秋 アリ・スミス 新潮社

 何とも不思議な、難解な小説。時系列に沿って話（あるとすれば）が展開していかない。AIに訊いたところ、人間は頭の中は時系列に沿って活動していない。ある時は現在について、ある時は過去について、ある時は未来について、てんでんばらばらに浮かんだり、消えたりする。そのバラバラを紙上に著したという。だから、今までの小説とは全く違う。主人公の女性はある時は３１歳になったり、１３歳になったり、２０歳になったり、少女になったり、ごちゃごちゃで話を筋道を立てて追っていけない。

さらに混乱させるのは、言葉の遊びが縦横無尽に披露されることだ。いわゆる駄洒落、韻を揃える、同一単語が別の意味で同じ文章の中で使われ、皮肉や風刺が一杯でてくる。訳者は苦労して言葉遊びの部分にカタカナでふりがなを付けている。しかし、言葉遊びの醍醐味は伝わらない。原文（英語）で読むしかない。

また、英国文化と伝統と歴史をよく知っていないと、さっぱり分からない。EU離脱（Brixit)の経緯も分かっていないと読めない。昔の文化と現在社会が入り混じった文章が頻繁に出て来る。よほどの英国通でなければ本の面白味は伝わらない。シェクスピアやディケンズ、その他の作家の作品からの引用が鏤められている。「秋」の最初の一行が「それは最悪の時だった。最悪の時。またしても」である。これはディケンズの「二都物語」の出だしを、もじった。

他にも数々あるようだが、プロヒューモ事件の女（当時１９歳の売春婦）、クリスティーン・キーラーが、しばしば登場する。キーラーのスキャンダルを知っていないと、さっぱり分からない。また彼女が何とかという椅子に半裸体で座っている写真が扱われているが、写真をじっくり見なければ何を言っているのか分からない。ましてや翻訳で分かる訳がない。特に日本人には。

原文（英語）で読めば、もう少しましな読みができるだろうが、恐らく一ページを読むのに一日掛かるだろう。２４０ページもある。私にはそんな時間はない。

「あとがき」で翻訳者（木原善彦氏）が言っている。「２０１９年度に大坂大学大学院言語文化研究科の演習でこの作品を読み」とある。演習材料としてはこれ以上の本はない。

以下は私の問いに対するAIの回答。

Question:

Is the 101-year-old man, Daniel, a real person or a metaphor for the good old days?

Answer:

Daniel Gluck, the 101-year-old man in Ali Smith's Autumn, is a fictional character, not a real historical person.

However, I would not describe him simply as a metaphor for the good old days. He has a much richer function in the novel.

Daniel represents a connection between past and present, but the past he embodies is not necessarily an ideal or golden age.

I would suggest four interpretations of Daniel:

• The humane past: He belongs to a Britain in which intellectual curiosity, tolerance, artistic appreciation and personal kindness matter.

• The continuity of memory: His recollections connect different generations. Through him, Elisabeth encounters the past not as dead history but as something still alive.

• Art and imagination: Daniel introduces Elisabeth to art, particularly the neglected Pop artist Pauline Boty. He teaches her to see the world imaginatively.

• A contrast with Brexit Britain: Daniel's cosmopolitan outlook and his kindness stand against the suspicion, hostility and narrow nationalism emerging in contemporary Britain.

  SuperSummary+2

There is also an important qualification: Daniel's past includes the Second World War and the internment of people regarded as enemy aliens. It was not an entirely good old world.

My interpretation: Daniel is less a symbol of the good old days than a symbol of the qualities of humanity that ought to survive from one generation to another.

I particularly like the contrast between Daniel's 101 years of life and Elisabeth's 32 years. One represents accumulated memory; the other, the future. Their friendship bridges the two.

This is why I think Daniel's impending death is so important to the novel. The question is not simply whether an old man will die, but whether the humane values he represents will continue after him.

Question:

Why did Elisabeth want to renew her passport? Is it connected with Brexit?

Answer:

Yes. Elisabeth's wish to renew her passport in Ali Smith's Autumn is closely connected with Brexit. It is not merely a practical matter of replacing an expired document. It has a symbolic and political significance.

The novel was published in 2016, shortly after the Brexit referendum of 23 June 2016. It is the first novel in Smith's seasonal quartet, and Brexit is one of its central historical and political backgrounds.

The passport represents something larger than the right to travel: it represents Elisabeth's sense of belonging to Europe and her identity as a European citizen.

There are three levels to the episode:

1. European identity: The passport carries the words European Union. Elisabeth's new passport therefore becomes a symbol of her connection with Europe.

