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Eclipse
In the late fifteenth century, a young Dominican friar sets out on a journey from Paris to Florence in search of manuscripts of pre-Christian philosophy. Along the way, he encounters an ascetic alchemist in a small village. As the young man falls under the spell of the alchemist’s quest for enlightenment, a series of disasters—culminating in a total solar eclipse—strikes the village, with profound consequences.
Keiichiro Hiranō’s Eclipse was a meteoric literary sensation when it first appeared in 1998. Its author, still an undergraduate, was hailed as a prodigy; the book received Japan’s most prestigious literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, and became a best-seller. Set on the eve of the Renaissance in Europe, Eclipse depicts a society that is on the surface vastly different from modern-day Japan. Yet its account of a challenge to dualistic binaries and ossified worldviews holds striking contemporary resonance and philosophical depth. Taking the form of a memoir, Eclipse brings together an evocative portrayal of its historical setting, including the lore of medieval alchemy, with a rich literary lexicon, lush imagery, and psychological intricacy. This vivid translation offers Anglophone readers a vital work by one of Japan’s most distinctive voices.
Keiichiro Hiranō’s Eclipse was a meteoric literary sensation when it first appeared in 1998. Its author, still an undergraduate, was hailed as a prodigy; the book received Japan’s most prestigious literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, and became a best-seller. Set on the eve of the Renaissance in Europe, Eclipse depicts a society that is on the surface vastly different from modern-day Japan. Yet its account of a challenge to dualistic binaries and ossified worldviews holds striking contemporary resonance and philosophical depth. Taking the form of a memoir, Eclipse brings together an evocative portrayal of its historical setting, including the lore of medieval alchemy, with a rich literary lexicon, lush imagery, and psychological intricacy. This vivid translation offers Anglophone readers a vital work by one of Japan’s most distinctive voices.
152 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1998
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445 people want to read
About the author
Keiichirō Hirano
44 books302 followersKeiichirō Hirano (平野 啓一郎 Hirano Keiichirō, born June 22, 1975) is a Japanese novelist.
Hirano was born in Gamagori, Aichi prefecture, Japan. He published his first novel (Nisshoku, 日蝕) in 1998 and won the Akutagawa Prize the next year as one of the youngest winners ever (at 23 years of age). He graduated from the Law Department of Kyoto University in 1999. In 2005 he was nominated as a cultural ambassador and spent a year in France.
Hirano was born in Gamagori, Aichi prefecture, Japan. He published his first novel (Nisshoku, 日蝕) in 1998 and won the Akutagawa Prize the next year as one of the youngest winners ever (at 23 years of age). He graduated from the Law Department of Kyoto University in 1999. In 2005 he was nominated as a cultural ambassador and spent a year in France.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
October 14, 2024
Rich in both language and themes and original in setting, transporting us to late medieval, early renaissance France. Very daring for a debut and I understand how this was a prizewinning novel
Moreover, the ignorance displayed by the worldly cuts short any hope that one may have of being understood, and therein may lie a cause for the accusation of arrogance often levelled against me.
Eclipse made me think of Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose and packs a lot for just 130 pages, with c. 15 pages of this edition by Columbia University Press being an introduction which kind of explains the whole novel, I don't understand why these intro's aren't put at the end of the book so that the reader can experience the book uninfluenced.
We follow Nicolas, a recently graduated Dominican friar, who travels from Paris to Florence in search of esoteric books (prime on his list is the Corpus Hermeticum, which sounds satanic enough for me) on natural philosophy. He is very wordy (I needed to look up quite a lot of words from the English translation, favourite is victuals for food, imagine someone using that in a real life conversation). The year is 1482, and the world is solidly on the brink from medieval to the renaissance, with the bishop of Lyon, who sends of Nicolas on his travels, talking about Florence as one in the late 20th century would speak about New York.
During an aside from Nicolas his travels, and forming c. 80% of the book, is a sojourn into a small village where Pierre Foray, alchemist resides.
Pierre is essential for the narrator his vision of reconciling pagan philosophy with theology, embodied in the Lapis philosophicus.
The village is still reeling from the impact of the plague, acutely visible in the graveyards. Clocks and books are rare and the religious representation consists of a drunk and a zealous member of the inquisition. In this section I enjoyed the mention of a saint from the Netherlands, Lidwina from Schiedam, and the depth of historical research into the age is also clear when blue shirt is used as an insult by inn-goers to signify that a man is apparently a cuckold. The engagement between Pierre and Nicolas is searching, halting, but when our main character enters into the large forest outside of the village things are accelerated. We enter a mystical cave with a stalagmite and roses that seem out of this world. Copulating giants in the sky appear (think of Goya his painting The Colossus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Col...) and a witch-hunt ensues.
The fusion between male and female, pagan and godly, flesh and spirit and sun and moon is effectuated near the end of the book in such a way that Nicolas is a changed person. Florence in all its beauty afterwards is just a small epilogue compared to the near rapture experienced.
One may well ask whether this was not all utter madness, but the impact of the events haunt him even long into old age and during the rest of his academical career.
There is guilt of not speaking up, but also allusions to the unknowability of the real structure of the world (and by extension God) and even overtures that the second coming of Christ, signified in a crown of thorns and a ouroboros being combined, has been stopped due to what transpired in the village haunt him. As a reader we can understand part of this, but without experiencing something likewise ourselves (maybe a modern day equivalent would be seeing something that can only be classified as alien) and having the same religious contextual frame to place events in, it is hard to feel the emotional depth.
Still this is a fascinating book from Keiichirō Hirano, a 23 year old who was still finalising his degree, I understand how this won a major prize in Japan and I give this novel 3.5 stars.
Moreover, the ignorance displayed by the worldly cuts short any hope that one may have of being understood, and therein may lie a cause for the accusation of arrogance often levelled against me.
Eclipse made me think of Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose and packs a lot for just 130 pages, with c. 15 pages of this edition by Columbia University Press being an introduction which kind of explains the whole novel, I don't understand why these intro's aren't put at the end of the book so that the reader can experience the book uninfluenced.
We follow Nicolas, a recently graduated Dominican friar, who travels from Paris to Florence in search of esoteric books (prime on his list is the Corpus Hermeticum, which sounds satanic enough for me) on natural philosophy. He is very wordy (I needed to look up quite a lot of words from the English translation, favourite is victuals for food, imagine someone using that in a real life conversation). The year is 1482, and the world is solidly on the brink from medieval to the renaissance, with the bishop of Lyon, who sends of Nicolas on his travels, talking about Florence as one in the late 20th century would speak about New York.
During an aside from Nicolas his travels, and forming c. 80% of the book, is a sojourn into a small village where Pierre Foray, alchemist resides.
Pierre is essential for the narrator his vision of reconciling pagan philosophy with theology, embodied in the Lapis philosophicus.
The village is still reeling from the impact of the plague, acutely visible in the graveyards. Clocks and books are rare and the religious representation consists of a drunk and a zealous member of the inquisition. In this section I enjoyed the mention of a saint from the Netherlands, Lidwina from Schiedam, and the depth of historical research into the age is also clear when blue shirt is used as an insult by inn-goers to signify that a man is apparently a cuckold. The engagement between Pierre and Nicolas is searching, halting, but when our main character enters into the large forest outside of the village things are accelerated. We enter a mystical cave with a stalagmite and roses that seem out of this world. Copulating giants in the sky appear (think of Goya his painting The Colossus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Col...) and a witch-hunt ensues.
The fusion between male and female, pagan and godly, flesh and spirit and sun and moon is effectuated near the end of the book in such a way that Nicolas is a changed person. Florence in all its beauty afterwards is just a small epilogue compared to the near rapture experienced.
One may well ask whether this was not all utter madness, but the impact of the events haunt him even long into old age and during the rest of his academical career.
