The Girl I Left Behind - Softcover

Endo, Shusaku

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0811217736 ISBN 13: 9780811217736

Publisher: New Directions, 1995

Synopsis

A romance about abandonment and guilt.

Prefiguring themes of his later work, the acclaimed Japanese writer Shusaku Endo here writes of choices made by young adults learning who they are and what they want in life. Yoshioka Tstomu is a student, not much interested in his studies, short on cash and long on sexual desire. Eventually he will settle down in a career and marry his boss’s niece. Yet he begins to hear a voice in his head that sparks a memory of Mitsu, a plain, naive country girl he once took callous advantage of during his college days. The episode meant nothing to him at the time; to her it meant the world. Yoshioka’s future is assured and conventional. Mitsu, on the other hand, takes quite another path, making a Christ-like commitment to take upon herself the suffering of others.

About this title

From the Back Cover

An early novel written some thirty years ago, the Japanese writer Shusaku Endo's The Girl I Left Behind is now presented in the U.S. for the first time. Prefiguring themes of his later work, Endo here writes of choices made by young adults learning who they are and what they want in life. Yoshioka Tstomu is a student, not much interested in his studies, short on cash and long on sexual desire. Eventually he will settle down in a career and marry the boss's niece. Yet he won't be able to entirely set aside the memory of Mitsu, a plain, naive country girl he once took callous advantage of during his college days. The episode meant nothing to him at the time; to her it meant the world.

About the Author

Shusaku Endo (1923–1996) is widely regarded as one of the most important Japanese authors of the late twentieth century. He won many major literary awards and was nominated for the Nobel Prize several times. His novel Silence was recently made into a major film directed by Martin Scorsese.

About this edition

• Publisher: New Directions
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0811217736
• ISBN 13: 9780811217736
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 196