكن ان تتغير تركيبته النفسيه والفكريه ، هل من الممكن ان تتغير قناعات الافراد في مرحلة مفصليه من حياته يظن انه فقد الكثير رغم ما تحصله من خبرات واعتقادات على المدى الطويل له ، البداية كانت مبهمه منا اجبرني عن البحث عن الكتاب اكثر الا انني لم احصل على نتيجة تذكر حيث ان المكتوب لم يتعدى مقاطع قصيرة عباره عن يوميات قد يعتقد القارئ لا يمكن ان يستفيد منها شيء ما ، تتضح الفكرة قليلا عند قراءة المزيد ذلك انه يمكنك ان تمييز بعض الشخصيات الموجوده التي تعمد الكاتب عدم تبيانها وجعل مهمه التأويل على عاتق القارئ

يوضح ايضا كيف لسوء الفهم ان يجعل الاخرين يحكمون عليك بما لا يوجد وكيف انك الوحيد في بدنك المنهك تظن الظنون ذاتها عن الطرف الاخر ممثلا ذلك بعلاقه السيد اتوساغي بزوجته ابنه ، لم ينسى كذلك ان يوضح العادات والتقاليد اليابانيه من ناحية المأكل العلاقات المتبادله بين افراد العائلة الواحدة الثقافات الخاصه بهم كتقدير الارجل ومسأله الموت التي تدور حولها فكرة الكتاب حيث ان الفرد الياباني يهتم كثيرا بعقدة الموت مكان الدفن اختيار شاهد القبر

الخاتمة للكتاب في ظني لم تكن موفقه فهو جعل البطل يتوقف عن الكتابه مستبدلا مذكرات الممرضه الخاصه به وطبيبة التي جاءات في اغلبها معلومات طبيه لا اعتقد ان من وراءها اي فائدة مرجوه


2.5/5

[Eylül Görmüş · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ya valla bu Japonların acayiplikleri beni biraz geriyor ne yalan söyleyeyim. Taraflar razı olduğu müddetçe cinsellikte herhangi bir şeyin “sapkınlık” olarak nitelendirilemeyeceği kanaatindeyim ama bazısı da zorluyor açıkçası. Japon edebiyatından ne okusam aynı şey – çok acayip, tuhaf, sıradışı cinsel fanteziler… Nitekim “Çılgın Bir İhtiyarın Güncesi” bana Mişima’nın “Aşka Susamış”ını hatırlattı, hikâyeler çok benzer, gelinine ilgi duyan kayınpeder ve bu ilgiyi biraz besleyip biraz istismar eden genç kadınların öyküleri ikisi de. Bilemiyorum, yaşlanan insanın kendiyle ilgili algısının gerçeklikte kopukluğuyla ilgili kısımları, Japon kültürü ve toplumundaki dönüşümler filan ilginç olmakla beraber çok da benlik değildi. Dilini de biraz kuru buldum. Daha önce okuduğum Tanizakilerden “Anahtar”ı daha çok beğenmiş (ki o da çok rahatsız ediciydi), “Bir Kedi, Bir Adam, İki Kadın”ı ise epeyce sevmiştim, bu pek hitap etmedi bana. Böyle, bilginize.

[Meghan Fidler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This text is exquisite in social juxtapositions. The power of a woman wet neck kisses glimmer in the form of a cats eye stone, and the loss of power moans in the tear drops of an old man begging for that exchange again. "It hurts, Satsuko!"
Tanizaki is brilliant in his positioning throughout the book. The diary itself is positioned against the cold medical abstractions in the ending nurse and doctor journals. This effect is stunning- it is those who are quick to diagnose who become mad.
Time, and the experience of change, allow a repositioning of people and practices. From cemeteries to women, Tanizaki's use of an experienced voice is one which paints the centuries.