There is guilt of not speaking up, but also allusions to the unknowability of the real structure of the world (and by extension God) and even overtures that the second coming of Christ, signified in a crown of thorns and a ouroboros being combined, has been stopped due to what transpired in the village haunt him. As a reader we can understand part of this, but without experiencing something likewise ourselves (maybe a modern day equivalent would be seeing something that can only be classified as alien) and having the same religious contextual frame to place events in, it is hard to feel the emotional depth.
Still this is a fascinating book from Keiichirō Hirano, a 23 year old who was still finalising his degree, I understand how this won a major prize in Japan and I give this novel 3.5 stars.
November 13, 2024
3.5/4
This is probably the strangest book I've read this year. The prose is excellent and flows well. There were parts which were captivating in their oddness and I found it difficult to stop reading at times. However there were also parts which I read several times and still didn't understand what Hirano was trying to say.
The story follows a young priest, Nicolas, on his journey through France ostensibly heading to Florence to find a manuscript. However, along the way he gets waylaid in a village where he becomes entranced by an alchemist, Pierre Dufay. Strange things begin to occur in the village which culminates in the burning of a witch.
The book is a strange mixture of religion, paganism and the failings human nature. It certainly wasn't the book I was expecting to read. I would recommend this book if you have an interest in religion and its attitude to life in the 16th century.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Columbia University Press for the advance review copy.
This is probably the strangest book I've read this year. The prose is excellent and flows well. There were parts which were captivating in their oddness and I found it difficult to stop reading at times. However there were also parts which I read several times and still didn't understand what Hirano was trying to say.
The story follows a young priest, Nicolas, on his journey through France ostensibly heading to Florence to find a manuscript. However, along the way he gets waylaid in a village where he becomes entranced by an alchemist, Pierre Dufay. Strange things begin to occur in the village which culminates in the burning of a witch.
The book is a strange mixture of religion, paganism and the failings human nature. It certainly wasn't the book I was expecting to read. I would recommend this book if you have an interest in religion and its attitude to life in the 16th century.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Columbia University Press for the advance review copy.
December 8, 2024
My experience reading Eclipse was a bit like going on a great first date—followed by subsequent dates that were nice enough, but lacked that "glow" that had portended magic.
Keiichiro Hirano's novel tells the story of a young Dominican (the Catholic type, not the Caribbean type) in 15th Century France. Our central character—we never learn his name—admires Thomas Aquinas and hopes, like his hero, to reconcile parts of pagan science and philosophy with Christian doctrine. Pagan ideas, he explains "Though for a time driven into exile... are invariably revived by whatever elements they contain that are philosophically valid. And when they return, their errors are seen, seamlessly, as one with their truths. It is for this reason that we are obliged to incorporate the entirety of these systems of thought, submitting them to the teachings of the Church even as we rigorously seek out and expose whatever they harbor that is false, Excluding them would only leave them abandoned, beyond the scope of doctrine. Even poisoned water must be turned to wine." (The reader might ask here "but is the poisoned water going to result in poisoned wine?")
Our Dominican sets out for Florence, hoping to find rare pagan texts that will allow him to begin his work of wine-making/reconciliation. He stops in a village that is home to an alchemist he's been told to seek out and has a series of interesting but inconclusive interactions with this man. Theirs is not a teacher-student relationship, but more like a an older sibling letting a younger sibling tag along while pretending that younger sibling doesn't exist.
They village has been suffering through a miserable period of drenching rain and poor harvests and villagers are beginning to ask who or what is responsible for this disaster. Which leads, of course, to questions of whether something diabolical is at play. At the same time, visions of hermaphroditic giants begin appearing to villagers.
The events that play out in the village at this point provide the heart of the novel, and for our Dominican, open up questions of spiritual and earthly justice, dualism, the nature of the sacred, and the possibility of transcendence. Our Dominican's thoughts span the profound and the banal—and he is much more interesting an following these thoughts than in taking action during this time of crisis. He observes the world, but largely avoids interacting with it.
As I said at the beginning of this review, I lost some of my fervid, love-at-first-sight reaction and I made my way through Eclipse. But I never considered putting the book down. It had substance, though that substance was oddly non-directional.
I received a free electronic copy of this title from the publisher; the opinions are my own.
Keiichiro Hirano's novel tells the story of a young Dominican (the Catholic type, not the Caribbean type) in 15th Century France. Our central character—we never learn his name—admires Thomas Aquinas and hopes, like his hero, to reconcile parts of pagan science and philosophy with Christian doctrine. Pagan ideas, he explains "Though for a time driven into exile... are invariably revived by whatever elements they contain that are philosophically valid. And when they return, their errors are seen, seamlessly, as one with their truths. It is for this reason that we are obliged to incorporate the entirety of these systems of thought, submitting them to the teachings of the Church even as we rigorously seek out and expose whatever they harbor that is false, Excluding them would only leave them abandoned, beyond the scope of doctrine. Even poisoned water must be turned to wine." (The reader might ask here "but is the poisoned water going to result in poisoned wine?")
Our Dominican sets out for Florence, hoping to find rare pagan texts that will allow him to begin his work of wine-making/reconciliation. He stops in a village that is home to an alchemist he's been told to seek out and has a series of interesting but inconclusive interactions with this man. Theirs is not a teacher-student relationship, but more like a an older sibling letting a younger sibling tag along while pretending that younger sibling doesn't exist.
They village has been suffering through a miserable period of drenching rain and poor harvests and villagers are beginning to ask who or what is responsible for this disaster. Which leads, of course, to questions of whether something diabolical is at play. At the same time, visions of hermaphroditic giants begin appearing to villagers.
The events that play out in the village at this point provide the heart of the novel, and for our Dominican, open up questions of spiritual and earthly justice, dualism, the nature of the sacred, and the possibility of transcendence. Our Dominican's thoughts span the profound and the banal—and he is much more interesting an following these thoughts than in taking action during this time of crisis. He observes the world, but largely avoids interacting with it.
As I said at the beginning of this review, I lost some of my fervid, love-at-first-sight reaction and I made my way through Eclipse. But I never considered putting the book down. It had substance, though that substance was oddly non-directional.
I received a free electronic copy of this title from the publisher; the opinions are my own.
February 3, 2018
وقعت الرواية في يدي منذ يومين, ومثل أي معجب بالأدب الياباني شرعت في قراءتها مباشرةً متجاوزاً الكتب الكثيرة التي تنتظر دورها, والحقيقة أنني لم أندم.
رواية صغيرة الحجم لا تتجاوز 170 صفحة ولكنها كبيرة, كبيرة بمستواها ومعانيها.
الأدب الياباني بحر واسع ومن الممتع الإبحار فيه, وما زلنا مقصرين في اللغة العربية بذلك, رغم الجهود السابقة لبعض المترجمين الجيدين الذين نقلوا لنا بعض الروائع من الأدب الياباني, ورغم أن ذلك تم عبر لغة وسيطة ثالثة على الأغلب إلا أن جهودهم مشكورة ومحمودة, وهنا لا بد من تسجيل الإعجاب والشكر أيضاً للمترجم الممتاز الأستاذ ميسرة عفيفي لتقديمه لنا هذه الجوهرة الجميلة لأديب رائع ومهم, وخصوصاً أنه يترجِم عن اليابانية مباشرةً وهذا بحد ذاته أمر رائع ويبشر بالخير. ونتمنى أن يواصل ميسرة عفيفي جهده المهم هذا وينقل لنا مستقبلاً الكثير من أعمال الأدباء اليابانيين وخصوصاً من لم يترجم منهم قبل الآن إلى العربية.
رواية صغيرة الحجم لا تتجاوز 170 صفحة ولكنها كبيرة, كبيرة بمستواها ومعانيها.
