Fetch Your Copy Volcano Narrated By Shūsaku Endō Conveyed In Pamphlet
was a melancholic book which I had some trouble connecting with, despite its interesting depictions of Japanese culture, What I did enjoy was the symbolism of the volcano, linking it to human life, The two protagnonists, Jinpei and Father Durand, were both pretty pathetic characters, Jinpei was quite horrible to his wife and sons and was obsessed with the volcano Father Durand was relatively tyrannical too and spent most of the novel trying to prove that Japanese culture and Christianity were incompatible.
Not the best Japanese novel I've ever read but it wasn't too bad, A priest, a former priest, a retired weatherman and an oily councilman potter around as a dormant volcano may or may not be about to erupt.
Some good passages about what it means to grow old but ultimately this was not a book that moved me, Two. A thoughtprovoking tale of regret, aging, and the fear of death, While I prefer Silence as my goto Endo novel, this was a great book, Also, it was pretty short, so I recommend giving it a shot, One star has been deducted for the very questionable work of Mr, Richard A. Schuchert, the translator of my Tuttle edition not pictured above, Even so, this is certainly the least appealing Endo book I've read so far, Utterly hopeless and depressing, and this is coming from someone who gets more than your average degree of satisfaction from books that wallow, There are many volcanoes in Japan, but Akadake, as the volcano in Endo's novel is called, is not one of them, It is a fictional mountain, but is seems to have been based on Mt Sakurajima, the large volcano looming up above the city of Kagoshima in southern Kyushu.
Kyushu is also the island where, in theth century, Christianity first flourished in Japan,
Volcano is a novel about the trials of old age, The two aged protagonists are Suda Jinpei, who is just retired from his position as section chief at the local Weather Bureau, and Durand, an unfrocked French Catholic priest.
The fates of both men are linked by the volcano, Suda has for his whole life studied the volcano and believes it is dormant, reason why he advises a tycoon to build a luxury hotel on its slope.
Durand, sick and bitter, is convinced that Akadake will erupt and that a tide of lava will sweep away the new Christian retreat being built on the mountain by a rival priest.
Suda suffers a stroke, and while in hospital believes that his family wants him to die, He feels sympathy for the volcano which is also dying, Durand contemplates the problem of Christianity and Japan and comes to the conclusion that Christianity is alien to the Japanese character, To him Akadake is a symbol of evil that will erupt and annihilate the fragile faith of the local Christian community,
See my website about modern Japanese fiction: sitelink blogspot. com/p/ I really enjoyed this book, It paints a rather depressing picture of human nature with none of the characters having much
to commend them even the affable Father Sato everyone has less than noble hidden agendas and motives.
I appreciated the way in which the two main protagonists, who came from very different walks of life, were connected by the volcano, While the volcano looms large throughout the book, the main focus of the book is on the characters themselves and their motives and relationships, particularly as they approach the end of the lives.
I really have been wanting to read "Silence" but the library had "Volcano" so I decided to try that as my introduction to Shusaku Endo.
It was interesting, meditative, and sad,
In a way, it was an interesting complement to "A Hologram for a King" which I finished just before it because they both concerned older men confronting an end to their careers and an end to their health and vitality.
"Hologram" was of course a bit more uplifting by the end but I found "Volcano" to be more moving, I kind of wish it was a little longer, though, and maybe more straightforward because by the end I felt like I was missing something, or maybe just needed to be more experienced in reading Japanese literature to fully understand all the themes and what it was doing.
I really did expect the volcano to explode at the end and kill everyone in Villa Theresa or for Aiba's business ventures to come to ruin.
But they didn't.
Schuchert's introduction talked about the volcano representing a looming evil yet, Durand and Suda had so much unhappiness in their lives that they came to recognize at the very endwhat was the point of having this looming evil when there was evil all around them Especially in Suda's case, i felt where his son, daughter in law, and wife all seemed to hate him.
And speaking of the wife Taka Suda overemphasizes that he never cheated on her when it was very apparent to me that he was cheating on her in a sense with the volcano.
Akakake was his true love and passion, not her, At least he had that love in his life, but he died wondering if that love was going to "betray" him in the end by exploding and contradicting his life's work.
It's hard to say I enjoyed this book because it's not really that sort of book its calm and real and seeps inside you quietly rather than getting this big sense of 'yes! This is a Good Book!'
It is a good book though, in my opinion!
Endo's character writing is impeccable.
The two main characters especially Jinpei are fascinating because somehow he is able to have you sympathise with them while also making it entirely clear why it is that they lack love, which is one of the themes of the book.
I was a little disappointed not to see the volcano erupt or not erupt but at the same time, it was the only ending that entirely fit the tone of the novel so I'm glad it didn't happen! A petty scientific functionary retires, grapples with his meaningless existence and horrible family in the shadow of a volcano which may or may not erupt.
