Batı Politikasının Ahlaksızlığı itibaren Boğaziçi Yayınları içinde LIT biçim

Fresh Solutions _reshsolutions — Born in 1935, Takashi Atoda became one of the most important Japanese writers of his generation. He published over forty short story collections and garnered several literary prizes. And yet his name is little known outside of Japan. Perhaps one reason why Atoda has not gained an international following is that his writings are very Japanese. The eleven short stories that comprise this collection are intensely lyrical, balancing realistic details with subtle symbolism. They demonstrate a staggering sensitivity towards nature and human relationships; and in the realm of emotions the author prefers to understate rather than describe. I have given the book five stars not because I liked all of the stories (I didn’t) but because the stories have continued to haunt me over the years. That I cannot shake them off confirms what I suspected all along: Takashi Atoda is a master of the short story. Takashi Atoda’s stories are imbued with a nostalgia that becomes addictive with each successive reading; a nostalgia bordering on sadness at the impermanence of all things. Often in his stories the past seems to overwhelm the present, and this is achieved by means of flashback as a narrative technique. Now, the flashback device can be a powerful narrative tool, but it can just as easily turn against its user. I have never known a short story writer who used this technique as often as Takashi Atoda without falling into sentimentality. And another notable characteristic of his stories is the way that fantasy and mystery gradually weave their way into everyday events. Often at the end of an Atoda story one is forced to admit that reality has been ruptured, but it is hard to say exactly when one slipped into a dream. But there is one other characteristic of Atoda’s stories that deserves special mention, and it is that objects are as important as persons. In the story “The Mongolian Spot”, Ryosuke, while preparing for his mother’s funeral, discovers a purple pouch with a dagger. But the knife survives cremation and falls to the floor with a resolute clatter. In “The Destiny of Shoes”, the young woman Ayako discovers (too late) that the beautiful blue Casadeis shoes she has been wearing have a will of their own; and it is their will that she should squander her youth on a married man. In “Night Flight”, Nishiwaki is visited every night by the perfume that his lover, now deceased, used to wear. And in “The Square Persimmon” a teacake and falling leaves evoke a mysterious presence from the past. I cannot guarantee that you will like all of the stories in this collection. But I can promise that each and every story has been beautifully crafted, and that two or three of these gems will linger in your memory for a long time to come.

Shana Zucker szucker — 'varieties' is accurate in that she has several techniques, vaguely constellated around her interests (of translation and epistemology, of 'deep ideas' of self). she's a great bridge to the Modernists... she's thinking about them--Kafka, Proust, Beckett, Woolf--throughout, but we hear her thinking in a very contemporary language, one that is constructed and fragmented *from* modernism, a cento of modernism. relatedly: she's a good mimic. beyond this also, she's several of her own styles. the short shorts that worked best for me were those that point to that one vaguely has experienced but has never been able to articulate--and so come with an a-ha! ...some however were confounding and i wonder that in these absolutely crucibled forms (the FF) if authors are forced to use personal or limited connotations of language that simply don't 'mean' for everyone, and thereby necessarily create (unintentionally?) obtuse texts... "The walk" is so far my favorite. at first glance seems a very traditional story--about two people, a proust translator and a proust critic, taking a proustian walk--but reveals itself to be self-commenting, creating a neat and mirrored world (which in itself is an act which comments on proust's architecture of the two ways). also a beautiful style, wistful. other longer ones are exhausting and exhaustive thought experiments, some by their exhausting function are similar in their ambitions to sorrentino's use of the exhaustive list... by her carefully chosen and paced varieties, she satisfyingly obliterates the dichotomy of show and tell. "Enlightened," in entirety: I don’t know if I can remain friends with her. I’ve thought and thought about it - she’ll never know how much. I gave it one last try: I called her, after a year. But I didn’t like the way the conversation went. The problem is that she is not very enlightened. Or I should say, she is not enlightened enough for me. She is nearly fifty years old and no more enlightened, as far as I can see, than when I knew her twenty years ago, when we talked mainly about men. I did not mind how unenlightened she was then, maybe because I was not so enlightened myself. I believe I am more enlightened now, and certainly more enlightened than she is, although I know it’s not very enlightened to say that. But I want to say it, so I am willing to postpone being more enlightened myself so that I can still say a thing like that about a friend.

Cody Abshire _ydro_ippie — A good time too read this is in the winter and around Christmas time. You actually feel like your the person in the book Itss Greatt =) Lovee itt =]

Fabio Rosa amulettod7f1 — Part of the Atlantis series by Showalter. As the second in the series I would rank this second in order of enjoyment as well. I would recommend the Nymph King first.

Rob Lambert rob721e — THIS WAS FANTASTIC. In the top five books I've ever read. I need to go back and knock everything else on here down a star. I've been listening to alan watts' lectures since I was 17 and, still, this book blew me away with wit and clarity. Not for everybody, though. If you are interested in the crossover between eastern psychology/religion and western christianity/judaism, read this book. If you like Heidegger or like making fun of Sartre, read this book. If you practice Vedanta-oriented ANYTHING, read this book. If you meditate and don't quite get why it's not 'working', read this book. If you're really closed minded about all religion and metaphysics, don't bother.