Yasushi Inoue Livres

Trois couples se croisent. Trois couples se cherchent, s'avouent, se dérobent ou se quittent. Et la vie, petit à petit, les reprend. Faux-semblants de l'amour ( La Mort, l'amour et les vagues ), illusions perdues ( Le Jardin de pierres ) ou frustrations inavouées ( Anniversaire de mariage ), trois courts récits regroupés autour du même lieu commun : l'amour, ou plutôt la comédie de l'amour. Un regard ironique, bienveillant ou attendri, féroce parfois, pour mieux dévoiler - comme Inoue le faisait dans Le Fusil de chasse - les ombres et les doutes, les troubles cachés de l'homme devant l'amour, la mort et la vie.

Nous sommes en 1591, en pleine révolution féodale, les Taiko, conseillers de l'empereur, travaillent à l'unification du Japon. Les hommes du thé, leurs maîtres à penser, préparent les cérémonies pour les aider à trouver l'apaisement zen. Rikyu, maître de la cérémonie du thé attaché au gouverneur se fait hara-kiri.Six ans après sa mort, le moine Honkakubo évoque la mémoire de son maître. Rikyu avait inventé le thé « simple », dépouillé de luxe. Pourquoi s'est-il donné la mort ? Qui le lui a commandé ? Dans son journal, Honkakubo évoque ses rencontres avec de grands maîtres du thé et note des conversation imaginaires avec Rikyu par-delà la mort. Le rêve qui conclut le livre apporte finalement une réponse aux questions qu'il s'est posé pendant trente ans.Dans le Japon du seizième siècle, la Voie du thé est devenue un rituel. Les maîtres de cérémonie du thé sont des personnages importants, tour à tour protégés et rejetés par le pouvoir. Inoué rédigea ce livre à partir de manuscrits retrouvés et il laisse à penser que ces cérémonies étaient le lieu de négociations secrètes. Il détaille avec minutie et poésie chaque geste et chaque ustensile et nous introduit à un rituel de plus en plus pur.

Dans le village isolé où il est élevé par la vieille Onui, la maîtresse de son arrière-grand-père, le jeune Kôsaku grandit. Sous forme de courtes scènes, enchâssées dans le récit comme autant de joyaux, voici tout le Japon traditionnel du début du siècle qui revit devant nous : ses fêtes paysannes, ses coutumes méconnues, telles que les voit et les vit un enfant au seuil de l'adolescence. A travers l'histoire de Kôsaku, la sienne en fait, si particulière et qu'il sait pourtant rendre universelle, Yasushi Inoué nous raconte notre entrée à tous dans la vie adulte, avec ses joies, ses peines, ses surprises, ses déceptions, ses larmes et ses rires...

“Delicate and powerful... a haunting, sensitive meditation on memory as well as a wonderful introduction to a master sorely underappreciated in the West. . . timeless, elegiac, and masterful” – Shelf Awareness The story of a love affair and its tragic consequences, told through the letters of three women — a contemporary translation of a Modern classic “A Japanese master. . . Inoue's humane and searching world view is there to be explored” – The Spectator Love, death, truth and loneliness are all intertwined in this masterpiece from one of Japan’s greatest writers. A tragedy in three letters: the masterpiece of one of Japan’s greatest writers A lover, her daughter and the abandoned wife: three letters by three women tell the story of a love affair’s tragic consequences. First Shoko, who finds out about the infidelity through reading her mother’s diary; then Midori, the wife who has always known but never told; and finally the beautiful Saiko, the woman who has betrayed her best friend.Yasushi Inoue’s poised, unsentimental novella is a powerful tale with universal resonance. Written from three different points of view, the story explores the impact of forbidden passion. Don’t miss this stunning new edition of a celebrated translation of a Modern classic — the best known and most accomplished novel by the beloved Japanese author of the acclaimed novella Bullfight.

Originally published in Japanese in 1959, this classic novel by Yasushi Inoue takes place during the Japanese Warring Era (1467-1573)-a time when Japan was ruled by three young powerful Takeda Shingen, Iwagawa Yoshimoto, and Hojo Ujiyasu. The story focuses on Takeda Shingen and his one-eyed, crippled strategist, Yamamoto Kansuke. The brilliant strategies of Kansuke, inspired by his passion for war and his admiration for his enemies' war tactics, are beautifully expressed throughout this book.

Three perfectly balanced stories from one of Japan's greatest authors

More than a thousand years ago, an extraordinary trove of early Buddhist sutras and other scriptures was secreted away in caves near the Silk Road city of Tun-huang. But who hid this magnificent treasure and why? In Tun-huang, the great modern Japanese novelist Yasushi Inoue tells the story of Chao Hsing-te, a young Chinese man whose accidental failure to take the all-important exam that will qualify him as a high government official leads to a chance encounter that draws him farther and farther into the wild and contested lands west of the Chinese Empire. Here he finds love, distinguishes himself in battle, and ultimately devotes himself to the strange task of depositing the scrolls in the caves where, many centuries later, they will be rediscovered. A book of magically vivid scenes, fierce passions, and astonishing adventures, Tun-huang is also a profound and stirring meditation on the mystery of history and the hidden presence of the past.

In post-Second World War Japan, Tsugami, the editor-in-chief of a newspaper, sets out to organise a bullfight. The project starts drowning in unforeseen logistical issues, while Tsugami's relationship with his lover is also going under. Alone and focussed, Tsugami persists in his bullfight plans, in a desperate and existential struggle...

From Japan's master of historical fiction, winner of its highest cultural award, six stories in quest of the hidden treasures of Asia's past. The six stories, translated by two outstanding translators from the Japanese, exemplify Inoue's skill at both evoking an historical atmosphere and telling a gripping tale, and they will convey to a Western reader exactly why Inoue was one of the most popular writers in Japan today. The majority of the stories may be generally classified as "historical fiction," but, more precisely, they are extremely well-researched forays into remote geographical areas and little-known periods of history. The title story, "Lou-lan," recounts the turbulent history and final disappearance of an ancient city in Central Asia. "The Sage" and "Princess Yung-t'ai's Necklace" also recreate the tempestuous past of continental Asia. The remaining three stories--"The Opaline Cup," "Passage to Fudaraku," and "The Rhododendrons"--are set in Japan. The first of these is about a pair of cups that were treasured by an ancient king and are brought together after being separated for over a thousand years. The second is a narrative centering around a custom that arose in a remote Buddhist temple, whereby the abbot was cast adrift in a boat to die at sea. And the third is a masterly characterization of an old scholar reminiscing about his life.