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A review by ukhatiwara
The Changeling by Kenzaburō Ōe
4.0
A slow, reflective, and often meandering but consistently beautiful read. A lot of the plot elements are apparently autobiographical, and Oe mixes fact with fiction to deliver a wistful tale of a man in his sixties looking back at his life in the wake of his best friend's suicide, replete with his musings on art, politics, individualism, and sexuality.
A highly intertextual book, Oe takes us through, among others and off the top of my head, the works of Arthur Rimbaud, Frida Kahlo, Mozart, and even Maurice Sendak to make his point. He then goes further and assigns authorship of his own past works to Kogito, the protagonist, and references them frequently. The result is an honest, emotionally complex, very resonant work infused with a heavy dose of that sublime sadness the Japanese seem to be so good at conveying.
I could find a point or two to quibble about regarding the translation, but while the awkward bits were noticeable, they did not detract from my enjoyment of the book, so I'll let them pass.
And I have to mention that the hardcover design is simply gorgeous, with all the yellowed leaves on the translucent dust jacket that line up perfectly over the barren trees on the cardboard inside. That's definitely the edition to buy if you intend to keep it.
A highly intertextual book, Oe takes us through, among others and off the top of my head, the works of Arthur Rimbaud, Frida Kahlo, Mozart, and even Maurice Sendak to make his point. He then goes further and assigns authorship of his own past works to Kogito, the protagonist, and references them frequently. The result is an honest, emotionally complex, very resonant work infused with a heavy dose of that sublime sadness the Japanese seem to be so good at conveying.
I could find a point or two to quibble about regarding the translation, but while the awkward bits were noticeable, they did not detract from my enjoyment of the book, so I'll let them pass.
And I have to mention that the hardcover design is simply gorgeous, with all the yellowed leaves on the translucent dust jacket that line up perfectly over the barren trees on the cardboard inside. That's definitely the edition to buy if you intend to keep it.