Cuniciro Tanizaki (Books)

Cuniciro Tanizaki Books

Jun'ichirō Tanizaki was a Japanese author and one of the major figures of modern Japanese literature. His works often explore worlds of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions, while others, less sensational, subtly portray the dynamics of family life amidst the rapid societal shifts of the 20th century. Frequently, his stories are narrated within the context of a search for cultural identity, juxtaposing constructions of 'the West' and 'Japanese tradition.' The results are complex, ironic, demure, and provocative.

Naomi

256 pages
9 hours of reading

3.7(6097)Add rating

A hilarious story of one man’s obsession and a brilliant reckoning of a nation’s cultural confusion—from a master Japanese novelist. When twenty-eight-year-old Joji first lays eyes upon the teenage waitress Naomi, he is instantly smitten by her exotic, almost Western appearance. Determined to transform her into the perfect wife and to whisk her away from the seamy underbelly of post-World War I Tokyo, Joji adopts and ultimately marries Naomi, paying for English and music lessons that promise to mold her into his ideal companion. But as she grows older, Joji discovers that Naomi is far from the naïve girl of his fantasies. And, in Tanizaki’s masterpiece of lurid obsession, passion quickly descends into comically helpless masochism.