girl in greenwood

The Makioka Sisters
by Junichiro Tanizaki

I read this book based on a recommendation from Gael of Pop Culture Junk Mail. At first I wondered what she saw in it, since it seemed kind of slow and mannered, even prissy. But as I read further, I began to see more nuance and got more involved with the characters' lives. I enjoyed getting a sense of how Japanese women lived in the 1930s - in fact, I was kind of surprised by how "modern" and sophisticated the women in the book seemed for the times. They rode in automobiles, got permanent waves, wore Western-style clothes, studied French, had affairs with men, had friends from Russia and Germany... all of these things surprised me, because I had thought that Japan was pretty much a closed society until after World War II.

I found it especially interesting to compare the attitudes of the characters in this book to the characters in "The Inheritance", as they were on opposite sides of the China/Japan conflict in the 1930s.

The one thing I really disliked about this book was the ending. It's as though the author just forgot to complete the book. The last paragraph is about the digestive troubles [yes, Andy, the word DIARRHEA is used <-- inside joke] the third sister is experiencing as she travels to her wedding. But then what? Does the wedding go forward? Does she die of dysentery? What about the youngest sister - is she going to marry her lover? It's frustrating to be left hanging this way.

Labels: book reports