Three Brothers: Memories of My Family
by Yan Lianke
Translated from the Chinese by Carlos Rojas
by Yan Lianke
Translated from the Chinese by Carlos Rojas
Friday, December 20, 2019
Coming Soon...
Flight from the USSR
by Dato Turashvili
Translated from the Georgian by Maya Kiasashvili
by Dato Turashvili
Translated from the Georgian by Maya Kiasashvili
... In the Time of Peace
In the rule of the great Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa, in Edo period (1600-1868), peace and
stability has flourished. The domains are held by feudal lords and one of them
is the young Lord Asunaro’s father, and his authority, with the help of
retainers, seems running admirably. However, he is troubled when it comes to assuring
a successor for his lordship; young Asunaro being an unlikely candidate because
of his unruly behavior and disinterest to adhere to the ways for a future
lordship. Young Lord Asunaro takes residence in the West Castle of the domain,
where arrangements are made for his education and developing skills under tutors
– who have hard time1 teaching him something.
1.
‘But you understand that it does not improve
your progress towards attaining the lordship someday soon of you go on
cancelling lesson after lesson like this.’
‘Huh. What earthly use are those things
anyway? Are you trying to tell me that I’ll get to Daddy’s position in life
just by reading and hearing stuff? Don’t be ridiculous.’
Grown tired of the predicable everyday
rituals in the castle, Lord Asunaro ventures out one day, outwitting the ladies-in-waiting
to meet a group of girls and comes to the conclusion – that his world inside
castle-walls is lowly. In the midst of all this, among the aristocracy and
lower ranks2, the interest has shifted from military to literary,
calligraphic and mathematical skills, owing to the fact that fighting skills
are not much needed now. While the retainers and samurai from the times before
are finding it hard to embrace the quiet – privilege and luxuries are cut off –
Lord Asunaro finds it lackluster to prepare for the lordship.
2. In
any other country, it would be unsurprising if the emperor and his aristocrats,
incapable as they were of gripping anything but chopsticks or a writing brush,
were sooner or later exterminated and the nation seized; the fact that this
didn’t happen in Japan was because… despite their military power these people
felt a deep admiration for the cultured aristocratic world of the capital, and
a yearning to learn its elegant ways.
A blend of historical facts and figures
portrayed in the light of an extraordinary time in Japanese history, in which
transformation from war to peace opened up new ways of life among the aristocracy,
The Chronicles of Lord Asunaro,
establishes an anti-hero, who against all odds relished his life and times
feeling no urgency to glorify himself in the historical tome. Though small in
development, a father-son tension in the ruling class, and a glimpse into the
private life of the feudal lords, makes this a supplementary work in
understanding the inner world of the Japanese rulers, different from those
found in the clamor of swords and battles.
After a maiden gives Lord Asunaro
a poem before disappearing, he is so unsettled, unable to reply her in poetry, he
dedicates himself to learning to write poems. However, his curiosity and whims
are not limited to this: instructors, food-tasters and scholars suffer because
of his inordinate ways of trying things and making fun, and he scares the wits
out of them. Restless and grief-stricken Lord Asunaro, after exchanging poems
with the Maiden he couldn’t forget, submerges himself in his new ‘penchant’ for
promiscuity.
With his taste growing in poetry
and literature, Lord Asunaro remains at his West castle even after his father dies
and brings in lavish lifestyle, décor and even women from the capital to the
castle, to fulfill his unrestrained passion for aesthetics and pleasure. Over
time, his ‘penchant’ bears him as many as 70 children, overcrowding the castle
with his look-alikes. The narrator concludes by putting forward a historical
and literary streak with a comic and satirical tone, which extrapolate Lord
Asunaro from a feudal lord to a normal man who lived his life amongst riches,
leisure and with no need to wage war.
The Chronicles of Lord Asunaro is a tale of Japanese history in which
warriors turned into privileged aristocrats and of a feudal lord who found new meaning
and ways to live, in contrast to the
bravery-laden warlords, in the leisure obtained from peace and luxury received
as an inheritance – much resembling our generation.
Author: Kanji Hanawa
Translator: Meredith McKinney
Author's Photo Credit: https://www.redcircleauthors.com/our-authors/kanji-hanawa/
Review Copy Courtesy: Red Circle Authors
Coming Soon...
The Refugees’ Daughter
by Takuji Ichikawa
Translated from the Japanese by Emily Balistrieri
by Takuji Ichikawa
Translated from the Japanese by Emily Balistrieri
