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A Late Chrysanthemum
This collection of Japanese short stories reveals a rapidly changing Japanese society and the deep draw of its traditional culture.
The first half of this century saw the coming of age of the Japanese short story. Influenced by Western literary techniques, such innovative writers as Shiga Naoya, Ozaki Shiro, Yasunari Kawabata, Shimaki Kensaku, Hayashi Fumiko, Dazai Osamu, and (somewhat later) Kobo Abe reassessed the Japanese story tradition and brought new vigor to the uniquely Japanese sense of the detail and natural context of everyday life.
The works of these writers stand at the center of modern Japan's literary development. Despite their differences, it is the simplicity and purity of their natural images-sultry late-summer days, cicadas, lizards, and the sounds of life's routines-that more than anything anchor the emotions and perceptions of their stories.
For A Late Chrysanthemum, translator and editor Lane Dunlop has selected twenty-one stories by these seven intriguing and influential authors to convey the depth and range of the modern Japanese story, a discriminating selection which, in Dunlop's sure and masterful English renderings, won this book the Japan-United States Friendship Award for Literary Translation.
The first half of this century saw the coming of age of the Japanese short story. Influenced by Western literary techniques, such innovative writers as Shiga Naoya, Ozaki Shiro, Yasunari Kawabata, Shimaki Kensaku, Hayashi Fumiko, Dazai Osamu, and (somewhat later) Kobo Abe reassessed the Japanese story tradition and brought new vigor to the uniquely Japanese sense of the detail and natural context of everyday life.
The works of these writers stand at the center of modern Japan's literary development. Despite their differences, it is the simplicity and purity of their natural images-sultry late-summer days, cicadas, lizards, and the sounds of life's routines-that more than anything anchor the emotions and perceptions of their stories.
For A Late Chrysanthemum, translator and editor Lane Dunlop has selected twenty-one stories by these seven intriguing and influential authors to convey the depth and range of the modern Japanese story, a discriminating selection which, in Dunlop's sure and masterful English renderings, won this book the Japan-United States Friendship Award for Literary Translation.
178 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 7, 2013
Don't tell Yukio Mishima, but the more I read the more I fall in love with Osamu Dazai. How about this for an opening:
"The more I say, the less people believe me. All of the people I meet are on their guard against me. When I go for a friendly visit, just wanting to see a human face, they greet me with a why-have-you-come expression. It's unbearable even to think about."
Adorable, huh? And then from the same:
"Yesterday evening I was sitting in the kitchen, cutting up scallions, when from the field behind our house I heard a little boy sadly calling for his big sister. He was starting to cry. I laid down the knife, and thought. If I had a little brother or a little sister who loved me that much and called to me with tears, my life would not have to be this lonely..."
His "Memories" is the best fun. Couldn't help thinking of Yukio and his, probably more famous, "boy's first wank" anecdote when Dazai was sharing: "It was something that two of the menservants had taught me, but one night my mother, who lay beside me, suspicious of the movement of my quilt, asked me what I was doing. Terribly flustered, I replied that my hip hurt and that I was massaging it. If that's so, you should rub it instead of just beating it, my mother said sleepily. For a while, I rubbed and stroked my hip in silence. In my memories of my mother, there are many lonely things."
You just know Dazai was the kid Yukio wished he'd been: "Fleeing instruction with the five or six students who liked me, I would sprawl out with them on the banks of a marsh at the back of the pine forest and talk about the girl students. Tucking up our kimonos, we would compare the sparse public hairs that had started to grow there, and goose each other."
As for the rest: bunched up at the start were three stories about looking at an animal in a river, which seemed an unhappy coincidence. Hayashi's "A Late Chrysanthemum" was cute.
"The more I say, the less people believe me. All of the people I meet are on their guard against me. When I go for a friendly visit, just wanting to see a human face, they greet me with a why-have-you-come expression. It's unbearable even to think about."
Adorable, huh? And then from the same:
"Yesterday evening I was sitting in the kitchen, cutting up scallions, when from the field behind our house I heard a little boy sadly calling for his big sister. He was starting to cry. I laid down the knife, and thought. If I had a little brother or a little sister who loved me that much and called to me with tears, my life would not have to be this lonely..."
His "Memories" is the best fun. Couldn't help thinking of Yukio and his, probably more famous, "boy's first wank" anecdote when Dazai was sharing: "It was something that two of the menservants had taught me, but one night my mother, who lay beside me, suspicious of the movement of my quilt, asked me what I was doing. Terribly flustered, I replied that my hip hurt and that I was massaging it. If that's so, you should rub it instead of just beating it, my mother said sleepily. For a while, I rubbed and stroked my hip in silence. In my memories of my mother, there are many lonely things."