I would like to include the following excerpt to demonstrate this:
People called Mother a beauty, when she was young. I remember her very well in those days—until I was fourteen or fifteen she was as beautiful as ever. When I compare that memory of her with Satsuko, the contrast is really striking. Satsuko is also called a beauty. That was the main reason why Jokichi married her. But between these two beauties, between the 1890’s and now, what a change has taken place in the physical appearance of the Japanese woman! For example, Mother’s feet were beautiful too, but Satsuko’s have an altogether different kind of beauty. They hardly seem to belong to a woman of the same race. Mother had dainty feet, small enough to nestle in the palm of my hand, and as she tripped along in her straw sandals she took extremely short, mincing steps with her toes turned in. (I am reminded that in my dream Mother’s feet were bare except for her sandals, even though she was dressed to go visiting. Perhaps she was deliberately showing off her feet to me.) All Meiji women had that pigeon-like walk, not just beauties. As for Satsuko’s feet, they are elegantly long and slender; she boasts that ordinary Japanese shoes are too wide for her. On the contrary, my mother’s feet were fairly broad, rather like those of the Bodhisattva of Mercy in the Sangatstudo in Nara. Also, the women of their day were short in stature. Women under five feet were not uncommon. Having been born in the Meiji era, I am only about five feet two myself, but Satsuko is an inch and a half taller. (83-83)

As a final note...



Those who thought 'oedipal complex' need to read Said's Orientalism, works from Subaltern studies, and try to attempt to halt their unabashed exportation of Western 'science.' Sorry literature studies...

[Tuna Turan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bir yaşama bağlılık kitabı diyebiliriz. 77 yaşında olan bir hastanın bana göre sırf günlüğüne bir şeyler yazmak için ölüme inat yaşaması. Sık sık ölümü düşünmesi hatta kendi mezarını bile seçip tasarlaması aslında ölümden ne kadar çok korktuğunun belirtisi olarak görüyorum.

Her gün acaba bugün ne karaladı diye merak uyandıracak derecede iyi bir kitap!

İyi ki bu dünyadan Tanizaki geçmiş!

[Makmild · Rating 5 out of 5]

ตอนแรกๆ ที่อ่านกำลังสงสัยตัวเองอยู่ว่าอ่านไดอารี่คนแก่ไปทำไมวะ
กลางๆ ที่อ่านก็ตลกไดอารี่ของตาแก่นี่มาก นี่มันเฒ่าหัวงู ขอตั้งชื่อเรื่องใหม่เป็นบันทึกของพ่อตาใกล้ตายกับลูกสะใภ้ตัวแสบ
ท้ายๆ ที่อ่านซึม 55555 ไอ้ชิบหาย นี่เรากำลังอ่านไดอารี่ของคนแก่คนนึงที่ใช้ชีวิตมาอย่างยาวนาน 77 ปี โดยเคยมีทุกอย่าง มีอำนาจ มีรูปโฉมที่ดี มีกำลังทรัพย์ แต่ตอนนี้โดนพรากไปทั้งหมด และด้วยความเป็นคนผีบ้าผีบอ (เฟติชแปลกๆ) ความสุขที่เหลืออยู่น้อยนิดก็จะโดนพรากไปด้วยเพราะมันทำให้หัวใจเต้นแรงเกินไป เด���๋ยวหัวใจวาย (ขำขื่น)

ตอนแรกๆ ที่อ่านเราเลยกะว่าคง 3 ดาวมั้ง แต่พออ่านจนจบ มีไดอารี่เสริมของลูกสาวคนโตของตาแก่นี่ด้วยก็รู้สึกเหมือนโดนตบหัวว่านี่เราให้นักเขียนชักจูงไปอีกแล้ว เราแทบไม่รู้เลยว่า ซัทสึโกะ ตัวจริงเป็นอย่างในไดอารี่ของอัทซึงิมั้ย เรื่องที่เกิดขึ้นเป็นเรื่องจริงขนาดไหนไม่รู้ได้เลย แล้วตัวจริงของอัทซึงิเป็นอย่างไรในสายตาของคนในครอบครัวบ้าง เออ มีตรงนี้แหละที่รู้สึกว่าโดนทานิซากิหลอกหนึ่งแมทช์

