By Junichiro Tanizaki, Anthony H. Chambers
From a jap grasp of romantic and sexual obsession come novels that deal with conventional subject matters with sly wit and startling mental sophistication. In The mystery heritage of the Lord of Musashi, Junichir Tanizaki reimagines the exploits of a mythical samurai as a sadomasochistic dance among the hero and the spouse of his enemy. Arrowroot, though set within the 20th century, perspectives an grownup orphan’s look for his mother’s prior throughout the translucent shoji screen of old literature and fantasy.
Both works are replete with surprising juxtapositions. Severed heads turn into gadgets of erotic fixation. Foxes tackle human form. An aristocratic woman loves and pities the guy she is conspiring to damage. This supple translation unearths the whole scope of Tanizaki’s reward: his convinced storytelling, luminous aspect, and astonishingly very important woman characters.