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Evening Clouds
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This episodic novel, originally published in Japan in 1964 and appearing for the first time in translation, scrupulously observes one family's experiences getting used to a new home atop a windy hill near Tokyo. As the three children and their parents discuss the intricacies of buying a new desk, or deal with curious centipedes and residential developers who threaten to de
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Paperback, 208 pages
Published
June 1st 2000
by Stone Bridge Press
(first published 1964)
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Are you looking for a book that helps you slow down and find an inner calm? According to the introduction, this is that kind of book and I agree. These is no plot or drama. It’s an accounting of a period of time when the main character, a writer, and his family moved into a newly built house on the fringe of the Tokyo suburbs. A lot of the story is autobiographical. The author lived in the house described in this book written in 1964. He had a wife and three kids – two boys and a girl, just like
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3.5 stars, rounded up.
I decided to do something about the unread books on my shelves, so closed my eyes and pulled one out. I'm not sure when or why I bought this one, but I know I got it at a used book sale. I figured I'd give it a try and DNR it if I didn't like it.
I figured out pretty early on that this was the literary equivalent of The Jerry Seinfeld Show - a book about nothing. Little snippets of conversation between family members, mother, father, 3 children. No plot, no drama, no theme, ...more
I decided to do something about the unread books on my shelves, so closed my eyes and pulled one out. I'm not sure when or why I bought this one, but I know I got it at a used book sale. I figured I'd give it a try and DNR it if I didn't like it.
I figured out pretty early on that this was the literary equivalent of The Jerry Seinfeld Show - a book about nothing. Little snippets of conversation between family members, mother, father, 3 children. No plot, no drama, no theme, ...more
I really enjoyed this. There were just a few times, however, that he was a bit too sentimental. Shono's writing about his own family and "Evening Clouds" never really got too far beyond one of those pieces people write every week about their family life for newspaper colour supplements.
"Evening Clouds" has been compared to the films of Yasujiro Ozu. But, perhaps because he didn't have a family of his own, I think Ozu bites harder and is better at avoiding mawk. Classic scene:
http://www.youtube.c ...more
"Evening Clouds" has been compared to the films of Yasujiro Ozu. But, perhaps because he didn't have a family of his own, I think Ozu bites harder and is better at avoiding mawk. Classic scene:
http://www.youtube.c ...more
This didn't resonate when I first read it, but skim reading the Introduction, as I catalogue it, it seems the sort of book that I'd enjoy.
So putting it on my must-reread pile. ...more
So putting it on my must-reread pile. ...more
"The most celebrated work by one of Japan's master literary stylists, Evening Clouds is a book filled with delicious images of ordinary life, richly and precisely observed. A family moves into a new home on a windswept hilltop in western Tokyo. Around them are forests and farms. But the developers are coming, and the children are growing up. There are meals, quandaries, conversations ... Life appears comfortable and serene, yet Shono's portrayal has a strange an evocative undercurrent, as the mo
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Reminded me in format of My Neighbors the Yamadas in book form and with a bit less humor and a bit more reflection on nature. It also made me think of the Studio Ghibli movie Pom Poko, about the development of the Tama Hills.
I felt Oura's resolution for his life through description of peaceful and non-eventful days. I would keep longing eyes on his world.
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Junzō Shōno was a Japanese novelist. A native of Osaka, Shōno began writing novels after World War II. He won the Akutagawa Prize in 1955 for his book Purusaido Shokei (Poolside Scene). Shōno's other award winning books include Seibutsu (Still Life), for which he won the Shinchosha literary prize, Yube no Kumo (Evening Clouds), which was awarded the Yomiuri literary prize, and Eawase (Picture Card
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