อีกแมทช์ที่โดนตบคือคิดว่า ถ้าตัวเองใกล้ตายแบบอัทซึงิแล้วจะมีกะใจไปเดินดูหลุมศพของตัวเอง จัดทำป้ายเองมั้ย เออไม่รู้ว่าที่ไทยเป็นอย่างไงนะ ไม่รู้ว่าปัจจุบันนี���เป็นไงมั่ง แต่คิดว่าตาเฒ่านี่นอกจากเรื่องชอบลูกสะใภ้คนงามของตัวเองแล้วเนี่ยก็เป็นคนรับผิดชอบชีวิตตัวเองดีมากๆ ทัศนคติก็ดี คนใกล้ตายก็จริงแต่ไดอารี่ตลกชิบหาย

[Oguzcan Yesilyaprak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kitap hakkında spoiler vermemem gerekirse tam ismi gibi gerçekten çılgın bir ihtiyarı içeriyor. Çok hızlı okunan kitap ama önceden okuduğum birçok japon yazarların yazdıklarının gerisinde. Yazıldığı döneminden mi bilmem ama beklediğim etkiyi yaratmadı bende.

[Samia chellat · Rating 1 out of 5]

يا للسخافة ! 😒 👎

[Kusaimamekirai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back in my University days, I remember chatting with a literature professor of mine who was telling me about how important student evaluations of teachers are in regards to things like tenure. A flippant “this teacher sucks” from a student who never did any of the readings or half assed their papers could ruin someone’s career.
More specifically, a student in our class had written such an evaluation with the lines that “professor xxx is obsessed with sex and he makes us read these sexually explicit stories”
The teacher in question was anything but that, but as for the stories she was referring to, I knew right away which writer from the grave was vexing this student and blowing up my professor’s career. Tanizaki.
While my professor, as far as I know wasn’t consumed by sex, I can’t say the same for Tanizaki.
In “Diary of a mad old man” however, it is not sex which consumes our narrator but his inability to have it. His old age, combined with his desire, lead him into some shady situations with his son’s wife Satsuko.
Satsuko is young, attractive, and all too willing to exploit her aging father in law’s erotic desires for cash. Our narrator, in a dull marriage, with all the aches and pains of an old man, and having been deprived of most earthly pleasures in the name of his health (he has a nurse follow him everywhere and constantly monitoring what he does) is all to happy to oblige.
Of course his family is horrified. Strangely enough, less by the fact that it’s his daughter in law but more by what they view as the unseemliness of it.
Out narrator could care less and throws himself into buying Setsuko whatever she wants and getting to lick her knees and feet in return. Yes really.
I was a little grossed out by this old guy putting this young woman’s toes in his mouth for money but as a middle aged man myself, I asked myself, is it really so wrong?
There is no coercion here, and while his fetishes aren’t mine or many people’s cup of tea, if they both are ok with it, who are any of us to say they can’t do it?
Tanizaki’s work often pushes boundaries and forces us to look at taboos, be they societal or sexual, and he does so here as masterfully as he does in any of his novels.
There is also a really interesting subtext, if you choose to read this book that way, about a rapidly modernizing Japan in the middle of the 20th century.
Satsuko is all Coca Cola, western music , fashion, and airplanes, while our narrator is Japanese clothes, traditional food, and trains (he tells us he’s never been on a plane).
We can almost feel through our narrator (and his endless diary entries of his physical maladies) the death throes of a rapidly changing society represented by Satsuko who are charging ahead into a new world but willing to let the traditionalists at least lick behind their knee on their way out for a few dollars.
As a side note, when I was reading this book, I imagined the character of Satsuko as the famous Japanese film actress Ayako Wakao, who was the the bad girl of Japanese cinema during this period.
Imagine my surprise to find that there actually was a film version of this story made in 1962 starring...Ayako Wakao!
Can’t wait to see it!

[Alessandro · Rating 3 out of 5]

The adventures of a horny old man. I can't wait to get to old age and join the ranks.

