The Journey

by Jirō Osaragi, Ivan Morris (Translator )

This touching allegorical novel about a man who is almost destroyed by his lust for money and the accumulation of wealth is a masterful depiction of the new moral reality facing post-war Japan.

Genres: Japan, Japanese Literature, Novels, Fiction

342 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the early 1950s, this novel does a wonderful job of catching the disorientation of the postwar years in Japan, as people dealt with the aftermath of the war, the losses and disillusionments, waste and folly and death, and with the realities of the occupation and the new world of striving and economic competition. There's an aging man in a disintegrating house in Kamakura, wealthy but alone, mourning the death of his son, wondering what all those years of wealth-collection were for; his nieces, one desperately trying to gain a toehold in this flashy new competitive world and the other living alone and wanting connection and home and family; the schoolfriend of the dead son, strong and vigorous and sexy, but morally and ethically unsound; an aging professor, genial, intelligent, and kind but also a bit of a windbag; a serious young student of history who longs to follow in the footsteps on Alexander the Great but is stuck teaching high school history and doing economic drudge-work on the side; the glamorous wife of a decaying former aristocratic, changing her clothes three times a day and sucking up to Americans and trying to establish herself among the new aristocracy of the rich and successful. Threads of connection between them hold the novel together.

[Mizzdevf Deviana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay...buku ni msh dibaca bab2 awal...baca terakhir kira2 bbrp thn yg lalu (cieee...) tepatnya saat pengerjaan thesis di 2006...

tokoh utamanya cewe..namanya (lupa) ceritanya...dia pacaran ama cwo bule di kecamuk PD II di Japan gitu d...

lainya....blm heheh tunggu yaahh, yg mo nambahin monggo =)

[nat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The courage to love and let go, whenever it seems poisonous to keep the love..
The commitment to forgive and reflect, to share what you never gave to your beloved till their dying day to others who might lose their way without precautions..

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bagus. Tapi, entah kenapa, aku lebih suka Tanizaki Junichiro

[Agi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pengarang jepang punya cara yang berbeda dalam penuturan ceritanya. Unik. Gak seperti para pengarang lainnya.