Waves: Two short novels

by Masuji Ibuse

English, Japanese (translation)

Genres: Japan, Japanese Literature, Fiction, War, Literature

171 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1986

About the author

Masuji Ibuse (井伏 鱒二) was a Japanese novelist.

At Waseda University, Ibuse was greatly influenced by the works of Shakespeare and Basho; he was also an avid reader of French fiction and poetry. Ibuse went as far as to pawn a watch to try to understand the necessities of writers.

In 1918 Ibuse met naturalist writer Iwano Homei. Homei's literature was appealing to Ibuse and would later influence some of Ibuse's literary works. Ibuse befriended student Aoki Nampachi in Waseda, Aoki was a mentor and a great influence in the writings of Ibuse, Aoki's influence can be found in The Carp, where Ibuse ideolizes Aoki's friendship and represents his feelings towards this friendship in a carp. Ibuse started writing his first essays in 1922, shortly after the death of Aoki. Ibuse often found inspiration in his loneliness and in his encounters with geishas, his first literary works where in the style of prose, he had severed ties with Waseda University and started writing for small magazines.

One of Ibuse's first contributions was for the magazine Seiki, it was originally written for Aoki in 1919 and titled The Salamander, in 1923 it was renamed Confinement.

Ibuse was known and appreciated for most of his career, although it wasn't until after the war that he became famous. In 1966 he published his most well known work, Black Rain, which won him international acclaim and several awards including the Noma Prize and the Order of Cultural Merit, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a Japanese author. The novel draws its material from the bombing of Hiroshima with the title referring to the nuclear fallout. Ibuse was not present at the time of the bombing, but uses the diaries of survivors to construct his narrative. His earlier story Kakitsubata (The Crazy Iris, first published in 1951) deals with similar themes.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[aida · Rating 4 out of 5]

easy read, yet it metaphorically referred to major social problems of that time, such as wartime, identity of Japan after II. WW etc. and it wasn't boring or anything, the stories went smoothly and were interesting, on top of all well written; i could easily imagine the sceneries, feelings, overall atmosphere, people and situations in a historical background.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

sth to think about re: STS topics (the Isle-on-the-Billows in particular) + the ways in which history can be alive in ways that comment on the past and the present at once + the ways in which narrative can work through accumulation of details (especially interested in how the epistolary of Waves showcases a changing narrator through a changing voice more so than a plot -- where the melancholy of all of it is that you know the young Heike prince is going to face his entire clan's extermination regardless of what happens to him personally, and so many of the images (poetically rendered by the green prince or by his later more jaded self) cut to the quick with their horror). want to look more into this author's background / read in the supposedly untranslatable original language (thick with allusions). even with the notes on this I don't think I parsed it all very well. but could feel the overall arc quite powerfully. strong pathos & simultaneously a keen sense of irony, a very rare combo. will revisit this author, hopefully soon.

[Lukáš · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first part — semi-historically accurate tale of war between the Taira and Minamoto clans in the 12th century Japan — was interesting; however, I liked the second a lot more. It introduced me to John Manjiro, a poor Japanese boy who likes fishing above all and on his journey manages to connect with a different culture and unpredictably ends up playing an important role in the modern Japanese-American relations. On a less positive note, both tales highlight how your own people can sometimes be worse than your "enemies".

[MkB · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first novella is simply excellent, and I'm a sucker for feudal warfare stories anyway. The second--really more of a short story--was interesting, but rather less focused.

One thing both have in common is a lack of a plot arc. Whether it's a cultural thing or an Ibuse thing I have no idea, but they both cut off very abruptly. It works well in the first story, as you can let the known history fill in the probable outcome, but not as well in the second.

The translation is very well done (that is, the final product is excellent; obviously I have no idea if it's accurate or lives up to the original), and retains a feel of the foreign while still reading smoothly in english.

[Marek Harok · Rating 4 out of 5]

The two stories are connected by big changes brought by waves of the war and waves of the sea. Both of the stories are about will to live, when it seems, there is no hope. Both of the stories are about collision of the cultures (two different clans, western x eastern civilization). I enjoyed them both equally and I can just recommend it.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Borrowed from South Pasadena library.