Endo was a great talent, and his status as a Christian offers a peculiar and distinct insight into the nature of Japanese society, Less grand than his period pieces, but with the same fine sense ofnot subtlety, exactly, this is after all a book in which an active volcano serving as a metaphor for life's subterranean passionsbut appreciation for the complexity of human agency.
Good stuff.½. A bleak, hopeless little novel without any likable characters, "Volcano" still manages to be interesting, I can tell the translation is not very good, and it may not be CLASSIC Endō, but it is definitely worth reading if you are a fan.
The initial impression is of general human failure, but viewed through the lens of Endo's known antipathy for his native culture and the criticism bordering on disgust with Japan is of an intense focus.
He takes it a little too far at times, but his tactics are fascinating, Very dry look at the lives of people who are living for their own interests, without loving or being loved, Going into the book, I already knew this was the theme, If I hadn't known that, I think I would have found the book frustrating,
The book is definitely worth reading, and is an impressive bit of writing, That said, I don't think it has as much of an impact on modern readers as it must have had to Japanese readersyears ago.
Che amarezza I admit I wanted to put this down, but I pushed through and I am glad I did, It was a depressing read, but I enjoyed the descriptions of Japanese culture and the exploration of Catholicism in Japan, Durand 's questioning whether or not the Japanese can truly "be" Christian.
A very uncomfortable book, I look forward to discovering more of Endo's novels, My favorite character was Akadake, the volcano, by far, An interesting story about an old volcano in Japan that related to the characters in the story, althought it has a little bit anticlimax because the eruption that I waited never happen until the book ended.
"A volcano resembles human life, In youth it gives rein to its passions, and burns with fire, It spurts out lava. But when it grows old, it assumes the burden of those past evil deeds, and it turns as quiet as a grave, You younger men can hardly fathom the pathos of this mountain, "
Acquired after browsing the shelves of a small independent bookshop, I picked this up because I'd be reading it on holiday in Sicily an island partly famed for its volcano.
Also, it has a great cover,
Two characters reaching the end of their lives in a poetic, simply written novel that brought to mind the Yasujirō Ozu movie, Tokyo Story released just a few years before this book was written.
Despite addressing "the hard necessity of having to live after a man grows old", the book is not morbid, though encourages the reader to consider existential thoughts no bad thing in.
Saya beli buku ini waktu ada diskon cuci gudang dari Periplus, Cumarupiah aja sih. Lebih murah dari buku komik ya
Ceritanya kurang menarik bagi saya, karena, ya membosankan. Ditambah lagi saya gak suka gunung atau naik gunung, jadi gak ngerti si tokoh utamanya ngomong apaan, Tapi saya suka penggambaran perasaan si tokoh utama yang begitu jelas, dan juga gambaran mengenai keadaan Jepang pada saat itu, 'A volcano resembles human life, In youth it gives rein to the passions, and burns with fire, It spurts out lava. But when it grows old, it assumes the burden of those past evil deeds, It turns deathly quiet as we now behold it, Nevertheless, a human being is not entirely like the volcano, When we grow old, will cast a backward glance upon our lives, becoming fully aware of our mistakes, '
Dr. Koriyama
Some people fear no death, they even challenged themselves off the limit, But for most getting old is like a dream we want to avoid, a nightmare, You'd aware lots of efforts are taken to stay young such as facelifts, botox, plastic surgery, seeking for immortality, It's like seeking a bucket of gold at the end of the rainbow! Oh come on, do you really want to stay alive when your dear friends are gone one by one When the world is getting crazier and crazier
I'd say just enjoy your oldage days, think of it as fall season when the leaves are fallen from the trees and the colour has it own beauty which distinguished itself from the other seasons.
'Vulkano itu mewakili kehidupan manusia, Saat muda begitu bersemangat dengan nyala api dan muntahan lava yang keluar dari dalam perutnya, Namun saat usianya menua begitu diam dan menyepi, seakan menangung semua tindakan perusakan yang ia lakukan di masa lalu, Walau begitu, manusia tidak selalu seperti sebuah vulkano, Saat kita beranjak tua, kita tidak hentihentinya melihat ke belakang dan menyadari semua kesalahan yang kita perbuat, '
Dr. Koriyama
Aku kagum pada orangorang yang sepertinya tidak takut pada kematian, mereka bahkan menantang sang kematian itu sendiri, Merek yang suka olahraga ekstrim atau almarhum Steve Irwin misalnya, Namun rasanya ketakutan tersebesar bagi kebanyakan orang adalah menjalani masa tua, Tak heran banyak yang rela melakukan apa saja agar tetap muda, facelifts, botox, bedah plastik dan banyak hal lain,
Menurutku sih ngapain takut dengan masa tua, dinikmati saja dan bayangkan masa tua itu seperti musim gugur di luar negeri, Warna keemasan ketika daundaun berguguran, Warna yang memiliki keindahan sendiri dan membedakannya dari musimmusim yang lain, .