Paulownia: Seven Stories from Contemporary Japanese Writers


Gelesen von Availle

(4.5 stars; 21 reviews)

Paulownia is a collection of seven stories by three Japanese authors from the late 19th and early 20th century.

Mori Ōgai was an army surgeon who was sent to study in Germany, where he developed an interest in Western literature. His most famous work is The Wild Geese (Gan). This collection contains his short stories Takase Bune, Hanako, and The Pier.



Nagai Kafū's writings center mostly around the entertainment districts of Tokyo with their geisha and prostitutes. Here, his stories The bill-collecting and Ukiyo-e are presented.



Shimazaki Tōson was one of the representatives of Japanese naturalism, which we can see in his stories A Domestic Animal and Tsugaru Strait.

Taketomo Torao, the editor and translator of this volume, translated many Western works into Japanese, for example the Rubayat, the Divine Comedy, and works by Shakespeare. He was also a writer in his own right.

(2 hr 25 min)

Kapitel

Foreword and Introduction 13:23 Gelesen von Availle
Takase bune by Mori Ōgai 26:20 Gelesen von Availle
Hanako by Mori Ōgai 14:54 Gelesen von Availle
The pier by Mori Ōgai 12:16 Gelesen von Availle
The bill-collecting by Nagai Kafū 27:23 Gelesen von Availle
Ukiyoe by Nagai Kafū 9:28 Gelesen von Availle
A domestic animal by Shimazaki Tōson 14:18 Gelesen von Availle
Tsugaru Strait by Shimazaki Tōson 27:51 Gelesen von Availle

Bewertungen

Loved it, but be warned there is a recurrent death theme.


(5 stars)


(5 stars)

Beautiful. I enjoyed each and every story. But Yukio-e was beyond all, not just the poem, but the delicacy the narrator was capable of expressing

FINE WORKS


(5 stars)

Listening to these seemed like listening to prose poems. Simplicity, sensitivity, humanness were the adjectives I apply.

A good listen if interested in multi-generation Japanese culture


(3.5 stars)

Interesting tales, thank you for reading


(5 stars)