Schoolgirl [1939/2011] by Osamu Dazai (trans. Allison Markin Powell) – ★★★★
“The inexperienced of a Might cucumber has a disappointment like an empty coronary heart, an aching, ticklish disappointment”. Schoolgirl is a brief novella the place we observe the ideas of 1 Japanese schoolgirl for simply sooner or later, from the second she opens her eyes within the morning (“Virtually the identical. Completely empty”) to her concluding “Goodnight”. Whereas she displays the same old teenage angst, telling us of her frustrations, anxieties and insecurities, tinged with doses of melancholy and apathy, her existence additionally momentarily turns to true delight as she finds small issues to understand round her all through the day.
As ordinary, Dazai (No Longer Human) holds a mirror to the Japanese society, and its fault are obvious as seen via the eyes of this barely haughty, self-absorbed teenage woman. We change into aware about her curious prepare of thought that additionally not directly ridicules the societal hypocrisy and conformity. It’s a very brief novella with extremely private musings, however Dazai’s ordinary broader themes of disgrace, alienation and identification are additionally clearly protruding. Although younger, the schoolgirl is already experiencing some sort of an existential exhaustion, in addition to searches for her identification, awakening to all the issues round her and inside her, and even pining for the previous when her sister nonetheless lived in the home and her father was nonetheless alive. Whereas attempting to win the love of her distant mom who devotes herself to others, the heroine additionally wonders what it could take for her to protect her sense of individuality on this society so clearly obsessive about conforming to the expectations of others and “maintaining appearances”. Will this try to stay to the beliefs of her childhood be price it in any respect in the long run?
“No person on the earth understood our struggling. In time, once we grew to become adults, we’d look again on this ache and loneliness as a humorous factor, completely odd, however – however how have been we anticipated to get by, to get via this interminable time period till that time once we have been adults? There was nobody to show us how.” [Dazai/Powell, 1939/2011]
Written in a poignant, confessional tone, Schoolgirl is a novel of lucid introspection akin to that displayed by such authors as Sylvia Plath and Clarice Lispector, whose narrative voice appears to originate from someplace deep inside our personal consciousness. It’s admirable to see such a brief work packing a lot reality and conveying it so casually and not directly, whereas additionally leaving a robust impression. This can be a “daydream” of a psychological novella filled with curious insights and observations.
The Little Home [2010/19] by Kyōko Nakajima (trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori) – ★★★
“I’ll always remember the scent of the seasonal daphne and osmanthus blossoms within the backyard, or how the gorgeous crimson roof was complemented by the dazzling fall colors of the maple tree and crimson-fruited rowanberry beside the entrance door”. The Little Home is a nostalgic take a look at life in pre and post-war Japan via the eyes of 1 devoted housemaid (Taki) who describes her previous life serving the Hirai household in Tokyo. She entered her service whereas nonetheless being an impressionable teenager from the countryside, and rapidly grew near her lovely, younger Mistress Tokiko. The Hirai make an odd couple, and it’s not lengthy earlier than Tokiko shows affection in direction of one other, youthful man, Mr. Itakura. What position, if any, will Taki play in her Mistress’s outdoors curiosity? Nakajima sweeps us via the turmoils of Japan, displaying how the approaching conflict adjustments the quiet family, with every disaster of the Nineteen Thirties and Nineteen Forties destabilising the Hirai household.
Japan’s hope for the longer term is first pinned on its relative financial prosperity and the preparation for the 1940 Summer time Olympics (additionally part of the speak within the Hirai family), however then, because the years roll by, the conflict makes itself felt, and Taki has to change into extra ingenious in her work, together with concerning meals shortages. Her unquestionable loyalty to her Grasp and Mistress might remind of Ishiguro’s butler Stevens from The Stays of the Day, however there are maybe deeper secrets and techniques hidden in plain sight on this novel, which units it aside. The ultimate chapter sheds some gentle on the matter, forcing us to re-evaluate sure features of the story. Although The Little Home lacks a robust narrative propulsion, it nonetheless unveils historic features from a curious perspective, and, due to this fact, is essentially price a learn.