黒衣の僧 チェーホフ

凄い話だ。狂人を凡人が“治療”で凡人にしてしまうと、狂人が抱いていた幸福感が消滅し、逆に失望感にとらわれる。治療前までのコヴリンとターニャの関係、またコヴリンとターニャの父の関係は最も好ましい関係であったが、治療後は最悪の関係になる。立派な果樹園が、最後には荒れ果てて他人に売り払われるのはその典型例。
最後に黒衣の僧が現われて、コヴリンが再び至福を味わい死んでいくのは心を打つ。展開の仕方が見事。

The First World Joseph O'Neill

The story describes Arty's constant source of worry, that is, Glady's dependence on him. The protagonist "listens" to him, but not so much interested in Arty's worry.
What bothers and disappoints Arty is the cold attitudes of Glady's brothers, former employers, relatives, protagonist's ex-wife, and her "grand-daughters." They would not spend a penny to assist her. The protagonist himself is one of the cold people, who has been uneasy for the loss of his wallet, but not so serious about it. He is an optimistic man: he thinks "the world would return " his wallet.
The contrast between the cold people and the protagonist's "belief" in the goodwill of the people is interesting.

黒南風の海 伊東潤

文禄慶長の役の時に降倭した沙也可（佐屋嘉嘉兵衛）と順倭した金宦と余大男を小説の中で一堂に会させるのは、着想がいいと思うが、あまりにも非現実的で、信憑性がなく、読みながら、最後まで違和感を感じた。
また、秀吉が朝鮮に出兵したのは「朝鮮の民を支配者から救い、秀吉の
徳を明国まで広め、すべての民を苦しみから救うため」と書いてあるが歴史的事実に反する。また加藤清正が民のことを思う情けある名将のように書いてあるが、清正は余大男を朝鮮から拉致している。
「加藤清正『文禄慶長の役』異聞」とあるから、作り話と思えばそれでいいのかもしれないが。
 

Origin by Dan Brown

Dan Brown again fascinated me by his excellent plot development and the surprise ending.

There are about 100 chapters, but each chapter is dramatic and ends with the lines that make the reader want to read further more.

The story takes place in Spain, precisely speaking, at famed tourist spots like Guggenheim Museum, and Casa Milà and Sagrada Família designed by Gawdi

The story centers around two themes: where do we come from and where are we going? Dan Brown skillfully answers the questions utilizing his supercomputer named William.

  The ending part was difficult to comprehend with so many scientific and religious terminologies, but Brown shows harmony between religion and science.

The reader should pay attention to "William."

The Intermediate Class by Sam Allingham

　　This is a story of a man named Kiril, who attends a German intermediate class. Since the students are not allowed to speak English, they try to communicate in simple German. Kiril feels a barrier in communication because of his poor German. The other students feel the same way.

But even if Kiril is away from the class, his English, which is supposed to communicate far better than his broken German, does not convey his true feeling. He feels irritated.

At the end of the last class, the German teacher plays Schubert: Der Erlkonig on the piano. As he plays it, he explains how the story develops by the sound of the music like: now he sounds frightened. And here is the father. You can hear he is strong, in his voice.

  As a whole, Allingham showed how inconvenient a language is. It is sometimes a hindrance for communication, while music is a better tool for communication.

 But a perfect commutation is after all impossible.

The Queen of Spade by Pushkin

　　Very interesting. Excellent description of the situations and Harman’s and Ivanovna’s psychology. A lot of humor and good metaphors. The ending is unexpectedly too simple.
　　Harman breaks his fast not to gamble, but he wants money. So he uses Ivanovna to get the key three cards numbers from old countess, but while he was ordering her to tell the key numbers, she dies. However, in his dream the late countess tells the three numbers. He goes to gamble and wins twice, but at the third game, he makes a mistake and loses all his money.
 

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

　　The ending is moving after all the incidents that have happened to Axl and Beatrice. Axl “wades on” resolutely and sadly. He determines that he can’t live together with Beatrice on the island where their son sleeps. He departs his wife eternally. However, why does Axl wade on ignoring the boatman? Doesn’t he come to terms with him and wait for the boat to fetch him to join with his wife? Just a few moments ago, he so desperately wanted to go to the island with his wife. An unsatisfying ending.

Izhiguro dealt with the advantage and disadvantage of memory. The “mist” the she-dragon gives is good for some people like Axl, but for others like Beatrice bad. Human beings are well made. We forget bad, intolerable, and sad memories when time passes. This is good.

