Pathway to Japanese Literature
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| Original Title | 冬枯れ |
|---|---|
| Author | 徳永 直 |
| Genre | War & Social Literature |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | Tormented leftist writer Kazuyoshi Washio, plagued by neurasthenia, retreats from Tokyo to his economically struggling Kyushu hometown. He seeks solace and to settle family matters, but instead finds his past activism a living scar, drawing the unwelcome gaze of authorities. As he confronts the shattered lives of former comrades—some driven mad, others vanished—and witnesses his community's spirit wither under militarization and despair, Washio grapples with gnawing guilt and a profound crisis of identity. He feels like a 'coward, hypocrite, fraud,' his purpose as a writer and revolutionary lost. With his family's precarious future at stake, can Washio find the courage to reclaim his convictions in this terrifying winter, or will the encroaching darkness consume him entirely? |
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