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A review by amuroraybans
Seven Japanese Tales by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
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.