Kenzaburō Ōe the catch kenzaburo oe lovina

The Catch

The Catch “Peace is the time when sons bury fathers, war is the time when fathers bury sons” – Herodotus   Kenzaburo Oe is a very interesting figure. He was 23 years old when he received the most prestigious and largest Japanese literary prize – “Akutagawa” (in 1958) for the novella “The Catch,” and in…

Read More
edogava ranpo crni gušter edogawa ranpo black lizard

The Black Lizard

The Black Lizard “Give a crooked man enough rope, and he’ll provide enough evidence to hang himself” – Akechi Kogoro   If you were to wonder which author influenced the development of literary genres like thriller, crime and mystery, an expected name would be Taro Hirai, known by his literary pseudonym Edogawa Ranpo. And the…

Read More
Silence 3

Silence

  By chance, while browsing IMDB, I stumbled upon a review of the film adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s book “Silence,” directed by Martin Scorsese. While some consider this to be Scorsese’s finest cinematic work, others deem it his longest and most tedious (though whether these critics have read the eponymous novel is perhaps another story)….

Read More
A Blind Man's Tale 4

A Blind Man’s Tale

  Junichiro Tanizaki, one of the most renowned Japanese novelists of the 20th century, is celebrated for igniting a wave of literary works in Japan that delve into the country’s past, particularly the era of the samurai. On behalf of all enthusiasts of Japan and the samurai, we owe him our gratitude. Set in the…

Read More
gosca guest cat

The Guest Cat

  To be upfront, I had heard that Takashi Hiraide is a renowned poet in Japan, but I never had the chance to read his poetry. That’s why it surprised me even more that a man, who has devoted his life to writing poetry, would suddenly pen a novel that unexpectedly becomes a bestseller. Is…

Read More