[Bella Azam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This old man is certainly mad as he is through the diary that we as a reader have the privilege (or forced to) read in its entirety. Tanizaki's portrayal of the elderly Utsugi,the man behind this novel was both funny & disturbing. Utsugi, an affluent, rich man suffering from a chronic illness after a bouts of chills, numbness & semi paralysis on his body from his stroke is now facing a sexual impulse attraction towards his daughter in law, Satsuko. In a series of diary entries, we saw his perversions of desire to Satsuko & to what extent his wants goes both puzzling & borderline creepy. This old man is mad for sure!

I wasn't expecting this book to be funny but it made me laugh of how eccentric & raucous this diary can be since I'm exposed to the sort of dirty thoughts of an old man that is not shame of his own infatuation to his son's wife. Righteously, its bizzare to read but the dark humors sprinkled throughout the book made it so much fun to read despite Utsugi's inescapable suffering of obsession. Satsuko was an enigma herself, a former cabaret worker with a charm, she managed to marry into the wealthy family & gained herself a position as the young mistress of the family for her capabilities. She is also very clever in making her decisions & knew just the perfect way to flaunt her beauty to get what she want so I found her very interesting.

As bizarrely funny this book was, it also depict the bleakness of illness & the impending death spoken by Utsugi in such he rather dies than fell to the terrible pain. Clinging to the thread of life while having these sexual desires to him felt more alive than ruminating in his own thoughts of dying. Its a book that is slow but have its own twisted charms about it and I have to say Junichiro Tanizaki's and his eccentric characters managed to make me invested in them. I am excited to delve more into his broad spectrum of works since my first ever read from him doesn't disappoint.

The clashes between pleasurable eroticims with the cultural and societal values of the past and modern Japan was immaculately described. Utsugi's fascination with the traditional cultures, disdain on the modernity he felt vulgar & messy, his perversion towards sex as a driving force of the only pleasures he had in his last moments of life, the kind that you can't help frown upon on this man's antics. The symbolism of tombstone to be engraved on his graveyard & what he desired from Satsuko was crazy to me but then the sadomaschistic gratification derived from the act gave you a startling realization that these kind of behaviours stemmed from irrepresible impulse of needs as illness took over your sanity & dignity to the point of no shame. The more i ruminated about it, the more I'm actually impressed

A good start as this is my 3rd read for January in Japan 2025. On my way to read Makioka Sisters next ✨️

[Stephen Durrant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tanizaki's diarist is a 77-year-old man with two obsessions: the various drugs and medical treatments that might relieve his constant physical discomfort, and his daughter-in-law Satsuko. With regard to the first of these he is a rationalist with a precise medical knowledge: ". . . he is very well-informed about drugs--enough to give a young doctor stiff competition," his doctor writes (p169). With regard to the second, his daughter-in-law, "the mad old man's" attraction is irrational, darkly erotic, and at times hilarious. Tanizaki (1886-1965) was a great writer and important writer--important because he transports a reader into a very different aesthetic and cultural world . . . one that challenges our own smug assumptions. The diarist here is an impotent old man, but he remains intensely alive sexually, and his erotic attractions are indulged not only by his daughter-in-law but are accepted, or at least not condemned, by his wife and his family in general. Plus, there is a wonderful ambiguity at the heart of this novel. Such eroticism, a drop of saliva transported to his mouth, kissing his daughter-in-law's calf in the shower, dusting her feet for a rubbing (which will then be engraved in stone on his own gravestone), exists in a world that is simultaneously disturbing, innocent, and funny. For this reader at least, the greatness of Tanizaki's book exists in the tension between these quite different and alternating responses to the old man's obsessions. However much the rigid moralists among us might want to reduce life to a clear set of rights and wrongs, life, even their own outer or inner life (a fact they of course steadfastly try to deny), often complicates the picture. Reminding us of moral complexities and alternatives is one of the values of reading cross-culturally, and Tanizaki's world consistently does this. Those who want to remain smugly settled and unchallenged, on both the religious right and the correctly moralistic left, should stay far, far away!