2. National division: After the referendum, Britain is divided between those who voted to leave and those who wanted to remain. Elisabeth's passport episode reflects the anxiety and uncertainty of this moment.

3. Bureaucratic absurdity: At the post office, she encounters an extraordinarily obstructive official who rejects her photograph on technical grounds. Smith uses humour to expose a society increasingly preoccupied with rules, borders and the verification of identity.

There is a particularly poignant moment later in the novel: when Elisabeth finally receives her passport, her mother notices the words European Union on its cover and makes a sad face. This is a significant detail.

ResearchGate+2

One important historical point: At the time of the story, Britain had voted to leave the EU, but had not yet formally left. The passport still bore the European Union designation.

Ali Smith herself explained that Brexit transformed the direction of the novel she was writing. She had begun Autumn before the referendum, but felt compelled to incorporate the political divisions that emerged in 2016.

The Guardian+1

In my reading, the passport episode is not simply about Elisabeth wanting to travel abroad. It asks a deeper question:

When political borders are drawn between people, what happens to our sense of belonging?

That, I think, is one of the central questions of Autumn.

QUESTION:

Yes. Elisabeth's wish to renew her passport in Ali Smith's Autumn is closely connected with Brexit. It is not merely a practical matter of replacing an expired document. It has a symbolic and political significance.

The novel was published in 2016, shortly after the Brexit referendum of 23 June 2016. It is the first novel in Smith's seasonal quartet, and Brexit is one of its central historical and political backgrounds.

The passport represents something larger than the right to travel: it represents Elisabeth's sense of belonging to Europe and her identity as a European citizen.

There are three levels to the episode:

1. European identity: The passport carries the words European Union. Elisabeth's new passport therefore becomes a symbol of her connection with Europe.

2. National division: After the referendum, Britain is divided between those who voted to leave and those who wanted to remain. Elisabeth's passport episode reflects the anxiety and uncertainty of this moment.

3. Bureaucratic absurdity: At the post office, she encounters an extraordinarily obstructive official who rejects her photograph on technical grounds. Smith uses humour to expose a society increasingly preoccupied with rules, borders and the verification of identity.

There is a particularly poignant moment later in the novel: when Elisabeth finally receives her passport, her mother notices the words European Union on its cover and makes a sad face. This is a significant detail.

ResearchGate+2

One important historical point: At the time of the story, Britain had voted to leave the EU, but had not yet formally left. The passport still bore the European Union designation.

Ali Smith herself explained that Brexit transformed the direction of the novel she was writing. She had begun Autumn before the referendum, but felt compelled to incorporate the political divisions that emerged in 2016.

The Guardian+1

In my reading, the passport episode is not simply about Elisabeth wanting to travel abroad. It asks a deeper question:

When political borders are drawn between people, what happens to our sense of belonging?

That, I think, is one of the central questions of "Autumn."

天平の甍 井上靖

 『唐大和上東征伝』と『鑑真大和上傳之研究』と『続日本書紀』を基にこの小説を書いたらしい。四人の留学生を中心に話は展開する。

天平五年（７３３）日本人の留学生が唐に渡り、鑑真和上を奈良に招く話。鑑真は６度目の渡航で、やっと日本に辿り着いたが、１０年かかった。最後は老齢と疲れで失明してまでも渡来を果たした。

その航海の困難さは沈没、難破、座礁などで、島々に停泊して数カ月を要している。命懸けである。蘇州に到着するのは稀で、安南（ベトナム）まで押し流されることもあった。帰路も同じ困難があった。

普照が主人公で、彼の心理描写が巧みに描かれている。共に唐に渡った栄叡や戒融、業行らの中で、最も印象に残ったのは業行である。

彼は唐にいる１０年にわたり仏典を写経し続け、何百冊の写経本を仕上げて、帰路に就く。遣唐使船は四隻あるが、帰路とき第一船に写経と共に乗込む。寡黙で、写経本が日本に着けば、「本は独り歩きをして、日本の仏教を根底から変える」という理想を持っていた。