الأدب الياباني بحر واسع ومن الممتع الإبحار فيه, وما زلنا مقصرين في اللغة العربية بذلك, رغم الجهود السابقة لبعض المترجمين الجيدين الذين نقلوا لنا بعض الروائع من الأدب الياباني, ورغم أن ذلك تم عبر لغة وسيطة ثالثة على الأغلب إلا أن جهودهم مشكورة ومحمودة, وهنا لا بد من تسجيل الإعجاب والشكر أيضاً للمترجم الممتاز الأستاذ ميسرة عفيفي لتقديمه لنا هذه الجوهرة الجميلة لأديب رائع ومهم, وخصوصاً أنه يترجِم عن اليابانية مباشرةً وهذا بحد ذاته أمر رائع ويبشر بالخير. ونتمنى أن يواصل ميسرة عفيفي جهده المهم هذا وينقل لنا مستقبلاً الكثير من أعمال الأدباء اليابانيين وخصوصاً من لم يترجم منهم قبل الآن إلى العربية.
March 8, 2020
في مقدمة الكتاب قدمت المترجمة الكاتب الياباني، والذي كان ذلك العمل أول عمل يتلقى عليه جائزة رغم أنه كان لا يزال طالب جامعي، كما أنه اختار اللغة اليابانية القديمة الغير مألوفة لليابانيين المعاصرين لكتابة الرواية، أما عن موضوعها فهي جزء من مذكرات راهب فرنسي بالقرن الخامس عشر وكأنه أراد اختيار فئة معينة من القراء لهذا الكتاب.
يبدأ الراهب نيقولا بسرد الأحداث بداية مع رحلة بحثه عن كتاب فلسفي قديم، فيمر على قرية ويستقر بها مدة ويرى بها من العجائب ما سيبقى في ذاكرته للأبد، أما عن أفكاره فهي تحاصره دائماً، فهو في حيرة بين عقائد ديانته والعلوم كالفلسفة والكيمياء، فعلى عكس مبادئ الكنيسة وقتها ومحاكم التفتيش كان يريد نيقولا الاستفادة من تلك العلوم وفهمها بدلاً من اتهام الناس بالهرطقة.
بعض المشاهد اللي صورها الكاتب ذكرتني بفيلم The seventh seal كمشهد الراهب وهو يعظ أهل القرية ويبث في قلوبهم الرعب.
يبدأ الراهب نيقولا بسرد الأحداث بداية مع رحلة بحثه عن كتاب فلسفي قديم، فيمر على قرية ويستقر بها مدة ويرى بها من العجائب ما سيبقى في ذاكرته للأبد، أما عن أفكاره فهي تحاصره دائماً، فهو في حيرة بين عقائد ديانته والعلوم كالفلسفة والكيمياء، فعلى عكس مبادئ الكنيسة وقتها ومحاكم التفتيش كان يريد نيقولا الاستفادة من تلك العلوم وفهمها بدلاً من اتهام الناس بالهرطقة.
بعض المشاهد اللي صورها الكاتب ذكرتني بفيلم The seventh seal كمشهد الراهب وهو يعظ أهل القرية ويبث في قلوبهم الرعب.
August 30, 2024
Set in the late 15th Century, this was an interesting story shared in memoir-ish style, a story of a young Dominican monk who is on a quest, but ends up wrapped up in strange events, events which seem to get stranger as time passes.
There is a flow to this story that feels a bit like a gentle river as this begins, but one that becomes more dangerous over time. A story of those who wish to destroy those people and/or things that don’t serve what they see as ‘their’ wishes.
There are many moments in this story with lovely prose, but overall as this story continued it felt as though it was moved along simply by chaos and bedlam, just for the sake of the ending, which was disappointing.
Pub Date: 12 Nov 2024
Many thanks for the ARC provided by Columbia University Press
September 21, 2024
In the 15th century scholars were rediscovering the works of the ancient Greeks and Romans, scouring libraries across Europe to discover rare manuscripts. Florence was the center of this book trade.
Eclipse imagines a young Dominican friar’s quest to find the complete manuscript of the Corpus Hermeticum, Greek Gnostic writings translated into Latin a decade previous. Nicolas “had an intense interest in the pagan philosophy of antiquity.” He was concerned that these pagan ideas would challenge Christianity unless the church brought order, as Saint Thomas Aquinas “had subordained Aristotelian philosophy to the divine teachings of the Church.” There was much truth in the pagan philosophies, Nicolas affirmed, but also much error.
Nicolas leaves Paris for the mercantile center of Lyon where a complete manuscript might be found. There, Nicolas meets a bishop who has a complete manuscript, but who also refers him to a local village where an alchemist seeks to produce gold.
At the village Nicolas finds a corrupt priest who is given over to sensual pleasure, and a popular preaching priest with a devoted following. Neither represent Nicolas’ view of true faith.
“People have not understood the meaning of Christ,” he bemoans. They love the human Jesus without understanding his dual nature, God incarnated in the flesh. Nicolas affirms that “we are not licensed to abhor this world,” because God lived among us.
Nicolas visits the alchemist Pierre, observes his work and reads from his personal library. The alchemist believes that “all metallic substances are destined to achieve perfection and become gold.” He is also a cypher, a man of few words, living a regulated life of simple food and a bed of straw, but disappearing regularly into the dark woods reputed to be haunted by demons.
One day, Nicolas trails the alchemist through the woods to a narrow opening leading to a cave, and through the dark cave to a room where is found a hermaphrodite to which Pierre pays homage.
The village has been visited by a series of disasters which continue. Villagers see a huge monster of copulating figures. And then, on the bridge that separates the town, the hermaphrodite is seen and captured, tortured, and condemned to burn at the stake. At the moment of its death, a solar eclipse darkens the earth, and Nicolas experiences a transcendent moment. Years later, he wonders if he had seen the second coming of Christ.
It is a strange story in the form of a memoir, and historical fiction, and a philosophical exploration heavy with Jungian archetypes. I understood that Nicolas was on a spiritual journey into the unconscious, encountering the symbol of wholeness. The hermaphrodite wears a crown of thorns and an ouroboros, symbol of eternal death and rebirth. The sun and moon converge into one during the eclipse, the feminine moon covering the masculine sun, a symbol of the unconscious overwhelming the rational consciousness. Nicolas experienced a psychic wholeness that haunts him all of his life.
As historical fiction, the novel is marvelous, the narrative voice pulling me in right away. Readers may respond viscerally to the heavily symbolic climax without understanding the archetypal imagery, but most may just be confused. I found it fascinating and I kept thinking about it all day and when I woke at night was still pondering it.
This is the first English version of the 1998 award winning Japanese novel.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.
Eclipse imagines a young Dominican friar’s quest to find the complete manuscript of the Corpus Hermeticum, Greek Gnostic writings translated into Latin a decade previous. Nicolas “had an intense interest in the pagan philosophy of antiquity.” He was concerned that these pagan ideas would challenge Christianity unless the church brought order, as Saint Thomas Aquinas “had subordained Aristotelian philosophy to the divine teachings of the Church.” There was much truth in the pagan philosophies, Nicolas affirmed, but also much error.
Nicolas leaves Paris for the mercantile center of Lyon where a complete manuscript might be found. There, Nicolas meets a bishop who has a complete manuscript, but who also refers him to a local village where an alchemist seeks to produce gold.
At the village Nicolas finds a corrupt priest who is given over to sensual pleasure, and a popular preaching priest with a devoted following. Neither represent Nicolas’ view of true faith.
“People have not understood the meaning of Christ,” he bemoans. They love the human Jesus without understanding his dual nature, God incarnated in the flesh. Nicolas affirms that “we are not licensed to abhor this world,” because God lived among us.