[حيدر العبدلي · Rating 4 out of 5]

كثيرة هي الكتابات التي تصف الاعتلال الجسدي المرافق للتقدم في العمر. لكن قليلة جداً تلك التي تصف الاعتلال النفسي الذي لا يقل وجوده بطبيعة الحال مع التقدم في العمر ووصول الشخص إلى أرذله.
أجادت هذه الرواية الغريبة والكئيبة في وصف سايكولوجية عجوز في أيامه الأخيرة وكيف تتغير دوافعه وكيف ينكص الى عقد الطفولة المكبوتة في دهاليز اللاوعي.
العجوز بطل القصة يصيبه دافع جنسي استثنائي تجاه زوجة ابنه وقدمها بالخصوص، وهي تذكره بصورة أو بأخرى بقدم والدته أيام الطفولة، وبعد أن كانت متعه الوحيدة في آخر عمره تلذذ بطعام أو بول بلا حرقة أو ساعات من النوم، يصبح هائماً في زوجة ابنه بصورة مرضية ماسوخية جداً، حتى أنه يصرف عليها كل ذخيرة أيامه من أموال ويصبح كالطفل أمامها يبكي ويئن ويتلذذ عند صفعها له.
السؤال هو ما هي عقدنا التي ستظهر أواخر أعمارنا؟ إن الجواب يكمن في البحث عن ما كبتناه في أعماقنا منذ الطفولة، لأنه سيظهر بأبشع صوره آخر العمر. الفرصة الوحيدة هو إيجاد طريقة للتنفيس عن تلك العقد قبل فوات الأوان.
شخصياً أتمنى أن أموت بصحة جسدية ونفسية مقبولة، حتى لو خسرت سنين كثيرة من الحياة، بدلاً من الوصول إلى هكذا مراحل مؤلمة ومثيرة للشفقة ومحطة للكرامة.

[Asma · Rating 1 out of 5]

اول تجربه لي مع الادب الياباني ، وكانت البداية سيئه
اقل ما يُقال عليها انها ممله ولا هدف يُرجى من قرائتها

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn Tanizaki really said „this one is for the stupkarze and stupkarze only”

[nananatte · Rating 4 out of 5]

บันทึกของชายเฒ่า (Diary of a Mad Old Man) ของ จุนอิจิโร ทานิซากิ แปลโดย สุดาพร สนพ.บ้านหนังสือ

นิยายเรื่องนี้เป็นบันทึกของโทคุสึเกะ อัตสึงิ ชายวัย 70 ที่เคยเกิดอาก���รสโตร๊ค ปัจจุบัน เป็นโรคหัวใจ โรคเกี่ยวกับกระดูก โรคเกี่ยวกับความดัน และอีกสารพัดโรค ...มันก็เลยจะเป็นบันทึกการรักษาตัวเสียมาก ศัพท์การแพทย์และเภสัชลึกจนต้องปรบมือคนแปลว่าต้องเหน็ดเหนื่อยกับการแปลงานชิ้นนี้ขนาดไหนนี่

ปัจจัยเรื่องโรคและความแก่ชราก็เป็นเรื่องหนึ่ง แต่มันยังมีปัจจัยอีกเรื่องที่ขับดันโทคุสึเกะ นั่นคือ เขาหลงใหลลูกสะใภ้คนงามของตัวเอง

ลูกสะใภ้ชื่อซัทสึโกะ เธอเคยเป็นนักเต้นมาก่อน เรียวขาและฝ่าเท้าของเธอคือสิ่งกระตุ้นเร้าอารมณ์ของโทคุสึเกะอย่างยิ่ง เขาหลงใหลการยั่วเย้าและความร้ายกาจของเธอ ยิ่งเธอทำให้เขารู้สึกต่ำต้อยและไร้ค่ามากเท่าไร เขายิ่งรู้สึกดีมากขึ้นเท่านั้น

...มันก็เป็นเรื่องแบบนี้แหล่ะค่ะ
ระดับความแรงของเรื่องนี้ ไม่โจ่งแจ้งเท่า The Key และก็ไม่ได้ราบเรียบแบบ some prefer nettle ค่ะ

