
Lake of Heaven
An Original Translation of the Japanese Novel by Ishimure Michiko
Lexington Books (Publisher)
Published on 7. October 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
356 pages
978-0-7391-2463-5 (ISBN)
Description
Lake of Heaven is the story of a traditional mountain village in Japan that is destroyed in the process of constructing a dam. It tells of the lives of the displaced villagers as they struggle to retain their traditional culture-including their stories, dances, music, mythology, and dreams-in the face of displacement, environmental destruction, and rapid modernization. Although fictional, the work is rooted in the events of actual villages in the mountains of Kyushu and Ishimure's imaginative reconstructions of their people's tales. Lake of Heaven considerably stretches the familiar Western conceptions of the novel form. Its interweaving of local stories, dreams, and myths lends it a deep sense of the Noh Drama. Gary Snyder writes that Lake of Heaven is "a remarkable text of mythopoetic quality-with a Noh flavor-that presents much of the ancient lore of Japan and the lore of the spirit world." The story becomes a parable for the larger world, "in which all of our old cultures and all of our old villages are becoming buried, sunken, and lost under the rising waters of the dams of industrialization and globalization."
Reviews / Votes
A remarkable text of mythopoetic quality-with a noh flavor-that presents much of the ancient lore of Japan and the lore of the spirit world-and is in a way a kind of myth-drama, not a novel. -- Gary Snyder Ishimure's storytelling is spellbinding. . . .A profoundly mythic story offering 'the real meaning of existence' to a broken world, this novel unfolds as a contemporary masterwork. Highly recommended. * Choice Reviews * With the advent of these translations of Paradise in the Sea of Sorrow and <Lake of Heaven, one of the great literary figures of contemporary Japan, who is also one of the heroes of local resistance to corporate pollution becomes available to Anglophone readers?.Students come away with another history of industrial development and environmental damage that parallels and diverges from that of other First World countries. At the same time, the great emotional power of Ishimure's writing gives thema sense of connection to individuals and cultures that might otherwise alienate them. Through her combination of research, protest, and empathy, Ishimure provides a fine model of the writer as activist and the artist as defender... * Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy * Not for nothing is Ishimure Michiko seen in Japan as a prophet. In Lake of Heaven, she speaks to the contemporary maelstrom from the country's neglected and sacrificed up-country. The world she creates in the surrounds of a flooded Kyushu village is one where the community of ancestors, residents, and spirits is celebrated and harmony restored between human, natural, and supernatural orders. Readers are left to ponder what lessons today's alienated and anguished humanity may learn from the primeval Japanese experience. -- Gavan McCormack, The Australian National University With the advent of these translations of Paradise in the Sea of Sorrow and , one of the great literary figures of contemporary Japan, who is also one of the heroes of local resistance to corporate pollution becomes available to Anglophone readers....Students come away with another history of industrial development and environmental damage that parallels and diverges from that of other First World countries. At the same time, the great emotional power of Ishimure's writing gives them a sense of connection to individuals and cultures that might otherwise alienate them. Through her combination of research, protest, and empathy, Ishimure provides a fine model of the writer as activist and the artist as defender. * Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
581 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7391-2463-5 (9780739124635)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Lake of Heaven
An Original Translation of the Japanese Novel by Ishimure Michiko
E-Book
09/2008
1st Edition
Lexington Books
€73.89
Available for download

Lake of Heaven
An Original Translation of the Japanese Novel by Ishimure Michiko
E-Book
09/2008
1st Edition
Lexington Books
€42.49
Available for download
Person
Bruce Allen is an associate professor in the Department of Foreign Languages, School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Japan.
Translation
Content
Chapter 1 Translator's Introduction
Chapter 2 Acknowledgments
Chapter 3 1. Birds Leaving
Chapter 4 2. Oki No Miya
Chapter 5 3. Moonshadow Bridge
Chapter 6 4. Water Mirror
Chapter 7 5. Secret Song
Chapter 8 6. Delicate Flowers
Chapter 2 Acknowledgments
Chapter 3 1. Birds Leaving
Chapter 4 2. Oki No Miya
Chapter 5 3. Moonshadow Bridge
Chapter 6 4. Water Mirror
Chapter 7 5. Secret Song
Chapter 8 6. Delicate Flowers