Pathway to Japanese Literature
Discover Japan's stories—across time, across language.
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| Original Title | 音の世界 |
|---|---|
| Author | 岸田 国士 |
| Genre | Modern Short Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | Three lives intersect through crackling telephone lines across Kyoto’s shadowed hotels. In a gilded suite, a newlywed wife paces as her husband feigns disinterest in his newspaper—until a call pierces the silence. Miles away, a man in a sparse room clutches a receiver, his voice trembling with unresolved history. What begins as casual banter unravels into layered deceptions: veiled references to abandoned love, a pistol produced like a dare, conversations where every pause thrums with double meaning. As calls misconnect and truths masquerade as jokes, the trio dances between intimacy and performance—a wife testing boundaries, a husband dissecting lies, a lover scripting farewells with theatrical flair. Gunshots echo through receivers, but whether they signal tragedy or farce remains unclear. Kishida Kunio’s taut dialogue weaves a web of yearning and restraint, where silences speak louder than declarations, and every character wears a mask slowly slipping. By curtain’s fall, you’ll question who holds the script—and who’s merely playing their part. |
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