 

Disappointing points:

1. The she-dragon was so feeble and skinny. It was easy for Wistan to kill it.

2. Their son was not alive, but was dead and they intend to visit his grave. Nothing is mentioned about his grave till the end of the story. This is so tricky.

3. I thought the couple would finally meet their son or find him already dead.

4. The development of the story is so slow and too many incidents related to Wistan, Edwin, and Gawain take place. This is not a story where the old couple take painful troubles to meet their son, which every reader expects when they read the first pages. A kind of betrayal.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Kazuo Ishiguro presented the reader a huge problem: are human clones inferior to normal human beings? Can we use their organs as substitutes for sick organs, but this is absurd. Who would think they are inferior? His basic premise for the story is wrong.

Several questions and important points:

1. Why are Ruth and Tommy donors and not Kath?

2. Who becomes a carer and who becomes a donor?

3. After finishing the role of a donor, she or he will be a donor?

4. I don’t understand why the Hailsham students were not shocked when they heard from Miss Lucy that they are destined to provide their organs. It is unnatural that they accept without any big surprise or emotional feedbacks. After they heard the truth, Ishiguro describes that some students have sex. This is quite incomprehensive behaviors.

5. Why don’t the Hailsham students run away from the school once they have informed of their role in society. They have a lot of chance to do so. Why do they follow the regulations foolishly and faithfully?

7. I was moved to read the conversation between Madam and Tommy and Kath. I sympathized with the students, who are destined to give organs, yet Madam tried to give good education to them as much as possible. Something is wrong with her. Why does she do that? Why let them live their own ways?

8. The students have sex. Tommy and Kath have sex, but don’t they have babies?

9. Ishiguro is great to have shed light on the problem of clones.

10. Do 16-year-old boys and girls believe that the things they created in art class will tell who and who are in love? They are not infants. They should know better.

 

Black Jack V.1-V.3 By Osamu Tezuka

　　I read 45 Black Jack stories. Each plot is well developed. Black Jack is not a perfect doctor, but sometimes fails in operations. Black Jack stories are based on humanity. Some of them drew tears from my eyes.
　　 His drawing techniques, especially the characters’ facial expressions, are excellent. Their eyes reveal their emotion. Pinoko, the wife, she insists, is humorous and funny. I enjoyed her infant-like talking.
   Since he was a doctor himself, he knew a lot about diseases and operations and he utilized his knowledge in the field well in Black Jack series.

「本所深川ふしぎ草子 送り提灯」 宮部みゆき

中途半端な話。
１．お嬢さんの願掛けの相手が押し込み強盗と言うのはどうしてわかるのか。相手は大野屋の間取りを知っているのか。お嬢さんが相手を家の中に入れたことがあるのか。説明がない。

２．清助は毎晩毎晩おりんを待っていて、親しく声をかけている。清助はおりんのことを好いていないのか。清助がお嬢さんを心底思う気持ちが、描かれていない。

３．送り火は一体なんだったのか。狸か狐か、清助かが明かされていない。

４．大体回向院に本人が行かなくて、代理が行くと言うのは聞いたことがないし、屁理屈が書かれているが読者は納得しないだろう。

５．握り飯と草履を投げずになぜ送り火は消えたのかが書いてない。

「本所深川ふしぎ草子－片葉の葦」 宮部みゆき

疑問点
１．茂七は元六が藤兵衛殺しの犯人と分かったのかが描かれていない。お園と話している時に隣の壁に耳を当てて聞いていたということだけで、犯人と断定できるものか。もっと、確固たる証拠が欲しい。

２．藤兵衛の性格・信条がちぐはぐ。 「恵む」と「助ける」の違いが分かっているなら、寿司で余った酢米を貧しい人に、恵んでいるのではなくて、人助けをしているということで、与えればいい。彦次を源助のところに世話したり、下駄屋に金を貸したりしているなら、その性格上貧しい人に残った米をあたえる方が、性格的に合致しているのではないか。