อ่านจบแล้วก็... อืม... นะ คนที่เราคิดว่าเค้าเป็นคนยังไง เค้าอาจไม่ได้เป็นอย่างงั้นก็ได้

แต่ถ้าชอบเรื่องสไตล์หักหลังคนอ่านแรงๆ Quicksand กับ The Key หักหลังเราแรงกว่าค่ะ

[Knigoqdec · Rating 1 out of 5]

Странен избор на заглавие от страна на издателството, лично за мен. Съвсем вярно е, че аз с Танизаки по принцип не се разбирам особено, но не, това не е причината да оценявам тази книга с лоша оценка.
Като цяло, тази книга сигурно ще се окаже гнусна за любителите на феминизма (да, трудно ми е да определям точно това, но ми се струва, че бих познала). След това - явно не е и за сравнително млади читатели (не знам аз в коя категория съм вече), защото определено не вълнува със статистиката си за кръвното на нашия герой, колко и какви лекарства е изпил, кога и къде го е боляло и какво надгробие ще си избере. Докато стигнем до неговото примирие със смъртта по този строго специфичен начин, минава известно време. Главният герой не е и особено забавен, поне от гледната точка на сегашното ми аз, по-скоро е вдетинен по жалък и тъжен начин, отколкото е луд. Колкото и да ми е странно, харесах повече варианта на стар герой, какъвто намираме при Кавабата и неговите красавици (някой беше сравнил тази книга с "Къщата на спящите красавици" и мисля, че е доста прав). Мисля, че имаше едно единствено откровение, което ми се понрави в произведението - когато старецът анализираше безпощадно себе си, описвайки се реалистично.
Също така, дневникът му е малко объркващ, защото се изсипват тумба герои, за които не си сигурен кой кой е. Ориентирането става бавно и мъчно. Мъничък плюс е донякъде постното описание на Япония от онези години, доколкото човек може да измъкне нещичко.
Чудя се дали ще ми хареса "Татуировката" - може би най-популярният роман на автора у нас. Предвид тежкия ми опит с него досега... кой знае...

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delicate, light work about the experience of growing old. Utsugi Tokosuke is 77 and recovering from a stroke. We are privy to his diary entries, a diary we’re told he’s been keeping for many years. The diary covers many topics, but aspects of ageing predominate - illness, aches and pains, disappointment in his children, the changing world and mores around him, memories of his own parent and his own childhood. But the most dominant topic is his growing sexual obsession with his daughter in law Satsuko, an ex dancer, who allows Utsugi various minor concessions (kissing her feet, her neck, watching her shower) in return for jewellery, money and clothes. Utsugi also gains a vicarious sexual thrill in facilitating Satsuko’s affair with his own nephew (a similar ago to Satsuko as she is much younger than her husband).

The novel has no climax, beyond a health crisis brought on by arguing with his daughter, from which he seems to recover, and ends with extracts from records and notes kept by others such as his doctors and his daughter.

It’s a sweet, melancholic work that describes a period of change in Japanese culture and the difficulties encountered when the world around seems to have left you behind.

[Ozan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biliyorum... Biliyorum... Her yazıma bu kitabı okuyalı çok uzun zaman oldu (2012), ama şimdi listemde görünce ufak tefek hakkında bir şeyler söylemeden geçemeyeceğim diye başlıyorum, ama öyle. (heh)