You just know Dazai was the kid Yukio wished he'd been: "Fleeing instruction with the five or six students who liked me, I would sprawl out with them on the banks of a marsh at the back of the pine forest and talk about the girl students. Tucking up our kimonos, we would compare the sparse public hairs that had started to grow there, and goose each other."
As for the rest: bunched up at the start were three stories about looking at an animal in a river, which seemed an unhappy coincidence. Hayashi's "A Late Chrysanthemum" was cute.
January 10, 2021
This collection of short stories gives a good idea of the range of styles and approaches that developed during the early to mid-twentieth-century. The only woman represented here is Hayashi Fumiko, and her story--about an aging woman, a former geisha, meeting up with an old lover and confronting the uncomfortable realities of change, "A Late Chrysanthemum"--is one of my favourites here. The Kawabata stories here are from his Palm-of-the-Hand Stories (what would now be called flash fiction), almost like prose poems. Dazai Osamu's narrators often strike me as whiny and self-indulgent, not always as interesting in their self-absorption as he thinks they are, yet they are often memorable, and their preoccupation with the twists and turns of their own psyches is sharply drawn.
May 23, 2011
About half the stories resonated with me. I already knew I liked Osamu Dazai, but Fumiko Hayashi's "A Late Chrysanthemum" was an unexpected pleasure, both well-written and soulful. Also good: Shiro Ozaki, Kawabata Yasunari (Nobel Prize winner, duh) and Kensaku Shimaki.
April 21, 2022
Buku ini adalah antologi cerpen dari tujuh pengarang sastra Jepang klasik, yaitu Shiga Naoya, Ozaki Shiro, Yasunari Kawabata, Shimaki Kensaku, Hayashi Fumiko, Osamu Dazai dan Kobo Abe. Dari sini, pembaca diperkenalkan kepada gaya masing-masing pengarang yang bisa jadi khas.
Shiga Naoya memotret perasaan-perasaan tersembunyi tokoh-tokoh utamanya di tengah suatu episode hidup. Ada juga cerpen yang memotret kecerobohan akibat kesabaran yang dibuyarkan oleh penyakit.
Cerpen-cerpen Ozaki Shiro memiliki kecenderungan mengasosiasikan fenomena dalam kehidupan manusia dengan fenomena yang terjadi dalam hubungannya dengan dunia hewan atau alam.
Cerpen-cerpen Yasunari Kawabata memotret adegan-adegan sekilas dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Cerpen yang dimuat dalam antologi ini termasuk bagian dari Cerita-Cerita Telapak Tangan.
Cerpen-cerpen Shimaki Kensaku lebih merupakan catatan pribadinya selama memulihkan diri dari sebuah penyakit. Penulis terutama mengamati perilaku hewan. Salah satu cerpennya mengangkat pengamatan terhadap satu jenis hewan yang paling kubenci, yaitu kel***** (aku bahkan tidak ingin menulis namanya). Untungnya, cerpen itu hanya terdiri dari lima halaman.
A Late Chrysanthemum sendiri merupakan cerpen karya Hayashi Fumiko yang bercerita tentang seorang geisha yang terus mendamba belaian pria di usianya yang menua. Ia mengenang beberapa pria yang pernah terlibat dengannya, terutama seseorang yang vitalitasnya tak terlupakan. Cerpen ini terdiri dari paragraf-paragraf sangat panjang yang memuat dialog-dialog dengan padat. Cerpen ini adalah satu-satunya cerpen Hayashi Fumiko, satu-satunya pengarang perempuan dalam antologi ini.
Sebagian cerpen-cerpen Osamu Dazai adalah catatan kenangan masa kecil yang tidak bahagia-bahagia amat. Sebagian lainnya adalah cerpen-cerpen dengan tokoh utama perempuan. "Chiyojo" adalah satu dari dua cerpen yang paling berkesan bagiku dalam antologi ini. Chiyojo bercerita tentang seorang gadis yang karangannya dua kali dimuat dalam sebuah majalah sastra. Karangan-karangannya mengundang apresiasi yang sangat luas dari berbagai pihak, sehingga gadis itu dianggap anak berbakat sastra yang menjanjikan. Meskipun demikian, ia merasa karangan itu biasa-biasa saja. Ia pun tidak memiliki keinginan untuk serius menulis. Ia hanya ingin hidup yang biasa-biasa saja dalam ranah domestik. Bisa dibilang, aku memahami sentimennya yang pernah kurasakan pada sekitar masa aku baru lulus kuliah.
