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its_hoella's review
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
nikwui's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
captainfez's review against another edition
4.0
Japanese culture, when compared to what's generally passed off as Western culture, seems to be a little off. That's not a value judgement, but an observation that compared to what Western Canon readers are used to, there's more dissonance, and a willingness to examine topics which (at least in the time Tanizaki was writing) were either not covered in polite society, or were swept under the rug in bowdlerised editions.
It's not the case here. Incest and fetishes, and the annihilation of the self in the service of one's object of desire are the cornerstones of these works. The result is a collection of tales which embrace the uncanny and unusual as well as the traditional, the setting for most of the stories gathered here.
It's easy to see elements of Mishima and Murakami in here: oddity mixed with overpowering desire, and a feeling of dedication to duty. Some stories are short - the shortest (and earliest, from 1910) details a woman forcibly tattooed in a design which reveals her darkest nature, which she embraces. Others, though, are long and are best served by knowing a little of the history of Japanese feudalism, as they're woven from the truth.
Despite their age, these are confronting stories. If you don't like tales of obsessive love - obsessive to the point of self-harm - then you probably won't like these. But if you bypass them you'll miss a look at the discordant parts of nature which seem to be examined so well by Japanese authors, none more accomplished than Tanizaki.
It's not the case here. Incest and fetishes, and the annihilation of the self in the service of one's object of desire are the cornerstones of these works. The result is a collection of tales which embrace the uncanny and unusual as well as the traditional, the setting for most of the stories gathered here.
It's easy to see elements of Mishima and Murakami in here: oddity mixed with overpowering desire, and a feeling of dedication to duty. Some stories are short - the shortest (and earliest, from 1910) details a woman forcibly tattooed in a design which reveals her darkest nature, which she embraces. Others, though, are long and are best served by knowing a little of the history of Japanese feudalism, as they're woven from the truth.
Despite their age, these are confronting stories. If you don't like tales of obsessive love - obsessive to the point of self-harm - then you probably won't like these. But if you bypass them you'll miss a look at the discordant parts of nature which seem to be examined so well by Japanese authors, none more accomplished than Tanizaki.
heniaakbar's review against another edition
2.0
I don't like most of its narrative because it feels too choppy most of the times. I'm into four of these tales and no... Maybe later but for now, just no.
ryuutchi's review against another edition
5.0
Japanese fiction can get a little... odd for someone used to the traditional Western rising-climax-falling-conclusion plot set up. I rarely read Japanese novels for that reason. But Tanizaki is considered a master and father of modern Japanese fiction ("modern" here meaning World War I and II era), so I found a copy of his early short stories. Some of them did get a little long-winded, but Tanizaki has a real talent for narrating the strong and sometimes strange passions of his characters. His preoccupation with the control women have over his male protagonists is an absorbing thread that runs through the stories-- in one a young man's obsession with his mother/stepmother brings him to ruin, in another a tattoo artist's drive to tattoo the most beautiful woman in Gion leads to his destruction by his most beautiful creation, in a third a servant blinds himself so that his mistress will not feel ashamed of a disfigurement. And yet the narration is always calm and measured, even when the emotions of the characters are roiling. This was not a set of easy reads, but they were good.
kamila79's review
3.0
As much as I admire Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s novels and his essay “In Praise of Shadows” (one of my favourite Japanese pieces of writing ever), as much as I think I could have been friends with him and we could have talked for hours and never exhaust the range of topics to discuss, I didn’t enjoy most of his stories in the collection “Seven Japanese Tales”. Five of them bore me, from slightly to terribly, but two stood out.
Many years ago, when I lived in London, I went to the Barbican to watch an amazing play - “Shun-kin”. It was directed by Simon McBurney, played by Japanese actors from Tokyo’s Setagaya Public Theatre and included a puppet of a blind Japanese woman (Shunkin, the shamisen teacher) from Blind Summit. The spectacular combination of the short story “A Portrait of Shunkin” and the essay “In Praise of Shadows”, with beautiful live music, left me mesmerised. I yearned to read the story, on which the play was based.
It is, as most Tanizaki’s stories and novels, a tale of a sado-masochistic, manipulative, bizarre love relationship between a teacher and her pupil, with some not entirely plausible twists and turns. I feel that Tanizaki is best when he describes the dynamics of a relationship between a man and woman, which in his stories - be it the short stories or novels like “Naomi” or “Diary of a Mad Old Man” - is never equal but always includes an element of exploitation, domination and submission.
Another recurring theme of his work is the fascination with the West: fashion, cuisines, lifestyle, leisure pursuits. The second story in this collection which gave me a great pleasure to read, “Aguri”, is a simple tale of a shopping trip to Yokohama of a wealthy man and his young mistress to buy her a Western outfit and free her from “baggy, shapeless, unbecoming kimono”. The man fantasises about the girl dressed in Western clothes: “He would accentuate every curve and hollow, give her body a brilliant surface and lively flowing lines; he would fashion swelling contours, make her wrists, ankles, neck, all strikingly slender and graceful. Really, shopping to enhance the beauty of the woman you love ought to be like a dream come true”.