Nicolas visits the alchemist Pierre, observes his work and reads from his personal library. The alchemist believes that “all metallic substances are destined to achieve perfection and become gold.” He is also a cypher, a man of few words, living a regulated life of simple food and a bed of straw, but disappearing regularly into the dark woods reputed to be haunted by demons.
One day, Nicolas trails the alchemist through the woods to a narrow opening leading to a cave, and through the dark cave to a room where is found a hermaphrodite to which Pierre pays homage.
The village has been visited by a series of disasters which continue. Villagers see a huge monster of copulating figures. And then, on the bridge that separates the town, the hermaphrodite is seen and captured, tortured, and condemned to burn at the stake. At the moment of its death, a solar eclipse darkens the earth, and Nicolas experiences a transcendent moment. Years later, he wonders if he had seen the second coming of Christ.
It is a strange story in the form of a memoir, and historical fiction, and a philosophical exploration heavy with Jungian archetypes. I understood that Nicolas was on a spiritual journey into the unconscious, encountering the symbol of wholeness. The hermaphrodite wears a crown of thorns and an ouroboros, symbol of eternal death and rebirth. The sun and moon converge into one during the eclipse, the feminine moon covering the masculine sun, a symbol of the unconscious overwhelming the rational consciousness. Nicolas experienced a psychic wholeness that haunts him all of his life.
As historical fiction, the novel is marvelous, the narrative voice pulling me in right away. Readers may respond viscerally to the heavily symbolic climax without understanding the archetypal imagery, but most may just be confused. I found it fascinating and I kept thinking about it all day and when I woke at night was still pondering it.
This is the first English version of the 1998 award winning Japanese novel.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.
January 20, 2019
أحب أجواء القرون الوسطى في الروايات، أشعر أنّه عالم غير العالم الذي نعيش فيه تماما، ساحرات ومحاكم تفتيش، ومعاداة للعلم وسيطرة الكنيسة..و..
لكن الرواية لم تعجبني كثيرًا، ربما لأنني لم أفهم مغزاها تماما.
لكن الرواية لم تعجبني كثيرًا، ربما لأنني لم أفهم مغزاها تماما.
November 2, 2024
Sigh, sad to say that I didn’t enjoy this book that received Japn’s prestigous Akutagawa Prize. I enjoyed one of the author’s other books A Man, which I enjoyed a lot and I’m looking forward to reading his At the End of the Marinee. Back to this book - I couldn’t get into it…Set in the 15th century it’s about a friar who meets an alchemist while traveling from Paris to Florence to search for rare manuscripts. It’s replete with philosophical and psychological fare, medieval alchemy, and symbolism. I was drawn to the premise of the book and was intrigued as the book began, but alas, it didn’t hold my attention and I couldn’t get into the book. I hope other readers will enjoy it much more than I did. It was a 2.5 star read for me, rounded up to 3 stars. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
October 8, 2025
Rather than the sweeping exploration of themes that is expected when discussing faith, creation, doubt, travel, heresy, gender, etc., this little novel makes it all very quiet and intimate. We follow Dominican Brother Nicolas as he strives for 15th century science and pause in his journey in a small village where he meets an alchemist. This strange relationship, never fully realized, is the font of all questions, and the events of the actual eclipse of the title bring the meandering exploration to sudden chaos and horror and awe. At first, I felt disappointment by the lack of answers, but really, why should there be? Do we, now, have all the answers to faith, creation, gender, science, and all the rest? Absolutely not. We can flounder and grasp and, if we're open-minded and doubtful and curious and even ashamed, like Nicolas, we can continue to wonder and work to know. Definitely impressive, and worthy of the lofty Akutagawa Prize that the book won in the 90s.
November 21, 2024
To była dobra książka, ale mam wrażenie, że więcej energii wpompowano w zgodność faktów historycznych i stylizację językową (ciekawe jak brzmi średniowieczny japoński) niż jakieś konkluzje prowokujące do własnych rozkminek teologiczno-filozoficznych
January 11, 2025
3.5, close to 4. I really liked the amount of realism that the book starts with, it made the fantastic element surprising and more valuable to the story that way. Also, the character’s preface to his life and his religious viewpoint actually helped the book, in my eyes, more accurately look into possible flaws of religion. I guess the follower is the best critic sometimes, and that seemed to be the case here. Interesting ending and narrative structure as a whole.
August 8, 2024
Eclipse by Keiichirō Hirano is an upcoming short novel, coming this November. The story follows a Dominican monk on a journey from France to Florence, Italy, in search of rare manuscripts. Along the way, he stops in a small village where strange and unsettling events begin to unfold.
While the novel is beautifully written, I found myself completely lost. The narrative is often confusing, and I struggled to grasp the underlying meaning or direction of the story. Despite this, the writing style kept me engaged, even as the plot remained elusive.
Eclipse seems to be the kind of novel that might reveal more upon a second reading. Though I didn't enjoy this particular work, I’m inclined to explore more of his books that have been translated into English.
While the novel is beautifully written, I found myself completely lost. The narrative is often confusing, and I struggled to grasp the underlying meaning or direction of the story. Despite this, the writing style kept me engaged, even as the plot remained elusive.
Eclipse seems to be the kind of novel that might reveal more upon a second reading. Though I didn't enjoy this particular work, I’m inclined to explore more of his books that have been translated into English.
February 25, 2017
يبدو أن هذه السنة ستكون بالنسبة لي سنة الروايات الصادمة
الرواية رائعة بشكل يخلب الالباب والمترجم ابدع في ايصال فكرة الرواية ومضمونها والحبكة والاحداث
الحبكة والمعالجة في منتهي الروعة لن أنكر أن الاحداث كانت مملة وبطيئة في اول الرواية إلا أن بالوصول إلي منتصفها والذي لن يأخذ الكثير من الوقت فعدد صفحات الرواية اصلا 193 صفحة تأخذ الاحداث منحني من التشويق ابهرني وافقدني الاحساس بالعالم من حولي
بداية موفقة لي مع الادب الياباني
الرواية رائعة بشكل يخلب الالباب والمترجم ابدع في ايصال فكرة الرواية ومضمونها والحبكة والاحداث
الحبكة والمعالجة في منتهي الروعة لن أنكر أن الاحداث كانت مملة وبطيئة في اول الرواية إلا أن بالوصول إلي منتصفها والذي لن يأخذ الكثير من الوقت فعدد صفحات الرواية اصلا 193 صفحة تأخذ الاحداث منحني من التشويق ابهرني وافقدني الاحساس بالعالم من حولي
بداية موفقة لي مع الادب الياباني
November 7, 2024
(ARC Gifted/AD for honest review) Thank you Columbia University Press and NetGalley for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Eclipse is essentially a story of ultimate contrast. Set in the 15th century, we follow a religious figure in the pursuit of knowledge. Along the way, light and dark, good and bad, and the holy and unholy are thrown against each other in every given moment Nicolas encounters. While initially binary in their understanding of what is “good”, Eclipse takes Nicolas on a story of grey areas, contesting their understanding of the world, and themselves and taking them on a spiritual journey not necessarily aligned with their religion.
The introduction is in depth but very much appreciated. It essentially covers the entire story, so don’t read this prior to reading the novel if you want to avoid spoilers.
Overall I can understand why this book was so successful when it launched, and the last 50 pages were by far my favourite. Had it been more fast-paced throughout. I appreciate having the opportunity to read this book!
Thank you Columbia University Press and NetGalley for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
#Eclipse #NetGalley
(ARC Gifted/AD for honest review)
Eclipse is essentially a story of ultimate contrast. Set in the 15th century, we follow a religious figure in the pursuit of knowledge. Along the way, light and dark, good and bad, and the holy and unholy are thrown against each other in every given moment Nicolas encounters. While initially binary in their understanding of what is “good”, Eclipse takes Nicolas on a story of grey areas, contesting their understanding of the world, and themselves and taking them on a spiritual journey not necessarily aligned with their religion.