Cerpen-cerpen Kobo Abe memiliki gaya surealis yang kontras dengan cerpen-cerpen lainnya dalam antologi ini. Aku paling suka "The Flood", cerpen yang memotret kekacauan ketika semua orang miskin dan termarjinalkan mencair dengan karakteristik cairan yang liar nakal brutal membuat semua orang jadi gempar. Cerpen lainnya, "The Red Cocoon" dan "The Stick" adalah kombinasi kesuraman dan komedi tragis yang juga absurd. Aku paling terkesan dengan penulis ini dan berharap bisa membaca karya-karyanya lagi kelak.
Buku ini memiliki ukuran huruf yang kecil dan spasi yang cukup rapat, sehingga agak sulit dibaca. Beberapa cerpen memiliki paragraf-paragraf panjang, sebagian membentang hingga dua halaman lebih. Bersama format yang demikian, membaca buku ini membutuhkan konsentrasi yang cukup ekstra.
Shiga Naoya memotret perasaan-perasaan tersembunyi tokoh-tokoh utamanya di tengah suatu episode hidup. Ada juga cerpen yang memotret kecerobohan akibat kesabaran yang dibuyarkan oleh penyakit.
Cerpen-cerpen Ozaki Shiro memiliki kecenderungan mengasosiasikan fenomena dalam kehidupan manusia dengan fenomena yang terjadi dalam hubungannya dengan dunia hewan atau alam.
Cerpen-cerpen Yasunari Kawabata memotret adegan-adegan sekilas dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Cerpen yang dimuat dalam antologi ini termasuk bagian dari Cerita-Cerita Telapak Tangan.
Cerpen-cerpen Shimaki Kensaku lebih merupakan catatan pribadinya selama memulihkan diri dari sebuah penyakit. Penulis terutama mengamati perilaku hewan. Salah satu cerpennya mengangkat pengamatan terhadap satu jenis hewan yang paling kubenci, yaitu kel***** (aku bahkan tidak ingin menulis namanya). Untungnya, cerpen itu hanya terdiri dari lima halaman.
A Late Chrysanthemum sendiri merupakan cerpen karya Hayashi Fumiko yang bercerita tentang seorang geisha yang terus mendamba belaian pria di usianya yang menua. Ia mengenang beberapa pria yang pernah terlibat dengannya, terutama seseorang yang vitalitasnya tak terlupakan. Cerpen ini terdiri dari paragraf-paragraf sangat panjang yang memuat dialog-dialog dengan padat. Cerpen ini adalah satu-satunya cerpen Hayashi Fumiko, satu-satunya pengarang perempuan dalam antologi ini.
Sebagian cerpen-cerpen Osamu Dazai adalah catatan kenangan masa kecil yang tidak bahagia-bahagia amat. Sebagian lainnya adalah cerpen-cerpen dengan tokoh utama perempuan. "Chiyojo" adalah satu dari dua cerpen yang paling berkesan bagiku dalam antologi ini. Chiyojo bercerita tentang seorang gadis yang karangannya dua kali dimuat dalam sebuah majalah sastra. Karangan-karangannya mengundang apresiasi yang sangat luas dari berbagai pihak, sehingga gadis itu dianggap anak berbakat sastra yang menjanjikan. Meskipun demikian, ia merasa karangan itu biasa-biasa saja. Ia pun tidak memiliki keinginan untuk serius menulis. Ia hanya ingin hidup yang biasa-biasa saja dalam ranah domestik. Bisa dibilang, aku memahami sentimennya yang pernah kurasakan pada sekitar masa aku baru lulus kuliah.
Cerpen-cerpen Kobo Abe memiliki gaya surealis yang kontras dengan cerpen-cerpen lainnya dalam antologi ini. Aku paling suka "The Flood", cerpen yang memotret kekacauan ketika semua orang miskin dan termarjinalkan mencair dengan karakteristik cairan yang liar nakal brutal membuat semua orang jadi gempar. Cerpen lainnya, "The Red Cocoon" dan "The Stick" adalah kombinasi kesuraman dan komedi tragis yang juga absurd. Aku paling terkesan dengan penulis ini dan berharap bisa membaca karya-karyanya lagi kelak.
Buku ini memiliki ukuran huruf yang kecil dan spasi yang cukup rapat, sehingga agak sulit dibaca. Beberapa cerpen memiliki paragraf-paragraf panjang, sebagian membentang hingga dua halaman lebih. Bersama format yang demikian, membaca buku ini membutuhkan konsentrasi yang cukup ekstra.
February 4, 2024
Received this as a gift from a friend who now lives in Japan. The way it's presented, plus a somewhat orientalist introduction from the translator (emphasizing the supposedly unique connection in Japanese culture to capital-N "Nature") , had me expecting something much more contemplative and stereotypically Japanese a la the music of the shakuhachi - this is present in a few stories but I was pleasantly surprised by the variety, some being rather meditative, others being rather humorous or simply bizarre. I was impressed by how much the stories manage to pack in so little space, some being just two or three pages long. Personal favorites: the four stories of Shimaki Kensaku plus "A Late Chrysanthemum", "The Garden Lantern".
