false 251160 6 Writing a novel after having won a Nobel Prize for Literature must be even more daunting than trying to follow a brilliant, bestselling debut. In <I>Somersault</I> (the title refers to an abrupt, public renunciation of the past), Kenzaburo Oe has himself leapt in a new direction, rolling away from the slim, semi-autobiographical novel that garnered the 1994 Nobel Prize (<I>A Personal Matter</I>) and toward this lengthy, involved account of a Japanese religious movement. Although it opens with the perky and almost picaresque accidental deflowering of a young ballerina with an architectural model, <I>Somersault</I> is no laugh riot. Oe's slow, deliberate pace sets the tone for an unusual exploration of faith, spiritual searching, group dynamics, and exploitation. His lavish, sometimes indiscriminate use of detail can be maddening, but it also lends itself to his sobering subject matter, as well as to some of the most beautiful, realistic sex scenes a reader is likely to encounter. <I>--Regina Marler</I> 1338660 1999 Somersault total:64|5:11|4:16|3:17|2:16|1:4| 64 206 126 11 5 2 false false Mon Nov 19 21:41:18 -0800 2007 Sat Jul 28 15:20:59 -0700 2007 Mon Nov 19 21:39:10 -0800 2007 more...]]> 1 1 false false Mon Nov 10 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 17 16:38:26 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 17 16:39:23 -0800 2008 A Personal Matter, but I couldn't read more than about 20 pages of this.]]> 3 0 false false Sun Aug 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 09:33:45 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 10:06:46 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Jul 10 07:15:53 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 10 07:15:57 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 15:42:48 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 16:32:55 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 03 06:51:22 -0800 2008 Sat Aug 09 20:49:31 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Wed May 30 00:55:18 -0700 2007 Wed May 30 01:11:10 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Nov 04 17:45:45 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 04 17:47:14 -0800 2007 0 0 false false Thu Jun 14 11:40:45 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 14 11:41:17 -0700 2007 2 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 17 22:10:07 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 17 22:11:10 -0800 2008 ]]> 0 0 false false Fri Nov 30 17:36:57 -0800 2007 Fri Nov 30 17:37:17 -0800 2007 0 0 true false Wed Nov 04 08:41:17 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 04 08:41:31 -0800 2009 2 0 false false Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Sat Oct 31 14:44:52 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 31 14:44:52 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 14 20:43:46 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 20:43:55 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu Oct 01 18:44:07 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 18:44:15 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Sep 27 21:56:45 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 27 21:56:45 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Sep 25 06:40:51 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 25 06:40:51 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Sep 19 11:28:47 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 19 11:28:47 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Sep 11 10:34:42 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 11 10:34:42 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Aug 24 12:54:36 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 12:54:36 -0700 2009