Tanizaki'nin okuduğum bu ilk eseri bende biraz kültürel şok etkisi yapmıştı zamanında, yani çılgın ihtiyarın oğlu karısı ile evli kalıyordu, ne kadar karsından bıkmış olsa da çünkü babası oğlunun karısına ilgi duyuyordu... Yani babasının gönlü olsun, oğlunun karısı ile gönül macerası yaşamak babasını mutlu ediyorsa, varsın yaşasın, benim için önemli olan babamın şu ömrünün son zamanlarında mutlu olması diyen bir evlat. İlginç, Türkiye'de artık bu kadar hayırlısımı desem, ne desem bilemedim, ama böyle bir evlat bulamazsınız sanırım. Böyle bir şey buralarda ancak büyük bir yıkımla sonuçlanır gibi geliyor bana, ama Dostoyevski'nin bir lafı var, ''gerçeklik senin düşündüğünden daha kompleks'' diye... Belki bu lafı daha sık hatırlamalıyım, kültürel şoklarımı yumuşatır en azından (heh) İşte gene o söze kulak vererek diyorum ki, belki böyle bir aile sadeti İstanbul'da yaşanabilir... Ama kesin emin değilim. İstanbul'da pek bulunmadım ancak böyle bir açık fikirliliği ancak Türkiye'de barındırsa barındırsa bir metropol olarak İstanbul bünyesinde barındırır diye düşünüyorum.

Çılgın ihtiyar yaşlı baba ise günlüğünü yazmak, kol ağrıları ve gelinine sarkmak arasında gidip geliyor... (heh) Gençken çok alem yapmış bir çılgın ihtiyar bu, bir keresinde kabuki tiyatrosundan kadın kılığındaki bir erkek aktörle bile beraber olmuş... tekniği iyiydi, aynı bir kadın gibi hissettirdi diyor...(heh)
Gelinine o ne sarkmak öyle... kızın ayak parmaklarını emiyor yalnız yakaladığı bir ara, çılgın ihtiyar iktidarsız bu arada, yani istese de ayak parmağı yalamaktan ileri gidemez ve gözlemlediğim kadarıyla iktidarsızlaşan yaşlılar mazoşist bir eylim içerisine giriyorlar, bu romanda da çılgın ihtiyar aynı eylimi gösterdi, gelinini kötü olması konusunda yüreklendirip, destekliyor. Hatta bir hayali var ki, gelinin ayak ölçülerini alıyor, ölünce içine gömüleceği klasik japon mezarının üstüne döktürdüğü beton zemine gelinin ayaklarını bire bir işletecek, sonsuza kadar gelini yaşlı kemiklerini çiğnesin diye (heheh...) adı üstünde çılgın bir ihtiyar bu... Fantazileri de çılgın tabiki... iktidarsızlığından gelen mazoşist eğilimin etkisi ile vb. (heh)

En son bölümde bu çılgın ihtiyar ağrılarına yenik düşüpte daha fazla günlüğünü yazamadığında, bu sefer oğlu ve kendi destekleri ile zalim ve kötü bir kadın olan gelinin perspektifinden görüyoruz onu... Gelin yaşlı ihtiyardan kurtulmak istiyor, huzur evine koyalım diyor, ama çılgın ihtiyarın vefakar oğlu buna yanaşmıyor. O son kısımda gelinine olan tutkusu, günlüğü ve çılgın fantazileri ile yuvarlanıp giden bu yaşlı adamın, oğlu ile oğlunun karısı gözünde ne kadar zavallı göründüğünü görüyoruz. Bu cidden çok ilginç bir deneyimdi... yaşlı adamın kendi perspektefinden böyle bir izlenim edinmemiştim. Yaşlıların kendilerini görüşleri, en azından çılgın olanlarının ve onların dıştan evin genç erkanına görünüşleri cidden farklı... Böyle bir deneyim edinmiş oldum bu romandan.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about an old man who is sick, horny, and has this sexual urge to make it with his daughter-in-law. The family is ok with that. Even the son has a 'sure... go for it dad' kind of attitude. The daughter-in-law lets the old man play a little but he has to pay. Since he's impotent he can only kiss her feet or lick her legs or let her dribble spit in his mouth. But all of this excites him and raises his blood pressure to stroke levels. So he thinks about death a lot. Actually the old man is pretty cool. He has no self-pity and likes to start trouble in the family. It's a simple story.

[aljouharah · Rating 2 out of 5]

لم أكن متحمسة لكلمة مثل 'مات' كما تحمست لرؤيتها وأنا أقرأ هذه النوفيلا.