From Japan's first Nobel laureate for literature, three superb stories exploring the interplay between erotic fantasy and reality in a loner's mind.
"He was not to do anything in bad taste, the woman of the house warned old Eguchi. He was not to put his finger into the mouth of the sleeping girl, or try anything else of that sort." With his promise to abide by the rules, Eguchi begins his life as a member of a secret club for elderly gentlemen who have lost their sexual powers. At an inn several hours from Tokyo they indulge in their last pleasure: lying with beautiful young girls who are sleeping nude when the men arrive. As "House of the Sleeping Beauties" unfolds in Kawabata's subtle prose, the horrified reader comes to see that the sexual excitement is a result not of rejuvenescence, but of a flirtation with death.
The three stories presented in this volume all center upon a lonely protagonist and his peculiar eroticism. In each, the author explores the interplay of fantasy and reality at work on a mind in solitude-in "House of the Sleeping Beauties," the elderly Eguchi and his clandestine trips to his club; in "One Arm," the bizarre dialogue of a man with the arm of a young girl; in "Of Birds and Beasts," a middle-aged man's memories of an affair with a dancer mingled with glimpses of his abnormal attachment to his pets.
All of these stories appear in English for the first time outside of Japan. "Of Birds and Beasts," written in the early 1930's, is one of Kawabata's earlier works, while "One Arm" and "House of the Sleeping Beauties," the latter hailed by novelist Yukio Mishima as the best of Kawabata's works, are among his later works.
發表於2024-12-23
House of the Sleeping Beauties 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載
圖書標籤: 川端康成 小說 西班牙語 短篇集 日本文學 日本 外國文學 Kawabata
Depressing ecstacy
評分補檔
評分a lovely gift 老年川端的奇想錄
評分一個奇怪的故事:Eguchi是個67歲的老人,故事就是描述他先後五次去一傢秘密的妓院過夜,這傢妓院不同的是睡在妓館裏的美人,服瞭藥,處於昏迷狀態,夜裏發生瞭什麼事,全然不知道。第二天早上,老人走後,她們纔會蘇醒過來。主題充滿瞭死亡,生命,性,迴憶等等。整部作品洋溢著頹廢的死亡氣息
評分一個奇怪的故事:Eguchi是個67歲的老人,故事就是描述他先後五次去一傢秘密的妓院過夜,這傢妓院不同的是睡在妓館裏的美人,服瞭藥,處於昏迷狀態,夜裏發生瞭什麼事,全然不知道。第二天早上,老人走後,她們纔會蘇醒過來。主題充滿瞭死亡,生命,性,迴憶等等。整部作品洋溢著頹廢的死亡氣息
House of the Sleeping Beauties 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載