The Gate

This is a wonderful book. How can it be out of print? Go to your library. This is a story of a childless couple who have come down in the world. They live in a kind of self imposed isolation because they feel they have been defiled. I suppose the defilement came from when they were first in love and maybe she had been involved with someone else at the time. I don't know why they feel so defiled. I've come across this theme in other Japanese novels. It seems like once you are defiled there isn't any chance for redemption. The story is about their life together. They have money problems, the man can't afford a new pair of shoes and the ones he has have holes in them and his feet get wet when it rains. The man is worried about his job. One of his teeth is going bad.The woman has her worries too and feels she is cursed and so she can't have any children. Despite their sad life they are deeply in love and share an understanding with each other that most people know nothing of. When the person they feel they have wronged shows up, the man decides to go to a Buddhist monastery to find out where he's gone wrong in life. He has a terrible struggle with his search for the truth and feels as if he is standing at "The Gate". In the end though he feels he was unable to pass through the gate and gives up in despair. He goes back to his old life not much changed and resigned to his life.Its not a complicated story but in the simplicity there is a piercing beauty. In all the ordinary things that worry them and their shabby life there is such a feeling of longing. I totally recommend this book. Everyone should read it. Its one of my top ten favorites.