The wasteland / Takako Takahashi ; translated with an introduction by Britten Dean.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Takahashi, Takako, 1932-2013, author.

Contributor:

Dean, Britten, translator.

Series:

Cornell East Asia series ; 200.

Cornell East Asia Series ; 200

Standardized Title:

Arano English

Language:

English

Japanese

Subjects (All):

Man-woman relationships--Japan--Fiction.

Man-woman relationships.

Japan.

Genre:

Fiction.

Physical Description:

xxi, 211 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, New York : Cornell University East Asia Program, 2019.

Summary:

"The Wasteland explores the psychology of the modern Japanese woman and her urge to realize an inner self of latent sexuality, long suppressed in Japan's male-dominated society. Nobe Michiko, the novel's narcissistic protagonist, leaves ruined lives in her wake as she pursues her lustful goals. The author, Takahashi Takako (1932 - 2013) earned bachelor's and master's degrees in French literature at prestigious Kyoto University, a remarkable achievement for a woman in the 1950s. There, she was influenced by the decadent poetry of Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) and the writings of novelist and Catholic apologist François Mauriac (1885-1970). Christianity and depravity characterize both The Wasteland and many of Takahashi's other works. The novel was first published in 1980 at a time of explosive Japanese economic growth which, in Takahashi's view, had created in Tokyo a wasteland of immorality and inhumanity. Yet it is a Christian novel, for the author was a devout Roman Catholic (indeed a one-time nun), and the title page epigraph from the Old Testament book of "Hosea" unmistakably mantles the narrative in a religious message--God is here to help if the wayward would but listen. But, do they listen?"--Publisher's website.

Notes:

"Arano (The Wasteland) was first published in 1980. The edition used for this translation was published by Kawade Shobō Shinsha, Tokyom 1984"--page xix.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9781939161109

193916110X

9781939161000

1939161002

OCLC:

1102468653