Bøger af Kenzaburo Oe

Japanese Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe's most important novel.

Japan na kraju Drugog svetskog rata. Ranjeni americki pilot pada u zabaceno planinsko selo, seljani ga hvataju, a o njemu brinu seoska deca. Crni Amerikanac postaje ljubimac dece u selu, oni se zblizavaju sa njim, ali, posle nesporazuma, pilot kidnapuje decaka - glavnog junaka, a decakov otac ubija crnca. Potresna prica o tragicnosti rata u do sada nepoznatom miljeu siromasnog japanskog sela. Kenzaburo Oe je dobio Nobelovu nagradu za knjizevnost 1994. godine, a za novelu "Lovina" je u ranoj mladosti dobio najvecu japansku knjizevnu nagradu "Akutagava."

"A Quiet Life" is narrated by Ma-chan, a young woman who at the age of 20 gets caught up in an unusual family situation. Her father is a famous novelist; her older brother is brain-damaged but possesses a gift for music; and her mother's life is devoted to caring for them both. When her father is offered a visiting professorship in an American university, Ma-chan finds herself at the center of family relationships that she must begin to redefine.

Hiroshima Notes is a powerful statement on the Hiroshima bombing and its terrible legacy by the 1994 Nobel laureate for literature. Oe's account of the lives of the many victims of Hiroshima and the valiant efforts of those who cared for them, both immediately after the atomic blast and in the years that follow, reveals the horrific extent of the devastation. It is a heartrending portrait of a ravaged city -- the "human face" in the midst of nuclear destruction.

To mark the 1985 fortieth anniversary of the A-bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the distinguished members of the Japan P.E.N. Center -- led by Kenzaburo Oe -- planned and Readers International helped issue this first ever collection in English showing the tragedy of the A-bombs seen through Japanese eyes. Now it is the 75th anniversary of the same catastrophic events, and the state of world tensions today demands a re-issue of this classic volume so that a new generation of readers can experience first hand those tragic events and imagine their consequences in Japanese society for generations after. The classic stories are here, The Crazy Iris by Masuji Ibuse (masterfully translated by Ivan Morris), as well as the works by Tamiki Hara, Summer Flowers and The Land of Heart's Desire. They were censored under the post-war American occupation, but today are familiar to every Japanese schoolchild. The volume also showcases important Japanese women writers of several generations like Yoko Ota, Ineko Sata, Kyoko Hayashi and Hiroko Takenishi. Their stories touch on the especially bitter curse for women who were exposed to the radiation as young girls, then were rejected by a traditional society because of their infertility. These stories bring us the gift of great fiction -- they allow us to engage deeply with the past, but also to imagine its consequences in an uncertain future.

Oe introduces Kogito Choko, a writer in his early sixties, as he rekindles a childhood friendship with his estranged brother-in-law, the renowned filmmaker Goro Hanawa. Goro sends Kogito a trunk of tapes he has recorded of reflections about their friendship, but as Kogito is listening one night, he hears something odd. "e;I'm going to head over to the Other Side now,"e; Goro says, and then Kogito hears a loud thud. After a moment of silence, Goro's voice continues: "e;But don't worry, I'm not going to stop communicating with you."e; Moments later, Kogito's wife rushes in; Goro has jumped to his death. With that, Kogito begins a far-ranging search to understand what drove his brother-in-law to suicide. His quest takes him from the forests of southern Japan to the washed-out streets of Berlin, where Kogito confronts the ghosts from his own past and that of his lifelong, but departed, friend.

Kenzaburo Oe is internationally recognized as one of the world's finest writers, and his achievements have received the Nobel Prize for Literature. "Somersault, the first new novel he published since winning the Nobel, departs radically from the autobiographical fiction he was known for, in a magnificent story of the charisma of leaders, the danger of zealotry, and the mystery of faith. A decade before the story opens, two men referred to as the Patron and Guide of mankind were leaders of an influential religious movement that fell apart when a group of their more radical followers plotted an act of terrorism. Now, after ten years of silence, they are ready to return to religious leadership--but old, new, and unexpected problems threaten them. As planning proceeds for the summer conference that will launch the new church in the eyes of the world, conflicts between various factions threaten to make a mockery of the church's unity--or something far more dangerous. "Somersault is an astonishing achievement that again confirms Kenzaburo Oe's place among the world's most respected writers, even as it takes his body of work in fresh and fertile directions.

A remarkable portrait of the inexpressible bond between a famous writer and his cipher of a son, this magnificent novel of startling candor is from a Nobel Prize-winning Japanese master. As the man struggles to understand his family, he must evaluate himself as he deals with parenting a disabled child.

This novel offers a contemporary and explosive picture of the nuclear family, which pivots on the bizarre odyssey of a Japanese father and son.