
The Traitor
A Novel
Kobo Abe(Autor*in)
Columbia University Press
Erscheint ca. am 10. März 2026
Buch
Hardcover
384 Seiten
978-0-231-21294-6 (ISBN)
Beschreibung
In postwar Japan, a writer meets a small-town innkeeper who is obsessed with a tale from the nineteenth century. He relates the saga of Enomoto Takeaki, an admiral in the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate who regained authority under the Meiji government. A former member of imperial Japan's military police, the innkeeper dwells on the question of loyalty even as he struggles with his responsibility for the arrest and murder of his brother-in-law during the war. Later, he sends the writer a mysterious manuscript purporting to be the account of a peddler turned samurai whom Enomoto betrayed.
Part historical fiction, part detective story, The Traitor is a remarkable novel about navigating changing political landscapes by one of the most significant modern Japanese writers. In his only historical novel, Abe Kobo turns to a pivotal moment in Japan's past to explore profound questions about the nature of loyalty and the choices that people must make when they encounter forces beyond their control or understanding. Published in 1964, when a new generation had begun asking their parents about the war, Abe's tale of betrayal sparked controversy across the political spectrum. The great writer's most important previously untranslated novel, The Traitor displays Abe's literary mastery from a new angle.
Part historical fiction, part detective story, The Traitor is a remarkable novel about navigating changing political landscapes by one of the most significant modern Japanese writers. In his only historical novel, Abe Kobo turns to a pivotal moment in Japan's past to explore profound questions about the nature of loyalty and the choices that people must make when they encounter forces beyond their control or understanding. Published in 1964, when a new generation had begun asking their parents about the war, Abe's tale of betrayal sparked controversy across the political spectrum. The great writer's most important previously untranslated novel, The Traitor displays Abe's literary mastery from a new angle.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
Abe Kobo's novels were prescient ... and they still are. What could be more timely for us than this prescient historical novel in a masterful translation! -- Roger Pulvers, author of <i>My Japan: A Cultural Memoir</i>Weitere Details
Sprache
Englisch
Verlagsort
New York
USA
Produkt-Hinweis
Standardbindung
Illustrationen
4 b&w illustrations
Maße
Höhe: 216 mm
Breite: 140 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-231-21294-6 (9780231212946)
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Personen
Abe Kobo (1924-1993) was one of Japan's greatest postwar writers, acclaimed for his imaginative fiction and plays of the absurd. Among his best-known novels are The Woman in the Dunes, The Face of Another, and The Box Man.
Mark Gibeau has translated the novel A Shameful Life by Dazai Osamu (2018), as well as works by Kawabata Yasunari, Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, and Miyamoto Yuriko, among others.
Mark Gibeau has translated the novel A Shameful Life by Dazai Osamu (2018), as well as works by Kawabata Yasunari, Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, and Miyamoto Yuriko, among others.
Inhalt
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Notes on the Translation
The Traitor
Part 1
Part 2: A Complete Account of the Formation of the Five-Man Conspiracy
Part 3
Translator's Afterword
Introduction
Notes on the Translation
The Traitor
Part 1
Part 2: A Complete Account of the Formation of the Five-Man Conspiracy
Part 3
Translator's Afterword