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The IdiotAuthor: Sakaguchi Ango
| Original Title | 白痴 |
|---|---|
| Author | 坂口 安吾 |
| Genre | Modern Short Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In a dilapidated Tokyo neighborhood ravaged by war, disillusioned filmmaker Izawa navigates a world of moral decay and absurdity. His cramped cottage sits among a tapestry of desperate lives: a tailor’s family entangled in scandal, a pregnant woman hidden in an attic, and a deranged neighbor who built his home as a labyrinth to repel intruders. The neighbor’s wife, an ethereal yet childlike figure deemed an “idiot,” becomes an unexpected presence in Izawa’s life after fleeing her abusive household. As air raids hollow the city, Izawa grapples with his contempt for wartime propaganda films and the petty anxieties binding him to survival—until the woman’s guileless existence disrupts his numbness. Their fragile connection unfolds against a backdrop of societal collapse, where prostitutes, factory workers, and opportunists cling to fading normalcy. When incendiary bombs reduce the district to ash, Izawa confronts a choice between self-preservation and an unsettling empathy for this woman who mirrors both innocence and ruin. The war’s chaos strips humanity to its rawest instincts, leaving only questions of what—or who—might endure. |
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