The factory / by Hiroko Oyamada ; translated by David Boyd.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Oyamada, Hiroko, 1983- author.

Contributor:

Boyd, David (David G.), translator.

Series:

New Directions paperbook ; 1460.

New Directions paperbook ; 1460

Standardized Title:

Kōjō. English

Language:

English

Japanese

Subjects (All):

Factories--Employees--Fiction.

Factories.

Industrial relations--Fiction.

Industrial relations.

Hallucinations and illusions--Fiction.

Hallucinations and illusions.

Factories--Employees.

Japan--Fiction.

Japan.

Genre:

Fiction.

Psychological fiction.

Satirical literature.

Physical Description:

116 pages ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : New Direction Books, [2019]

Language Note:

Translated from the Japanese.

Summary:

In an unnamed Japanese city, three seemingly normal and unrelated characters find work at a sprawling industrial factory. They each focus intently on their specific jobs: one studies moss, one shreds paper, and the other proofreads incomprehensible documents. Life in the factory has its own logic and momentum, and, eventually, the factory slowly expands and begins to take over everything, enveloping these poor workers. The very margins of reality seem to be dissolving: all forms of life capriciously evolve, strange creatures begin to appear. After a while, it could be weeks or years, the workers don't even have the ability to ask themselves: where does the factory end and the rest of the world begin? Told in three alternating first-person narratives, The Factory casts a vivid--if sometimes surreal--portrait of the absurdity and meaninglessness of modern life. With hints of Kafka and unexpected moments of creeping humor, Hiroko Oyamada is one of the boldest writers of her generation.

Notes:

"Originally published in 2013 as Kojo by Shinchosha Publishing Co., Tokyo"--Title page verso.

Related Work:

Translation of: Oyamada, Hiroko, 1983- Kōjō. English

ISBN:

9780811228855

0811228851

OCLC:

1100424643

Publisher Number:

99982502163