So begins Stephen Snyder's sublime translation of Yoko Ogawa's 1998 short story collection, originally published in Japan as Kamoku na shigai, Midara na tomurai, and "Afternoon at the Bakery" is an ideal opener. You could gaze at this perfect picture all day-an afternoon bathed in light and comfort-and perhaps never notice a single detail out of place, or missing." (pp.1-2) The mother hurried over to gather the child in her arms. A flock of pigeons burst into the air, and startled a baby who began to cry. A circle of children watched him, entranced. Squeaky sounds could be heard from a man off in the corner, who was twisting balloon animals.
"Families and tourists strolled through the square, enjoying the weekend.
Everything seemed to glimmer with a faint luminescence: the roof of the ice-cream stand, the faucet on the drinking fountain, the eyes of a stray cat, even the base of the clock tower covered with pigeon droppings. Out on the square, leaves fluttered in a gentle breeze along the pavement.
The sky was a cloudless dome of sunlight. Know, though, that there's something very wrong with this picture: Yoko Ogawa's Revenge is a master class in the macabre that will haunt you to the last page.Behold the beauty of the quote below. Murderers and mourners, mothers and children, lovers and innocent bystanders-their fates converge in an ominous and darkly beautiful web. Desire meets with impulse and erupts, attracting the attention of the surgeon's neighbor-who is drawn to a decaying residence that is now home to instruments of human torture. And while the surgeon's jealous lover vows to kill him, a violent envy also stirs in the soul of a lonely craftsman. Elsewhere, an accomplished surgeon is approached by a cabaret singer, whose beautiful appearance belies the grotesque condition of her heart. An aspiring writer moves into a new apartment and discovers that her landlady has murdered her husband. Alan Cheuse, NPR Sinister forces collide-and unite a host of desperate characters-in this eerie cycle of interwoven tales from Yoko Ogawa, the critically acclaimed author of The Housekeeper and the Professor. But this collection may linger in your mind - it does in mine - as a delicious, perplexing, absorbing and somehow singular experience. Ogawa stands on the shoulders of giants, as another saying goes. one may detect a slight bow to the American macabre of E.A. It's not just Murakami but also the shadow of Borges that hovers over this mesmerizing book.
0 kommentar(er)