鑑真や普照が乗ってい第二船や、第三船、第四船が薩摩半島に着いたが、第一船は沈没した。

１０年の歳月を懸けて、一刻も休まず書写し続けた業行の努力が一瞬にして海に沈み、水の泡となる。

船が沈み、写経本が海に投げ出される時、業行は何と思ったか、気が狂ったのではないかと共感した。

吉田松陰 山岡荘八

全二巻を読み終えた。この小説は、通常の歴史小説と大いに違う。通常、主人公（松陰）の頭の中で考えていることは、しばしば文で描写されるが、この小説は、松陰の考えや考えの根本思想が何ページにもわたって描かれている。その哲学を読むだけで、松陰がどういう人物であったかが、よく解る。松陰は、尊王攘夷の大権現と言ってもいい。日本国は天皇を根源として成り立っており、天皇を蔑ろにする存在は悪である。親に孝行する。城主に従うのも大事であるが、一番大事なのは天皇を犯さぬという思想である。１０歳かそこらで、孟子の講義を大人に対してできる天才的頭脳の持ち主である。松陰の周りの者を感化しないではおかない。牢に入れば、囚人や看守の心の拠り所となり、死に際しても、狼狽えずに死を日本国のために役立てる。長州に木戸孝允、高杉晋作、山形有朋、伊藤博文などの偉人が出るが、松陰は彼らの頭を動かさずにはおかなかった。

山岡荘八は、恐らく松陰の書いた一次資料を読みこなし、自分の血と肉として、それを読者に伝えている。到底、私のできぬ技である。

Mr. Know-All by W.Somerset Maughan in 1924

 Somerset Maugham’s Mr. Know-All is an excellent short story. At the beginning, the narrator dislikes Mr. Kelada, or “Mr. Know-All,” because he seems to know everything about everything. Yet by the end, the narrator admits, “I did not entirely dislike Mr. Kelada.” I thought he would change his opinion about Mr. Kelada at the end of the story.

The turning point comes when Mr. Kelada confidently declares that Mrs. Ramsay’s pearl necklace is genuine and worth thirty thousand dollars. Her husband insists it cost only eighteen dollars, and they wager a hundred. When Mr. Kelada examines the pearls closely, he realizes they are real — but he also sees the desperate plea in Mrs. Ramsay’s eyes. Understanding instantly that the necklace must be a secret gift from her wealthy lover, he chooses to protect her. He lies, calls the pearls fake, and pays Ramsay the hundred dollars.

Somerset Maugham’s Mr. Know-All is an excellent short story. At the beginning, the narrator dislikes Mr. Kelada or “Mr. Know-All” because he seems to know everything about everything. Yet by the end, the narrator admits, “I did not entirely dislike Mr. Kelada.” I thought he would change his opinion about Mr. Kelada at the end of the story.

The title Mr. Know-All is fitting not only because Kelada knows facts about everything, but because he understands people — especially when compassion matters more than being right.

 

Charles by Shirley Jackson in 1948

 I read Jackson’s famous short story, “Lottery” some decades ago. The last scene was a horrific surprising ending. I learned that she got a lot of hate mail.

This one, “Charles,” is also a surprise ending story, but not horrific. I enjoyed the story.

[Spoiler] Laurie is naughty and tells his parents a lie every day he comes back home from kindergarten. He talks about how bad Charles is. His parents become so curious ( I became as curious as they are). When Laurie’s mother meets the teacher, she says, “You must have your hands full in that kindergarten, with Charles.” The teacher responds, “Charles? We don’t have any Charles in the kindergarten.”

A nice ending. It was humorous, too.

"Night Surf " written by David W. Burns

“Night Surf,” written by David W. Burns, is an astonishing short story—one of the most memorable I’ve ever read. It stands beside the finest short fiction I know, such as "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce and "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe.

One of the story’s greatest strengths is the dual nature of the creature—both Cassie and a Nereid sea nymph. As a Nereid, she is cool, distant, and otherworldly; as Cassie, she becomes warm, human, and quietly tender. This contrast gives the story emotional depth.

The narrative succeeds because it follows the timeless principle of crafting a moving story: crushing hopelessness just before the ending, followed by the faintest glimmer of hope in the final moment. And that hope arrives beautifully in the last line:

“Next time, bring more of the pink ones.”

In that single sentence, we understand that the old man—the protagonist—will return, prepared with an abundance of pink jelly beans, carrying with him the fragile promise of connection.

This short story was published in 2019. It won the Grand Prize in the 14th Annual Writer's Digest Popular Fiction Awards. 

大岡越前 吉川英治

 諸悪の根源は将軍にある。依って将軍を召し取る、と江戸城に出掛け吉宗に説教する大岡越前。誰しも考えられない展開。出だしの犬殺しの三人も島流しから恩赦を受け許される。越前守の前の名前、市之助も娘、燕に親身に学を教え、妻のお袖の心が和む。出だしからエンディング迄、間延びする箇所もあるが、上手く展開している。