Reconciliation (Canons)

Naoya Shiga (1883-1971) was Japan's most celebrated practitioner of shishosetsu, or autobiographical fiction, the genre that dominated Japanese literature for much of the twentieth century; during his lifetime he was described as the 'god of prose'.

Ted Goossen has translated or co-translated five works by Haruki Murakami; he is editor of The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories (which includes his translation of Shiga's story 'Takibi') and co-editor of Monkey Business magazine, featuring the best of contemporary Japanese literature.

Title: Reconciliation (Canons)

Author: Shiga, Naoya

ISBN: 9781838850456

Binding:

Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd

Publication Date: 2020-08-06

Number of Pages: 160

Weight: 0.1100 kg

Naoya Shiga's engaging and finely wrought novella of birth, death, illness and a writer's angst opens a window onto a society and milieu that are both distant and relatable. Watching the autobiographical protagonist trip over his flaws as a husband and son is painful, but the resolution still lifts the heart a century after publication. Ted Goossen's nuanced rendition of this miniature classic is a marvel of the translator's art and a service to the Republic of Letters -- DAVID MITCHELL
Praise for Naoya Shiga: [Shiga wrote] a number of short stories that are nearly perfect in their simplicity, directness and mastery of subject matter * * New York Times * *