The introduction is in depth but very much appreciated. It essentially covers the entire story, so don’t read this prior to reading the novel if you want to avoid spoilers.
Overall I can understand why this book was so successful when it launched, and the last 50 pages were by far my favourite. Had it been more fast-paced throughout. I appreciate having the opportunity to read this book!
Thank you Columbia University Press and NetGalley for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
#Eclipse #NetGalley
(ARC Gifted/AD for honest review)
January 20, 2025
After finishing this book, I found myself wondering what was the point of this book. In the story a Dominican Monk goes on a search for a lost manuscript, stops a town were weird things happen, and then he leaves to retrieve the manuscript he was searching for. There is no explanation for the weird events in the town.
What this book did well was setting the time and place for the story. The translation was beautiful and descriptive. The character were not well developed and the main character's ARC was shallow. Regardless for Keiichiro Hirano, this was a great first novel and I will definitely read his others.
Thank you to NetGalley and Columbia University Press for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
What this book did well was setting the time and place for the story. The translation was beautiful and descriptive. The character were not well developed and the main character's ARC was shallow. Regardless for Keiichiro Hirano, this was a great first novel and I will definitely read his others.
Thank you to NetGalley and Columbia University Press for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 3, 2020
دلني على هذه الرواية تغريدة اشارت الى الكاتب الياباني كيئتشيرو هيرانو
ولا زلت اعشق ادب الشرق بكل ما تحمله كلمة الحب من معنى لاني اعلم تماماً ان سحر الشرق يحوي على اسرار لا يسعنا ادراكها الا عن طريق المترجمين
الرواية لم تكن لدولة الكاتب اليابان وانما كانت عن الكنيسة الكاثلوكية في القرن الخامس عشر ابان مرحلة محاكم التفتيش وان كانت هذه الرواية غزيرة المعلومات لكنها لم تكن عن الشرق الذي اردت زيادة التعرف عليه
تحية للمترجم الاستاذ ميسرة عفيفي لهذا الجهد والاخلاص في نقل محتوى هذا الادب الينا
ولا زلت اعشق ادب الشرق بكل ما تحمله كلمة الحب من معنى لاني اعلم تماماً ان سحر الشرق يحوي على اسرار لا يسعنا ادراكها الا عن طريق المترجمين
الرواية لم تكن لدولة الكاتب اليابان وانما كانت عن الكنيسة الكاثلوكية في القرن الخامس عشر ابان مرحلة محاكم التفتيش وان كانت هذه الرواية غزيرة المعلومات لكنها لم تكن عن الشرق الذي اردت زيادة التعرف عليه
تحية للمترجم الاستاذ ميسرة عفيفي لهذا الجهد والاخلاص في نقل محتوى هذا الادب الينا
February 23, 2025
How did this book get this wild
January 12, 2025
Tedious
February 2, 2025
Despite how dense the writing is and the fact that it delves so far into religious jargon and alchemy, I thought this was pretty fantastic. Kudos to both the author for writing this insanely good at such a young age and the translator for making the English version beautiful.
July 22, 2024
‘We cannot help looking, at every opportunity, for signs of a miracle in our daily lives.’
This was such a fascinating and unusual read.
A young Dominican monk goes on a scholarly quest, only to get caught up in a strange, hermitical alchemists work, culminating in a bizarre sequence of events, both natural, and perhaps, supernatural.
This story was definitely not what I expected it to be. It wasn’t an easy read, as the novel is dense with philosophical theory, questions and monologues about the meaning of life and religion’s place in society. Despite this, the story still flowed well, and I found myself always wanting to know what would happen next. This novel was both intriguing and enjoyable to read.
This was such a fascinating and unusual read.
A young Dominican monk goes on a scholarly quest, only to get caught up in a strange, hermitical alchemists work, culminating in a bizarre sequence of events, both natural, and perhaps, supernatural.
This story was definitely not what I expected it to be. It wasn’t an easy read, as the novel is dense with philosophical theory, questions and monologues about the meaning of life and religion’s place in society. Despite this, the story still flowed well, and I found myself always wanting to know what would happen next. This novel was both intriguing and enjoyable to read.
January 3, 2023
1400年代、フランス。神学研究に励む、知に飢えた修道司祭。彼はある書物を探すためにパリからフィレンツェへと向かう道中、とある村に立ち寄る。信仰が地に落ちたその村には、錬金術師が住んでいる。錬金術師の秘密とは？村は不作と病に見舞われる。奇怪なもの。魔女。神。文豪のような独特の漢字だらけの文体のダークファンタジー。
🧋2022📚16
序盤、遠藤周作のようなキリスト教について語る作品と見せかけて、実はカトリック神学とダークファンタジーを切り口に東洋的な陰と陽みたいな哲学について語る作品。けど、もちろんカトリックの知識があるともっと楽しめます。どこまでも日本人の感性とか哲学が芯にあって、読み応えがありました。もちろん、単純にダークファンタジーとしても楽しめました。
ただ、灰の水曜日に一体何を読んでるんだ、という感じはありました笑
去年『ある男』と『マチネの終わりに』で平野啓一郎が気に入って、今回3冊目。デビュー作。ガラッと雰囲気違いますが、今回も最高でした。
特に気に入った文章を少し。
「しかし、その受け皿たる一なる民衆は、教義よりも寧ろ、それを唱導する人そのものを択ばむとしていた。」p.32
「抑この行為は、目的を遂げなければそれ自体としては何等意味を持たぬ筈のものである。私の不思議は、この単に手段に過ぎぬ作業と云う行為が、目的を離れて一つの本質的な価値を有するように映ることである。」p.67
「この絶望は、理論上の語諺に基づくと云うよりも、寧ろ、行為自体の不遜な性質に由来するものであった。」p.92
🧋2022📚16
序盤、遠藤周作のようなキリスト教について語る作品と見せかけて、実はカトリック神学とダークファンタジーを切り口に東洋的な陰と陽みたいな哲学について語る作品。けど、もちろんカトリックの知識があるともっと楽しめます。どこまでも日本人の感性とか哲学が芯にあって、読み応えがありました。もちろん、単純にダークファンタジーとしても楽しめました。
ただ、灰の水曜日に一体何を読んでるんだ、という感じはありました笑
去年『ある男』と『マチネの終わりに』で平野啓一郎が気に入って、今回3冊目。デビュー作。ガラッと雰囲気違いますが、今回も最高でした。
特に気に入った文章を少し。
「しかし、その受け皿たる一なる民衆は、教義よりも寧ろ、それを唱導する人そのものを択ばむとしていた。」p.32
「抑この行為は、目的を遂げなければそれ自体としては何等意味を持たぬ筈のものである。私の不思議は、この単に手段に過ぎぬ作業と云う行為が、目的を離れて一つの本質的な価値を有するように映ることである。」p.67
「この絶望は、理論上の語諺に基づくと云うよりも、寧ろ、行為自体の不遜な性質に由来するものであった。」p.92
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2024
This book seemed right up my street from the description... Japanese historical fiction..Yes please! I was really disappointed though - this was a tedious read and I only persevered because of its short length. Some errors in translation stuck out for me. For example, "what sounded the tocsin for me".. Tocsin comes from late 16th century where this novel is set in the 15th century. Dull and I wouldn't recommend it.
April 23, 2018
أول رواية كتبها كيئتشيرو هيرانو، لكنها قراءتي الثانية له. أبهرتني كما في سابقتها (حكاية قمر)، بل ربما أكثر.
