Isle of Dreams (Japanese Literature) - Softcover

Hino, Keizo

3.37

159 ratings by Goodreads

9781564786036: Isle of Dreams (Japanese Literature)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 156478603X ISBN 13: 9781564786036

Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press, 2010

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Hino's novels have been compared to the work of J. G. Ballard. Available for the first time in English: his masterpiece "Island of Dreams."

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About the Author:

Keizo Hino (1929-2002) was born in Tokyo and accompanied his parents to Korea while the country was under Japanese control. After his return to Japan, he worked as a foreign correspondent for Yomiuri Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper. He later wrote several novels, his work being compared to that of J. G. Ballard.

From Publishers Weekly:

In Hino's acclaimed 1985 novel, translated into English for the first time, Tokyo is both a setting and a living being, at once evolving and dying in the eyes and mind of Shozo Sakai. Sakai is a middle-aged widower working for a Tokyo construction firm, whose life, while satisfying, is mundane. His true passion lies within the high-rises his company constructs, and he finds himself drawn to a piece of reclaimed land, the landfill island that gives the book its title. There he meets Yoko Hayashi, a mysterious young beauty. Sakai immediately becomes fascinated with her and allows himself to be drawn into her intriguing life, discovering a Tokyo he's never known. As inventive as the late author's efforts to anthropomorphize Tokyo are, they consume his focus; the human characters never develop and attempts to parallel two stories don't come together. Hino's illustration of the heartbreaking desecration of a Tokyo still haunted by its past is a real achievement, though, and readers will feel genuine empathy for the city. (Dec.)
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