Some Prefer Nettles by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

[Diane]

Rating: 4 stars


The story of a disintegrating marriage, told in four parts. Kaname and Misako are a married couple living in 1920's Osaka, Japan. They have been married for a decade and have one son. They are having marital problems and considering a divorce and trying to reach an agreement on what to do. Both are having extramarital infidelities. Word gets out to Kaname's father-in-law who has his own ideas on what should be done to save this marriage. What ensues is a clash between the traditional Japanese values and the more modernized and progressive view of thinking in the newly industrialized Japan. I love the parallels between the puppet show featured in the novel and the story line and the occasional digressions about Edo period artwork.