أظن أنني سأضيف أعمال هذا الكاتب لقائمة أفضل ما قرأت على الإطلاق. رواية ساحرة تهزّنا من الداخل و تجعلنا ندخل في دوامة من الأسئلة الوجودية، لا تنتهي.
ولن تُكرّر.
كل الشكر للمترجم على الترجمة الخلّابة.
أظن أنني سأضيف أعمال هذا الكاتب لقائمة أفضل ما قرأت على الإطلاق. رواية ساحرة تهزّنا من الداخل و تجعلنا ندخل في دوامة من الأسئلة الوجودية، لا تنتهي.
ولن تُكرّر.
كل الشكر للمترجم على الترجمة الخلّابة.
Read
September 14, 2024DNF
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this.
I thought I would try something outside of my comfort zone, but this was a miss for me. It’s not that the book is bad, but that I did not care about what was happening in the story. The words didn’t stick in my brain and I never wanted to pick this up.
This book definitely has it’s audience, I’m just not part of it.
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this.
I thought I would try something outside of my comfort zone, but this was a miss for me. It’s not that the book is bad, but that I did not care about what was happening in the story. The words didn’t stick in my brain and I never wanted to pick this up.
This book definitely has it’s audience, I’m just not part of it.
December 26, 2024
Eclipse, by Hirano Keiichirio and translated by Brent de Chene and Charles De Wolf, is a slim novel set in 1482 that follows the journey — physical and spiritual — of a young Dominican friar from Paris to Florence as he seeks out a rare manuscript and in doing so, comes in contact with a reclusive alchemist and bears witness to a horrible tragedy.
The book is told in flashback, with the narrator Nicolas swearing “as a Christian and in the holy name of God,” that everything that follows actually happened, recognizing as he does that “it is not a document that invites one’s trust” due to its strange events. He is also concerned that because the memory is so “unbearable . . . I would be tempted … to render a false report … and end my story with much still hidden away in my heart.”
He then brings us back to how his theological studies led him to try to “bring order, under the holy name of the Lord, to the once again resurgent doctrines of the ancients” now “crashing in upon our shores,” his aim being to protect the faith from peril” by “subordinat [ing] and absorb [ing]” the pagan works “within the body of theology.” His goal was not to squelch the pagan views; his hope was that by exploring the old texts, by going “beyond” St. Thomas, he might “construct a new theology” with the pagan texts, some still unknown, acting as “a guidepost on a new path toward God.” Seeking one particular text, Nicolas set out first for Lyons and then, at the suggestion of that city’s bishop, on to to Florence. There, he recommends, the friar should try to find an alchemist well versed in natural philosophy and pagan works,
The vast majority of the book takes place in the village where Nicolas does eventually meet up with the alchemist (Pierre Dufay), becoming just as impressed with his knowledge and abilities as the Bishop of Lyons had been. Unfortunately, he also finds a bad priest and worse, a fellow Dominican (Jacques Michaelis) who is also an Inquisitor. While Nicolas observes Pierre’s attempts to find the Philosopher’s Stone and discusses philosophy and theology with him, he also discovers a secret underground cavern and an even greater secret within. When the town is visited by a plague though, Jacques and the villagers go on a witch-hunt which embroils Pierre as well as their eventual victim. All of this culminates in a horrible scene set during an eclipse. Traumatized by events and worried over getting entangled himself (a concern heightened by a not-so-subtle push by Jacques), Nicolas heads back home.
Eclipse is an odd little novel. The plot is pretty straightforward and simple, as are the individual scenes comprising the story, with the vast majority of them being either Nicolas alone being introspective or Nicolas interacting with a single character: the reclusive, erudite, and mysteries Pierre, a truculent blacksmith, the helpful Bishop of Lyons, etc. Where the book breaks away from simplicity is when it bends, as it does frequently, toward the more philosophical realms, whether its Nicolas’ musing on the Dominicans versus the Franciscans, the recent decline of the Church, his desired melding of pagan, alchemical, and Christian worldviews, his meditations on the existence, form of evil and Church doctrine surrounding it, and the surreal, ecstasy of discovery and unification that culminates in the eclipse scene. Unity is obviously a major theme of the book, beginning with his directly stated desire to unify pagan and Christian thinking, but the theme is expressed/explored in multiple other ways throughout, particularly via a single character whose appearance I won’t spoil.
The author does a good job of portraying the mindset of the time, it seems to me (not being a medieval historian), in the depiction for instance of Nicolas’ acceptance of visions, his concerns of the fallen nature of the Church, the mean ignorance of the villagers that turns quickly to violence and a search for a scapegoat for the plague that afflicts them. It’s ignorant superstition that provokes this, but a superstition rooted in a worldview where the superstition makes some sense perhaps. But if the superstition is the base, what fans the horror that ensues is the ugly trait of people to fear and abhor the “other”, a trait happily exploited by those in power (the Inquisitor).
If the mindset of the time is well portrayed, I can’t say the world itself is fully present for me: it’s sounds and smells and day to day existence. And if the highly charged language of our narrator is a good fit for he mind of a friar of the time, I confess it was at times a bit much for my own personal liking. In general, while I found Eclipse interesting, I can’t say it ever fully grabbed me or immersed me, and Nicolas’ stance as a more passive observer lent it a distance that made engagement more difficult. A relatively slim novel, I’d say it’s just as long as it should be, in that any longer and I might have slightly regretted my time spent reading it. I never considered putting it down, knowing how quick a read it would be, but it’s not a book I’d enthusiastically recommend picking up.
The book is told in flashback, with the narrator Nicolas swearing “as a Christian and in the holy name of God,” that everything that follows actually happened, recognizing as he does that “it is not a document that invites one’s trust” due to its strange events. He is also concerned that because the memory is so “unbearable . . . I would be tempted … to render a false report … and end my story with much still hidden away in my heart.”
He then brings us back to how his theological studies led him to try to “bring order, under the holy name of the Lord, to the once again resurgent doctrines of the ancients” now “crashing in upon our shores,” his aim being to protect the faith from peril” by “subordinat [ing] and absorb [ing]” the pagan works “within the body of theology.” His goal was not to squelch the pagan views; his hope was that by exploring the old texts, by going “beyond” St. Thomas, he might “construct a new theology” with the pagan texts, some still unknown, acting as “a guidepost on a new path toward God.” Seeking one particular text, Nicolas set out first for Lyons and then, at the suggestion of that city’s bishop, on to to Florence. There, he recommends, the friar should try to find an alchemist well versed in natural philosophy and pagan works,
The vast majority of the book takes place in the village where Nicolas does eventually meet up with the alchemist (Pierre Dufay), becoming just as impressed with his knowledge and abilities as the Bishop of Lyons had been. Unfortunately, he also finds a bad priest and worse, a fellow Dominican (Jacques Michaelis) who is also an Inquisitor. While Nicolas observes Pierre’s attempts to find the Philosopher’s Stone and discusses philosophy and theology with him, he also discovers a secret underground cavern and an even greater secret within. When the town is visited by a plague though, Jacques and the villagers go on a witch-hunt which embroils Pierre as well as their eventual victim. All of this culminates in a horrible scene set during an eclipse. Traumatized by events and worried over getting entangled himself (a concern heightened by a not-so-subtle push by Jacques), Nicolas heads back home.
Eclipse is an odd little novel. The plot is pretty straightforward and simple, as are the individual scenes comprising the story, with the vast majority of them being either Nicolas alone being introspective or Nicolas interacting with a single character: the reclusive, erudite, and mysteries Pierre, a truculent blacksmith, the helpful Bishop of Lyons, etc. Where the book breaks away from simplicity is when it bends, as it does frequently, toward the more philosophical realms, whether its Nicolas’ musing on the Dominicans versus the Franciscans, the recent decline of the Church, his desired melding of pagan, alchemical, and Christian worldviews, his meditations on the existence, form of evil and Church doctrine surrounding it, and the surreal, ecstasy of discovery and unification that culminates in the eclipse scene. Unity is obviously a major theme of the book, beginning with his directly stated desire to unify pagan and Christian thinking, but the theme is expressed/explored in multiple other ways throughout, particularly via a single character whose appearance I won’t spoil.