ノルウェイの森 村上春樹

　精神を病んでいる直子と快活な緑の二人の女性を好きになり、悶々としているワタナベは、直子の自殺（恐らく直子が身を引いた）により、女は緑一人に決まっていく。
　 直子が自殺すると言う結末は読者に衝撃をあたえる。直子とワタナベの関係が淡々と退屈するぐらいなテンポで繰り広げられているからその分、最後に急展開するだけに衝撃は強い。読者はワタナベに感情移入しているから、直子の死は心を打つ。
　ワタナベの人間がいまいち分かりにくい。毒がない男だ。
　日記風の描写が延々と続くため途中で飽きてくる。しかしこの作品はエンタメでもなくドラマティックでもないので、辛抱して読むしかない。読者を釣っていく仕掛けがない。
　それにしても、セックスシーン（それも、どぎつい）が次から次々と出てくるが、村上は男女の話を書くときにはセックスシーン抜きでは書けないのだろうか。結局、直子との思い出も、緑との思い出も、せんじ詰めれば（レイコも含めて）セックスの思い出しかないではないか。
　レイコが第三者的な立場で登場するが、レイコは読者とワタナベの緩衝剤になっている。
　全体に真面目な話だ。 「海辺のカフカ」と大違いだ。

海辺のカフカ 村上春樹

 　哲学的で理屈っぽく、シュールリアリズム的で、ユング的で、幻想的で、非論理的で、現実離れしていて、現実と異世界の境目的で、ナポレオンとかベートーベンとかハイドンとか紫式部とか、上田秋成とかチェホフとか一杯学識がさらけ出されて、小難しいことを並べて、何が何だかわからない。
　一体村上春樹はこの本で何を読者に言いたかったのか。１５歳の少年の家出、父を殺して母と姉と交わることの意味は何なのか。オイディプス王がなぜここに入り込むのか。
　特に分からないのは最初に女教師が１６人の生徒を連れキノコ狩りに行って、子供が全員一時記憶喪失状態になり、一人だけ意識が回復しなかった。女教師は月経がはじまり、一人の子供を叩いたことが私信としてくどくど手紙にしたためられているが、その後、東大の教授は登場しない。あの茸狩り事件はこの作品の中でどういう役割を果たしているのか。チェホフが「拳銃を出したらぶっ放せ」と村上は本文で言っているが、キノコ狩り事件を出しておいてぶっ放していない。中途半端だ。
　大島は学識が余りにも豊富すぎるし、佐伯さんやナカタさんはどうして死ななければならないのか。星野青年はなぜ猫と話ができるようになったのか。カーネル・サンダースやジョニー・ウォーカーはいったい何者なのか。 　
　村上が読者に伝えたいことがあるとすれば、話をこんなに抽象的に読者に分からないように、分からないように、哲学的すぎるぐらいの表現や展開にしなくても、もっと具体的に現実的に表現した方がたとえ超現実世界を描くにしてももっと伝わりやすいと思う。わざと、計算ずくで、読者を混乱に陥れている。石を開けるとはどういうことなのか。閉じるとは裏返すことなのか。？？？　
　意識の中での殺人が現実世界の殺人になるとか、夢の中の性交が現実世界の性交になるとか、もっと書きようがあるはず。
　帯に「海外でも高い評価を受ける傑作長篇小説（新潮文庫）とあるが、高い評価を受けているのは作品が難解であるからだ。難解なモノであればあるほど人はバカにされないように、それを高く評価するものだ。

Livvie by Eudora Welty

　　An old man named Solomon marries a sixteen-year-old girl, Livvie and lives in a deep country. She was obedient to him and works hard for him. However, as 9 years passes he becomes feeble and lies in bed all day. One day Cash, a young field hand working for him intrudes their house, kissed Livvie and behaves as if he were her husband. Solomon gets angry in bed but he regrets that he married such a young girl. After his death, Livvie and Cash “moved around and around the room and into the brightness of the open door.”
　　The story shows the vivid contrast between dying Solomon and lively Cash. Solomon signifies winter and Cash spring. At the outset of the story Solomon “asked her [Livvie] if she was choosing winter, would she pine for spring, and she said, “No, indeed.” However, she chooses spring in the end as if destined.
　　In the end of the story “the sun was in all the bottles on the prisoned trees, and the young peach was shining in the middle of them with bursting light of spring.” This sentence is a metaphor. The prisoned trees means that she is imprisoned in Solomon’s house. The young peach is Cash and Livvie.
　　 This is a sad story.

"The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro

　　The protagonist, Mr. Stevens is a man of dignity as a butler working for Lord Darlington. He is faithful to his master and never reveals his emotion in public. He strictly controls himself. He never criticizes his lord’s attitude which endangers Britain. Nearing the end of his life when he had limited remains of the day, he resolves to lead the rest of his life with bantering. 　　First, I felt tired of reading the book, for there was little dramatic development, but as I read it, I was interested in Mr. Stevens’s way of thinking. Ishiguro described his psychology well. Most of the story consists of the description of how he thinks. The description drives the readers to identify themselves with Mr. Stevens.