February 26, 2022
A collection of 21 short stories from the Japanese, translated by Lane Dunlop and gathered by him from the magazines in which they originally appeared. The seven authors are Shiga Naoya, Ozaki Shiro, Kawabata Yasunari, Shimaki Kensaku, Hayashi Fumiko, Dazai Osamu and Abe Kobo. My favorites are "A Late Chrysanthemum," the memory of a love affair by Hayashi Fumiko (and beautifully filmed by Naruse Mikio), "At Kinosaki" and "The Razor" by the "god of the short story," Shiga Naoya, "Memories" by Dazai Osamu and "The Red Cocoon" and "The Stick" by Abe Kobo.
See my blog at https://adblankestijn.blogspot.com/p/...
See my blog at https://adblankestijn.blogspot.com/p/...
January 25, 2023
Indispensable collection of Japanese short story up until and including Kobo Abe for the student of Japanese culture. Did I enjoy reading it? Yeah, but not a lot. Kinda like 20th century Japanese film, you get to the point where you've seen enough of its hyper-stylized form. See one, you've seen them all...
March 27, 2023
I don't consume enough literature written in languages I do not speak/read. "A Late Chrysanthemum" was a collection of early 20th century Japanese short stories. Some were quite enjoyable, others not so much but that mostly had to do with the content matter. I wish I could read the Japanese original as the English translations are already quite beautiful and poetic. 3.5 stars
May 29, 2024
“A Late Chrysanthemum” features short stories by seven Japanese masters of the early twentieth century. This includes works by Ozaki Shiro, Yasunari Kawabata Shimari Kensuku, Hayshi Fumiko, Dazai Osamu, Kobo Abé, and Shiga Naoya.
If you enjoy reading these authors, you’re sure to like this book. I do and I did.
If you enjoy reading these authors, you’re sure to like this book. I do and I did.
November 8, 2018
Officially a fan of Shimaki Kensaku and Kobo Abe. I am really glad to know that there is many more excellent writer in Japan that I yet to know.
July 28, 2020
After thinking through Kobo Abe's The Woman in the Dunes, The Box Man, and Kangaroo Notebook, in this presented order, I couldn't shake off the wonder of, does this guy have any essays, and upon inspection, I noticed the scattering of his short stories (and of course The Frontier Within, his collection of essays). Previously only familiar with Abe and Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, as far as Japanese writers go - particularly of the "existential" flavor, I sought after Lane Dunlop's selection of translated works, and aptly named The Late Chrysanthemum, for Kobo Abe's three works: The Red Cocoon, The Flood, and The Stick (I also managed to find a sweet deal on Kobo Abe's other exclusive collection, Beyond the Curve, but that's for another time). As one does, I felt an obligation to explore the thoughts of others by means of the designated structure, so after glancing at the contents page, I noticed KA was last; not only was he lastly listed though, collectively, he occupied some of the fewest pages. My curiosity was swelling. Satisfyingly, not every text resonated with me (i.e. Hayashi Fumiko's The Late Chrysanthemum and most of Dazai Osamu's selected works). To give clarity of the satisfaction, I must confess, I feel lost when an "every" is apparent. When "every" is desired, the returns are nothing but diminished - and more importantly depreciates the truly admired. In short, the recognition reminds my self of who I am continuously becoming - and, in this case, a disturbingly comfortable existence of thoughtful concern of others' Lynchian/Kafkaesque filter. A very David Foster Wallace thought I noticed was the following: "The more I say, the less people believe me. All of the people I meet are on their guard against me. When I go for a friendly visit, just wanting to see a human face, they greet me with a why-have-you-come expression. It's unbearable even to think about." This is the first paragraph of Dazai's The Garden Lantern, and my favorite bold underline of the entire collection. Almost fucking banal in sentiment, but hearing someone explicitly say that, the above mentioned, shakes my core. As far as overall thoughts on the text, I enjoy the thoughtful imagination (particularly in Shiga Naoya, Shimaki Kensaku, and Kobo Abe's work). As we all know, the imagination becomes utterly thoughtless when let loose, which can obviously be nice, but the possibilities are much wider and resonate with a clamly purpose when one contextualizes and grounds within one's own mind. I have since been encouraged to read about each who are included in this text, but no ideas yet from initial impressions have emerged - other than preliminary ideas that lead me closer to KA's Beyond the Curve. If one has any interest in translated Japanese short stories, one can obviously not ask for a better start. Are they a great representation of anything? No, only everything is an adequate representation of anything, but they are, like I said, a great start.
October 1, 2013
nice :)
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