Pathway to Japanese Literature
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Statue of a Holy WomanAuthor: Toyoshima Yoshio
| Original Title | 聖女人像 |
|---|---|
| Author | 豊島 与志雄 |
| Genre | Modern Short Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In the oppressive stillness of a sweltering summer, a man drifts between fevered dreams and listless wakefulness, his mind haunted by enigmatic visions—a figure clinging to a mossy rock in coastal abysses, another standing motionless beneath ancient trees, whispers of incantations echoing through cliffside paths. These spectral images bleed into his reality as he convalesces in a shadow-drenched house, tormented by the suffocating stagnation of postwar societal decay and the weight of unfinished research. \nHis fragile solitude is encroached upon by Hisako, a persistent lover whose demands for intimacy clash with his yearning for isolation, and unsettling presences—a disfigured boy lurking in gardens, meddling neighbors offering matrimonial prospects. Even colleagues intrude with worldly concerns, oblivious to the sacred desolation he cultivates like a prayer. Amidst crape myrtle blossoms and the mocking gaze of rain-soaked toads, he clings to visions of Kiyoko—an ethereal woman embodying silent communion—while resisting the gravitational pull of human entanglements. \nAs whiskey and dreams blur boundaries, a single red lacquered pillow becomes both altar and battleground for his unraveling psyche, where the choice between clinging to transcendent loneliness or surrendering to life’s clamor hangs suspended like storm-heavy air. |
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