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Paperback A Personal Matter Book

ISBN: 0802150616

ISBN13: 9780802150615

個人的な体験 [Kojinteki na Taiken]

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Format: Paperback

Condition: Very Good

$6.19
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Book Overview

Kenzaburo Oe, the winner of the 1994 Nobel Prize for Literature, is internationally acclaimed as one of the most important and influential post-World War II writers, known for his powerful accounts of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and his own struggle to come to terms with a mentally handicapped son. The Swedish Academy lauded Oe for his "poetic force that] creates an imagined world where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today." His most popular book, A Personal Matter is the story of Bird, a frustrated intellectual in a failing marriage whose Utopian dream is shattered when his wife gives birth to a brain-damaged child. "In writing novels there is no substitute for maturity and moral awareness. Kenzaburo Oe has both."--Alan Levensohn, Christian Science Monitor This description may be from another edition of this product.
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Customer Reviews

6 customer ratings | 5 reviews

Rated 5 stars
A Harrowing Tale About Personal Choices

Nobel prize-winning novelist Kenzaburo Oe's best known book is a remarkable and intimate journey through the maze of ethics, fatherhood, and responsibility. The protagonist Bird is a dreamer; he dreams of going to Africa, of undemanding love, of a perfect son - none of which are within his grasp. His child is born with a herniated brain, and his wife's obstetrician is already talking excitedly about an autopsy as the baby,...

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Rated 5 stars
a beautifully vivid portrait of a man in crisis

A Personal Matter is a powerful, engrossing read. The language (in English translation), the connections, the descriptions, and the characterizations are taut and satisfying. With the exception of a few scenes and transitions which are palpably less crisp than others, the story sparks with brilliance and urgency. Oe neither shades his protagonist from the blinding light of reality and human dilemma nor indulges in superfluous...

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Rated 5 stars
*thump*

Oh my, but this book is not light reading. Don't let its deceptive slimness fool you - every page is somewhat similar to being smashed in the head with a shovel. After reading Oe's description of Tokyo, you will no longer be afraid of Hell. Were this book converted into a movie, every single set of this movie would be coloured in dark shades of brown, and it would be raining in every single scene. This hellish vision makes...

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Rated 5 stars
this is reality!

My impression is that many readers are missing a major point here! Like Oe, I am also the parent of a severely handicapped child (who is now an adult). Different people react to the unexpected, shocking and profound experience of the birth of a handicapped child in different ways, but it is not easy for anyone. Reader, if this ever happens to you, you probably won't go through exactly what the protagonist goes through or...

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Rated 5 stars
a great novel

Japan has lost the power to connect the principle or theory and reality. I think literature's value is in making those connections. That's the mission of literature. Morals are significant. -Kenzaburo Oe Kenzaburo Oe is probably the most highly regarded of Japan's post-war novelists and A Personal Matter is certainly his best known book. It is the harrowing, semi-autobiographical story of a parent's worst...

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