The author does a good job of portraying the mindset of the time, it seems to me (not being a medieval historian), in the depiction for instance of Nicolas’ acceptance of visions, his concerns of the fallen nature of the Church, the mean ignorance of the villagers that turns quickly to violence and a search for a scapegoat for the plague that afflicts them. It’s ignorant superstition that provokes this, but a superstition rooted in a worldview where the superstition makes some sense perhaps. But if the superstition is the base, what fans the horror that ensues is the ugly trait of people to fear and abhor the “other”, a trait happily exploited by those in power (the Inquisitor).
If the mindset of the time is well portrayed, I can’t say the world itself is fully present for me: it’s sounds and smells and day to day existence. And if the highly charged language of our narrator is a good fit for he mind of a friar of the time, I confess it was at times a bit much for my own personal liking. In general, while I found Eclipse interesting, I can’t say it ever fully grabbed me or immersed me, and Nicolas’ stance as a more passive observer lent it a distance that made engagement more difficult. A relatively slim novel, I’d say it’s just as long as it should be, in that any longer and I might have slightly regretted my time spent reading it. I never considered putting it down, knowing how quick a read it would be, but it’s not a book I’d enthusiastically recommend picking up.
September 28, 2024
A strange and satisfying novella. It has a style that I am not used to in Japanese fiction – the sentences are long, flowing, colourful. You will need to absorb them slowly and patiently.
Eclipse reminded me of The Name of the Rose – that is, if the latter was a fever dream. In 1482 a young Dominican priest scholar named Nicolas is traveling through France, looking for a complete manuscript of Corpus Hermeticum. Nicolas believes that his mission in life is to reconcile Christianity to “pagan” philosophy. There is a lot of such dichotomy and duality in the book - Christian vs pagan, mind vs body, sin vs God, world of flesh vs the divine, female vs male, etc. Can we meld and reconcile?
Nicolas has a habit of thinking deeply about everything he sees. There is a lot of theology and Christian philosophy that an unwary reader might drown in. (I had to quickly refresh my memory on Thomas Aquinas and Willian of Ockham.)
For no particular reason other than curiosity, Nicolas decides to stop at a remote village to visit an alchemist. His interactions with the villagers are very nicely written, and the descriptions are beautiful.
“… we passed three young women who had come flying out of the building. They were all dressed in long white gowns whose hems, flipping in the wind, were like clumps of earth kicked up by galloping horses.”
There is another Dominican there, an inquisitor who carries Bernard Gui’s Inquisitor’s Manual everywhere with him. (Hello again, The Name of the Rose.)
The geometrical layout of the village might carry a deeper meaning and there is a bridge where people have seen ghosts. Nicolas’ first meetings with Pierre the alchemist are powerful and poetic.
Then we go into a territory which is very weird, very disturbing, and impactful. Horrible things happen. There might be a hint of an explanation at the end, but this is up to the reader to determine.
Having finished, I am left with the feeling of wonder and a conviction of having been elsewhere.
This is not a book for every kind of reader. I suspect the current average GR rating reflects this. But I am glad that I have read it.
P.S. The preface summarises the plot in great detail. I realised this in time and skimmed forward in panic, as I wanted to go in blind. You’ve been warned :)
Huge thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!
Eclipse reminded me of The Name of the Rose – that is, if the latter was a fever dream. In 1482 a young Dominican priest scholar named Nicolas is traveling through France, looking for a complete manuscript of Corpus Hermeticum. Nicolas believes that his mission in life is to reconcile Christianity to “pagan” philosophy. There is a lot of such dichotomy and duality in the book - Christian vs pagan, mind vs body, sin vs God, world of flesh vs the divine, female vs male, etc. Can we meld and reconcile?
Nicolas has a habit of thinking deeply about everything he sees. There is a lot of theology and Christian philosophy that an unwary reader might drown in. (I had to quickly refresh my memory on Thomas Aquinas and Willian of Ockham.)
For no particular reason other than curiosity, Nicolas decides to stop at a remote village to visit an alchemist. His interactions with the villagers are very nicely written, and the descriptions are beautiful.
“… we passed three young women who had come flying out of the building. They were all dressed in long white gowns whose hems, flipping in the wind, were like clumps of earth kicked up by galloping horses.”
There is another Dominican there, an inquisitor who carries Bernard Gui’s Inquisitor’s Manual everywhere with him. (Hello again, The Name of the Rose.)
The geometrical layout of the village might carry a deeper meaning and there is a bridge where people have seen ghosts. Nicolas’ first meetings with Pierre the alchemist are powerful and poetic.
Then we go into a territory which is very weird, very disturbing, and impactful. Horrible things happen. There might be a hint of an explanation at the end, but this is up to the reader to determine.
Having finished, I am left with the feeling of wonder and a conviction of having been elsewhere.
This is not a book for every kind of reader. I suspect the current average GR rating reflects this. But I am glad that I have read it.
P.S. The preface summarises the plot in great detail. I realised this in time and skimmed forward in panic, as I wanted to go in blind. You’ve been warned :)
Huge thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!
October 13, 2024
Thanks to NetGalley and Columbia University Press for the ARC!
Keiichiro Hirano’s newly-translated Eclipse is a subdued exploration of the tension between synthesis and syncretism—a novella concerned with how one responds when the foundation falls out from under belief.
The story is simple—a fifteenth-century Dominican monk feels a burden to explore philosophical possibilities outside Christianity so that he might integrate them into his faith. It worked with Platonic thought, he argues, so why not alchemy? There isn’t much of a premise beyond that, but the first-person narration (translated beautifully by Brent de Chene and Charles De Wolfe) draws the reader toward interiority, even when the storyteller is witnessing some truly bizarre imagery. It’s an effective approach because it forces us to constantly wrestle with a question:
Which matters more—events or their interpretation?
Late in the book, there’s a line about the villagers being filled with “eschatological anxiety,” and that’s perhaps the easiest way to define the story as a whole. All of the disparate elements—alchemical possibility, religious hypocrisy, and un-gendered ambiguity—serve to rupture the narrative and suggest it will careen to some sort of reality-shattering destruction.
And yet it lumbers uncomfortably on.
We expect the catharsis of crisis, but the author rejects it as a form of confirmation bias—the need to retrofit new experience into old beliefs. I say “belief” here because I don’t think this is simply about faith or religion. It seems more broadly ontological.
Throughout the book, we move deep into the nature of belief. When the alchemist’s practices are similar to a monk’s, does the object of faith matter? Similarly, when a lecherous priest holds the power to condemn, what is the nature of absolution? Do these distinctions matter, or are they universally destructive?
All of these tensions come to a head when an innocent, hermaphroditic creature born from the shadows in a cave (hello, Plato?) is stoned for being a witch. Its innocence—maybe its holiness—seems rooted in its lack of humanity. Its refusal of gendered dichotomy echoes the Christological significance of the hypostatic union. More importantly, however, readers are left pondering whether its salvific function originates in its lack of language—the absence of a structure to scaffold faith. The narrative never gives us a clear answer, instead culminating in an apocalyptic explosion of burnt flesh and bodily fluid before returning to muted uneventfulness almost immediately.
In the end, the only sin is holding on to belief too tightly.
Keiichiro Hirano’s newly-translated Eclipse is a subdued exploration of the tension between synthesis and syncretism—a novella concerned with how one responds when the foundation falls out from under belief.
