The Marginal World of Oe Kenzaburo: A Study of Themes and Techniques Book

5 MODERN JAPANESE NOVELISTS by Donald Keene // A wonderful collection of biographical essays and literary criticism by the pre-eminent scholar + translator. Keene writes about 5 giants of 20th-century Japanese literature: Juni'chirō Tanizaki, Yasunari Kawabata, Yukio Mishima, Kōbō Abe, and Ryōtarō Shiba, all with whom he had personal relationships. He translated their works, collaborated and co-wrote publications, and was a frequent guest in their homes.

This book of anecdotes & discussion of literature shares the joys & sorrows of these friendships - his closest friends were Mishima and Abe, so these essays are richest, longest, and most tragic. Mishima wrote a letter to Keene before he completed his well-known seppuku suicide in 1970. This event was very difficult on Keene, and he has written more about it in other memoirs (which I haven't read...yet). He was also very close with Abe and his wife, hosting them in the US and spending holidays together. He notes the unique personality and observational eye of Abe - when touring the US, he often wanted to see "the garbage dumps".

Fascinating essays, and also very curious to learn more about Keene himself, who was American by birth and received Japanese citizenship late in life. He passed in 2019 in Tokyo at the age of 96.