{"product_id":"the-traitor-by-kobo-abe-9780231212953","title":"The Traitor","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn postwar Japan, a writer meets a small-town innkeeper who is obsessed with a tale from the nineteenth century. He relates the saga of Enomoto Takeaki, an admiral in the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate who regained authority under the Meiji government. A former member of imperial Japan's military police, the innkeeper dwells on the question of loyalty even as he struggles with his responsibility for the arrest and murder of his brother-in-law during the war. Later, he sends the writer a mysterious manuscript purporting to be the account of a peddler turned samurai whom Enomoto betrayed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePart historical fiction, part detective story, \u003ci\u003eThe Traitor\u003c\/i\u003e is a remarkable novel about navigating changing political landscapes by one of the most significant modern Japanese writers. In his only historical novel, Abe Kōbō turns to a pivotal moment in Japan's past to explore profound questions about the nature of loyalty and the choices that people must make when they encounter forces beyond their control or understanding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePublished in 1964, when a new generation had begun asking their parents about the war, Abe's tale of betrayal sparked controversy across the political spectrum. The great writer's most important previously untranslated novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Traitor\u003c\/i\u003e displays Abe's literary mastery from a new angle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47307373510892,"sku":"9780231212953","price":49.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/8186233482270.jpg?v=1771074206","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/the-traitor-by-kobo-abe-9780231212953","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}