The story is simple—a fifteenth-century Dominican monk feels a burden to explore philosophical possibilities outside Christianity so that he might integrate them into his faith. It worked with Platonic thought, he argues, so why not alchemy? There isn’t much of a premise beyond that, but the first-person narration (translated beautifully by Brent de Chene and Charles De Wolfe) draws the reader toward interiority, even when the storyteller is witnessing some truly bizarre imagery. It’s an effective approach because it forces us to constantly wrestle with a question:
Which matters more—events or their interpretation?
Late in the book, there’s a line about the villagers being filled with “eschatological anxiety,” and that’s perhaps the easiest way to define the story as a whole. All of the disparate elements—alchemical possibility, religious hypocrisy, and un-gendered ambiguity—serve to rupture the narrative and suggest it will careen to some sort of reality-shattering destruction.
And yet it lumbers uncomfortably on.
We expect the catharsis of crisis, but the author rejects it as a form of confirmation bias—the need to retrofit new experience into old beliefs. I say “belief” here because I don’t think this is simply about faith or religion. It seems more broadly ontological.
Throughout the book, we move deep into the nature of belief. When the alchemist’s practices are similar to a monk’s, does the object of faith matter? Similarly, when a lecherous priest holds the power to condemn, what is the nature of absolution? Do these distinctions matter, or are they universally destructive?
All of these tensions come to a head when an innocent, hermaphroditic creature born from the shadows in a cave (hello, Plato?) is stoned for being a witch. Its innocence—maybe its holiness—seems rooted in its lack of humanity. Its refusal of gendered dichotomy echoes the Christological significance of the hypostatic union. More importantly, however, readers are left pondering whether its salvific function originates in its lack of language—the absence of a structure to scaffold faith. The narrative never gives us a clear answer, instead culminating in an apocalyptic explosion of burnt flesh and bodily fluid before returning to muted uneventfulness almost immediately.
In the end, the only sin is holding on to belief too tightly.
November 8, 2024
I love the premise of this book, with the young Dominican friar Nicolas, setting out on a journey, but to be honest, I found the start a little hard going, it is very philosophical and structured, that it felt like wading through an academic article, rather than a start to a novella. This comes from his fascination with "fragments of pre-Christian philosophy that have come into his hands and determined to achieve a synthesis of Hermetic and Neoplatonic thought with the Christian tradition" (quote from the Introduction).
Thankfully, after setting the scene, the story starts to open up and the writing offers some quirkiness (whether this is the author or the translator, I am not sure).
I laughed - It is a quote that is so simple that it is almost at odds with some of the other parts of the book.
The story is expressed as the narration of Nicolas' journey, in which he shares his opinions about the people he meets and the places he visits. These are often descriptive and not always complementary. It also, is of the challenges the friar feels, struggling to correlate his beliefs against people he admires and alternative scientific views. The following is an example of this conflict of feelings relating to the alchemist Pierre:
The author is also quite brave and brazen. There are scenes which resemble the big bang creation of earth, extravagant carvings, strange people, curses, and a good deal of local fear. Hirano, certainly knows his 15th century literature and history and has provided a book full of wonder, hysteria and conspiracies.
I think this book is quite divisive and some will really enjoy it, and others will find it less so. This seems particularly true of the reviews I have already read. For me, it was not my favourite book. I didn't feel emotionally connected to it, but I am glad to have read it.
Thankfully, after setting the scene, the story starts to open up and the writing offers some quirkiness (whether this is the author or the translator, I am not sure).
"I came to realize that obtaining the document I sought would be more difficult than I had expected, and for two reasons: first, the fundamental problem that it was simply not to be found".
I laughed - It is a quote that is so simple that it is almost at odds with some of the other parts of the book.
The story is expressed as the narration of Nicolas' journey, in which he shares his opinions about the people he meets and the places he visits. These are often descriptive and not always complementary. It also, is of the challenges the friar feels, struggling to correlate his beliefs against people he admires and alternative scientific views. The following is an example of this conflict of feelings relating to the alchemist Pierre:
"Above all, I dreaded any debate with him. I was particularly averse to being forced to pronounce on the heresy or orthodoxy of his views. I, an ardent defender of the faith, a brother in the order of Saint Dominic!"
The author is also quite brave and brazen. There are scenes which resemble the big bang creation of earth, extravagant carvings, strange people, curses, and a good deal of local fear. Hirano, certainly knows his 15th century literature and history and has provided a book full of wonder, hysteria and conspiracies.
I think this book is quite divisive and some will really enjoy it, and others will find it less so. This seems particularly true of the reviews I have already read. For me, it was not my favourite book. I didn't feel emotionally connected to it, but I am glad to have read it.
November 14, 2024
I don't suppose there are many people who would expect a novel about pre-Renaissance religious thought in Europe to be a particularly entertaining read but "Eclipse" is a fascinating and ,it could be said literally ,enlightening book. Equally,if you haven't read it,it is surprising that a book on this subject should be a massive seller,an award winner and considered a classic in Japan.
The somewhat spare plot involves a young Dominican scholar interested in the links between Pagan and Christian teachings as written about by Thomas Aquinas and others. On a journey to Florence in search of a pre-Christian manuscript recommended to him by his mentor he's directed to a small village along the way and told that a local Alchemist has knowledge that will help him in a different kind of journey.
That brief description doesn't even touch the sides of what an amazing book this is, I rarely read books twice but along with The Prophet it's one I'll read again and again. There's so much insight here,so much to think about and learn. I'm no scholar but author Keiichiro Hirano's skill in making some quite complex theological ideas and principles not only accessible but fascinating is the work of a master. At times I struggled as something totally new to me was related but the device of the young Dominican struggling himself with these ideas and his thought processes giving both himself and the reader an explanation for the layman is genius. This is a lot more than a novel,in a small number of pages there's philosophy,theology ,history and a wide range of spiritual and esoteric lore.
The effort made to bring this book to an English-speaking audience also deserves mention, A large team of academics were involved and impressively author Hirano was also involved in the translation making sure that the English language version of his work was as he'd want it to be.
The first time I read this book it was Google to hand to decipher some of the more archaic words and read about some of the early teachers mentioned which broke the narrative at times. I'll definitely be reading it again at least once so that's a one off issue ,and of course I learned something new along the way which is never time wasted.
Quite and amazing book that I'm confident will been seen very quickly as a classic work in the English-speaking world as well as in it's native Japan.
The somewhat spare plot involves a young Dominican scholar interested in the links between Pagan and Christian teachings as written about by Thomas Aquinas and others. On a journey to Florence in search of a pre-Christian manuscript recommended to him by his mentor he's directed to a small village along the way and told that a local Alchemist has knowledge that will help him in a different kind of journey.
That brief description doesn't even touch the sides of what an amazing book this is, I rarely read books twice but along with The Prophet it's one I'll read again and again. There's so much insight here,so much to think about and learn. I'm no scholar but author Keiichiro Hirano's skill in making some quite complex theological ideas and principles not only accessible but fascinating is the work of a master. At times I struggled as something totally new to me was related but the device of the young Dominican struggling himself with these ideas and his thought processes giving both himself and the reader an explanation for the layman is genius. This is a lot more than a novel,in a small number of pages there's philosophy,theology ,history and a wide range of spiritual and esoteric lore.
The effort made to bring this book to an English-speaking audience also deserves mention, A large team of academics were involved and impressively author Hirano was also involved in the translation making sure that the English language version of his work was as he'd want it to be.
The first time I read this book it was Google to hand to decipher some of the more archaic words and read about some of the early teachers mentioned which broke the narrative at times. I'll definitely be reading it again at least once so that's a one off issue ,and of course I learned something new along the way which is never time wasted.
Quite and amazing book that I'm confident will been seen very quickly as a classic work in the English-speaking world as well as in it's native Japan.
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