Seven Japanese Tales
Seven Japanese Tales is the second book that I have to read for my ASIA2670 class. Medyo battered na ‘yung kopya ko kasi naiipit sa loob ng bag at nagugulo. Anyhow.
I haven’t finished reading everything in this book since my class was required to read only three (”Shunkinsho”, “Shisei” and “Aoi Hana”) tales, but I definitely love this book. I find Tanizaki Jun’ichiro’s writing really compelling and “graphic” and well, I like authors like that. Despite of the “perversed scenes” that one might encounter in some (if not all) of his stories, Seven Japanese Tales is still a good read.
Yung “Shunkinsho” (A Portrait of Shunkin) parang nakakainis siya, pero gusto ko pa rin siya. This is the reason why I like the story. Tanizaki made the female protagonist (Shunkin) lovable and annoying at the same time. Her attitude just pierced my skin and I hated her for it, but I still like her just the same. Si Sasuke, puwede na siyang patayuan ng rebulto sa kamartiran niya.
“Shisei” (The Tattooer) is so far my favorite story in this collection. It’s graphic, it’s sensual, it’s deadly. I just saw on IMDB na may movie version pala ‘to. I wanna see how it turned out because this tale really hit the omph spot. Astig.
“Aoi Hana” (Aguri) is a confusing tale. Didn’t really appreciate it at first, but I find the man’s desire (to be killed by his mistress Aguri) to be really really absurd and silly.
Angela Solis grew up in the Philippines before moving in to Canada in 2003. She became a Canadian in 2006. Angela is 22 years old and an alumna of University of Manitoba with a degree in Psychology. She has been blogging since 2002. She maintains a 