In the times Tanizaki wrote “Aguri”, Japan was swept by Westernisation and the development of the concept of the so-called ‘modern girl’ - a Japanese woman who preferred everything Western, also embracing features of personality mistakenly taken for Western ones: selfishness, blatant rudeness, frivolity and promiscuity. The fantasy of the metamorphosis of a timid, submissive girl into a sensual, provocative woman drives the male protagonist mad. This excitement, described in the story, of purchasing Western underwear, stockings, a dress, a hat, and shoes and discovering how they transform a young girl into a woman reminded me of my own trip to Tokyo’s department store Isetan with my Japanese friend and buying a yukata with all new and foreign for me accessories to reveal a different me: a woman who walks differently, sits differently, gesticulates differently, even moves her head differently, as the new outfit defines a new way of being. Just as thrilled but somewhat intimidated Aguri listened to the shopkeeper explaining how to fasten a bra or put on stockings, I listened to the explanations on what to do with datejime and obi-ita, and how to tie an obiage. Reading the story made me recall this kind of reverse experience.
Tanizaki is often praised for his subtlety, but I find him quite explicit, even vulgar sometimes in the way he describes emotions, sadistic tendencies of his characters and their actions. There is little elegance in his writing, which I find in Mishima. Overall, besides these two stories, I was quite disappointed and unmoved by the tribulations of his characters and felt Tanizaki’s prose sadly didn’t stand the test of time (the same what I feel with Osamu Dazai and Mori Ōgai).
Many years ago, when I lived in London, I went to the Barbican to watch an amazing play - “Shun-kin”. It was directed by Simon McBurney, played by Japanese actors from Tokyo’s Setagaya Public Theatre and included a puppet of a blind Japanese woman (Shunkin, the shamisen teacher) from Blind Summit. The spectacular combination of the short story “A Portrait of Shunkin” and the essay “In Praise of Shadows”, with beautiful live music, left me mesmerised. I yearned to read the story, on which the play was based.
It is, as most Tanizaki’s stories and novels, a tale of a sado-masochistic, manipulative, bizarre love relationship between a teacher and her pupil, with some not entirely plausible twists and turns. I feel that Tanizaki is best when he describes the dynamics of a relationship between a man and woman, which in his stories - be it the short stories or novels like “Naomi” or “Diary of a Mad Old Man” - is never equal but always includes an element of exploitation, domination and submission.
Another recurring theme of his work is the fascination with the West: fashion, cuisines, lifestyle, leisure pursuits. The second story in this collection which gave me a great pleasure to read, “Aguri”, is a simple tale of a shopping trip to Yokohama of a wealthy man and his young mistress to buy her a Western outfit and free her from “baggy, shapeless, unbecoming kimono”. The man fantasises about the girl dressed in Western clothes: “He would accentuate every curve and hollow, give her body a brilliant surface and lively flowing lines; he would fashion swelling contours, make her wrists, ankles, neck, all strikingly slender and graceful. Really, shopping to enhance the beauty of the woman you love ought to be like a dream come true”.
In the times Tanizaki wrote “Aguri”, Japan was swept by Westernisation and the development of the concept of the so-called ‘modern girl’ - a Japanese woman who preferred everything Western, also embracing features of personality mistakenly taken for Western ones: selfishness, blatant rudeness, frivolity and promiscuity. The fantasy of the metamorphosis of a timid, submissive girl into a sensual, provocative woman drives the male protagonist mad. This excitement, described in the story, of purchasing Western underwear, stockings, a dress, a hat, and shoes and discovering how they transform a young girl into a woman reminded me of my own trip to Tokyo’s department store Isetan with my Japanese friend and buying a yukata with all new and foreign for me accessories to reveal a different me: a woman who walks differently, sits differently, gesticulates differently, even moves her head differently, as the new outfit defines a new way of being. Just as thrilled but somewhat intimidated Aguri listened to the shopkeeper explaining how to fasten a bra or put on stockings, I listened to the explanations on what to do with datejime and obi-ita, and how to tie an obiage. Reading the story made me recall this kind of reverse experience.
Tanizaki is often praised for his subtlety, but I find him quite explicit, even vulgar sometimes in the way he describes emotions, sadistic tendencies of his characters and their actions. There is little elegance in his writing, which I find in Mishima. Overall, besides these two stories, I was quite disappointed and unmoved by the tribulations of his characters and felt Tanizaki’s prose sadly didn’t stand the test of time (the same what I feel with Osamu Dazai and Mori Ōgai).
amuroraybans's review
2.0
2.5*
I’m a huge fan of Tanizaki and even this book demonstrates some of his mastery, but by far this was my least favorite thing of his that I’ve read. The majority of this novel was made up of 3 stories that exceeded 70 pages in length. Each one of them took a good while for me to get adjusted to or really develop into something worth reading. “A Blind Man’s Tale” was an absolute historical drag for the first 80 pages before it turned into something I could connect to in the last ten pages. “Aguri” was basically incomprehensible to read, which was shocking since Tanizaki has always excelled in how he brings to life the simple actions of his characters. “The Thief” was by far my favorite, and the absolute stand out of this collection in my opinion. Contains the point of view of one of Tanizaki most deceptive and fascinating characters I’ve read to date. In the end, while there are flashes of brilliance here, this collection was ultimately a slog to get through.
I’m a huge fan of Tanizaki and even this book demonstrates some of his mastery, but by far this was my least favorite thing of his that I’ve read. The majority of this novel was made up of 3 stories that exceeded 70 pages in length. Each one of them took a good while for me to get adjusted to or really develop into something worth reading. “A Blind Man’s Tale” was an absolute historical drag for the first 80 pages before it turned into something I could connect to in the last ten pages. “Aguri” was basically incomprehensible to read, which was shocking since Tanizaki has always excelled in how he brings to life the simple actions of his characters. “The Thief” was by far my favorite, and the absolute stand out of this collection in my opinion. Contains the point of view of one of Tanizaki most deceptive and fascinating characters I’ve read to date. In the end, while there are flashes of brilliance here, this collection was ultimately a slog to get through.
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