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Some Prefer Nettles

By Junichiro Tanizaki
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Some Prefer Nettles by Junichiro Tanizaki explores the dissolution of a marriage between a Westernised couple in 1920s Japan. They navigate their evolving relationship amidst cultural contrasts between modernity and traditional Japanese customs. The book delves into themes of identity, change, and the complexity of personal desires.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you enjoy exploring cultural tensions, as it delves into the clash between traditional and modern values in Japan. With its deep character development and intricate portrayal of a turbulent marriage, it offers a rich and thoughtful experience for readers interested in personal and societal transformation.

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Some Prefer Nettles

The marriage of Kaname and Misako is disintegrating: whilst seeking passion and fulfilment in the arms of others, they contemplate the humiliation of divorce.

A powerful, autobiographical work set in 1920s Tokyo and Osaka

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Some Prefer Nettles is set in Tokyo in the 1920s, capturing a marriage on the brink of disintegration in Tanizaki's gripping novel from 1929.

Kaname's marriage is falling apart. In the shifting societal landscape of 1920s Tokyo, he and his wife, Misako, find themselves in a caricature of a progressive Western marriage. Seeking solace, Kaname indulges in an affair, while turning a blind eye to the possibility of Misako doing the same. However, this precarious arrangement cannot endure.

Misako's father intervenes, attributing their marital troubles to the influence of a new and foreign culture. He attempts to mend the rift by immersing Kaname in the traditional Japanese arts of aesthetic and sensual pleasure. Meanwhile, Kaname's obsession with his father-in-law's mistress continues to grow.

'Chilling...Tanizaki is a master of ambiguity' - The Times

'Tanizaki pulls aside the shoji that screens Japanese home life to eavesdrop on what people are really saying and thinking behind their polite facades' - New York Times

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Some Prefer Nettles by Junichiro Tanizaki is praised for its masterful portrayal of ambiguity and the nuanced flavour of the original language, which is effectively captured in translation. Tanizaki is recognised as one of Japan's prominent writers, revealing the subtleties of Japanese home life and societal facades. The importance of introducing this significant twentieth-century Japanese author to the British audience is highlighted by Anthony Burgess.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780099283379

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 February 2001

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage Classics

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 13.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 199.0mm

Weight: 147g

Pages: 160

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Junichiro Tanizaki Literary Fiction Penguin Books

About the Author

Junichiro Tanizaki was one of Japan's greatest twentienth century novelists. Born in 1886 in Tokyo, his first published work - a one-act play - appeared in 1910 in a literary magazine he helped to found. Tanizaki lived in the cosmopolitan Tokyo area until the earthquake of 1923, when he moved to the Kyoto-Osaka region and became absorbed in Japan's past. All his most important works were written after 1923, among them Some Prefer Nettles (1929), The Secret History of the Lord of Musashi (1935), several modern versions of The Tale of Genji (1941, 1954 and 1965), The Makioka Sisters, The Key (1956) and Diary of a Mad Old Man (1961). He was awarded an Imperial Award for Cultural Merit in 1949 and in 1965 he was elected an honorary member of the American Academy and the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the first Japanese writer to receive this honour. Tanizaki died later that same year.

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