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metalhead666's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Very similar to other books I have read like this like memoirs of a geisha and wild swans, even though I know that book is Chinese. But in terms of stronghold oppression over women it still holds up very similar.
It shows the constraints that these women had to deal with in their lives with no way out or no alternative available to them and how they have to live in this twisted and complicated dichotomy that they are forced into, in this instance, at the hand of 1 individual man who hold reigns over all the female characters in this novel.
It shows the constraints that these women had to deal with in their lives with no way out or no alternative available to them and how they have to live in this twisted and complicated dichotomy that they are forced into, in this instance, at the hand of 1 individual man who hold reigns over all the female characters in this novel.
biolexicon's review against another edition
2.0
This book fell flat, it wasn't as psychologically round as I expected.
quizlitbooks's review against another edition
4.0
In the late nineteenth century, Tomo, the faithful wife of a government official, is sent to Tokyo, where a heartbreaking task is awaiting her. From among hundreds of geishas and daughters offered up for sale by their families she must select a respectable young girl to become her husband’s new lover. Externally calm, but torn apart inside, Tomo dutifully begins the search for an official mistress.
Fumiko Enchi took eight years to complete this novel and it won Japan’s top literary Noma prize. Rightly it has earned the reputation as one of the most penetrating studies of female psychology to appear in postwar Japan.
More classic Japanese novels
https://quizlit.org/10-best-classic-japanese-novels
Fumiko Enchi took eight years to complete this novel and it won Japan’s top literary Noma prize. Rightly it has earned the reputation as one of the most penetrating studies of female psychology to appear in postwar Japan.
More classic Japanese novels
https://quizlit.org/10-best-classic-japanese-novels
polyphonic_reads's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
purplegems3's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
chairmanbernanke's review against another edition
4.0
An incredible book on human relationships and the passing of our years.
natasha29singh's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely exquisite. The realism with which the psychological portraits of the family are sketched is incredible, and despite the fact it only really traces the journey of a household over some years, it manages to keep you so fully engrossed. What shines is her characterization of Tomo and the other women. The ending is bitter, but the beautiful, lucid, delicate prose does it justice.
leafyleafy's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
zmorgason's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Flowers languish in the dark. Deprived of radiant warmth, unable to disentangle their roots from the poisoned soil, they grow pale and misshapen, malnourished and malcontent. They are haunted by the sun's absence; they are tormented by its existence. In Fumiko Enchi's first novel translated into the English language, she unfolds the twisted dynamics of the Shirakawa clan with a floriculturist's delicate touch. An aristocratic fascist sends his dutiful bride to select for him an underage concubine—a fresh bud so underdeveloped she has not known her first blood before she is indentured to his servitude. Though her marital bed grows frightfully cold, her heart bitter with envy, with malice, and with self-loathing, the matriarch doesn't waver. But in the proceeding years, one teenage mistress becomes two, and then three—all legal daughters to the family's lord and despot.
Enchi approaches this gnarled up set of circumstances with absolute empathy, with acute understanding of how each act impacts every player, even if it takes a decade or more for the bruises to appear on the flesh. Tomo envies the young mistresses their beauty; they envy her disciplined leadership and dignity. But beauty fades, and dignity lies in the eye of the beholder. Among these circumstances, ripe fruit just rots in your mouth, all your virtues are fermented and pulped. The grounds' caretaker shakes plums from the trees and bottles them in jars. From inside the glass, we learn the fortitude it takes to breathe vinegar and exhale your own sweetness for no reward but to be consumed. Or left on the shelf to gather dust. In this spider's web, the only freedom is in leaving, or death. Out in that cold world, you may lack for the earthly comforts of the family domain, but the bittersweet flavor of liberty is better than the acid taste of pickled affection.
Enchi approaches this gnarled up set of circumstances with absolute empathy, with acute understanding of how each act impacts every player, even if it takes a decade or more for the bruises to appear on the flesh. Tomo envies the young mistresses their beauty; they envy her disciplined leadership and dignity. But beauty fades, and dignity lies in the eye of the beholder. Among these circumstances, ripe fruit just rots in your mouth, all your virtues are fermented and pulped. The grounds' caretaker shakes plums from the trees and bottles them in jars. From inside the glass, we learn the fortitude it takes to breathe vinegar and exhale your own sweetness for no reward but to be consumed. Or left on the shelf to gather dust. In this spider's web, the only freedom is in leaving, or death. Out in that cold world, you may lack for the earthly comforts of the family domain, but the bittersweet flavor of liberty is better than the acid taste of pickled affection.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment and Adult/minor relationship
In this story, the patriarch of the family takes on multiple teenage concubines, and the novel focuses on the many emotional distresses of his wife and his mistresses. Men are pigs!