Freedom is a great thing, but it comes at a cost: this contemporary theme is explored in this novel set in 1950s Tokyo. The story unfolds among the lives of ordinary people, from the former aristocrat to the humble hobo, in the period between defeat under the militarist regime and reconstruction under a U.S. Occupation-controlled "democratic" order. A keen observer of both sexes, Shishi creates characterizations that go beyond their cultural milieu, evoking universal human impulses. The novel is both refreshing and revealing in its dismissal of gender stereotyping, as well as in its depiction of the people of Tokyo pulling themselves out of the chaos of war.
| Author: | Bunroku Shishi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Category: | Fiction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publisher: |
Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. publications.asahi.com |
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| Translations: |
French, Arabic, English
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Synopsis
About the Author
Bunroku Shishi (1893–1969) was a playwright and founding member of the Bungakuza Theater, but finding theater a poor source of income he began writing humorous fiction to support himself. His writing gained popularity from serializations in several daily newspapers, women's magazines, and youth journals. A universally accessible storyteller and a recorder of life under the stress of war and its aftermath, Shishi wrote in a style that is linguistically rich, true-to-life, and charged with refined humor and insight. He became a member of the Academy of Arts in 1963, and in 1969 was awarded the Order of Culture. His novel Jiyu gakko (tr. School of Freedom) was twice adapted for film.
Books by this author