“The Sting of Death” and Other Stories


Book Description

Until a recent “boom,” Shimao Toshio, writer of short fiction, critic, and essayist, was not widely known, even in Japan. He has never won the Akutagawa or the Naoki Prize, and none of his works had previously appeared in English translation. He is less well known than other writers (Yasuoka Shotaro, Kojima Nobuo, and Shono Junzo) with whom he has associated and whose works have been liberally translated into English. Yet, there are those who consider him to be one of the best contemporary writers in Japan. This volume by no means exhausts the scope of Shimao's fiction. There are no stories here, for instance, about childhood or student life, and none of his many travel stories. Some of his most famous stories-- "When we Never Left Port," for example--have not been included. But the stories presented here do offer a considerable variety of style, from the pristine storybook language of "The Farthest Edge of the Islands," to the young intellectual's jargon of "Everyday Life in a Dream," to the visionary, hysterical, occasionally ritualistic prose of the "sick wife" stories, to the sober, difficult, almost ponderous narration of "This Time That Summer." Shimao's approach to his material varies as well. "Everyday Life in a Dream" is the only representative here of a large number of stories usually called surrealistic by the critics, stories whose plots progress by the logic of dreams. The individual experience of real life are lived through a combination of conscious and unconscious perception. These stories are the least approachable and the least charming to the casual reader, but they serve, among other things, to highlight patterns in the more realistic fiction. "The Farthest Edge of the Islands" is a symbolic heightening of reality in another way, a romantic fairy tale beginning at the extremity of experience, at the farthest edge of the world. The other stories are presented as precise, close chronicles of reality by a participant in that reality whose attention never waivers and who never allows himself to avert his eyes from a world that he sees as his responsibility and in a sense his fault. All but the first story, "The Farthest Edge of the Islands," which is in third-person narration, are told in the first person by the character who plays Shimao's role in the life that inspired the fiction.




“The Sting of Death” and Other Stories


Book Description

Until a recent “boom,” Shimao Toshio, writer of short fiction, critic, and essayist, was not widely known, even in Japan. He has never won the Akutagawa or the Naoki Prize, and none of his works had previously appeared in English translation. He is less well known than other writers (Yasuoka Shotaro, Kojima Nobuo, and Shono Junzo) with whom he has associated and whose works have been liberally translated into English. Yet, there are those who consider him to be one of the best contemporary writers in Japan. This volume by no means exhausts the scope of Shimao's fiction. There are no stories here, for instance, about childhood or student life, and none of his many travel stories. Some of his most famous stories-- "When we Never Left Port," for example--have not been included. But the stories presented here do offer a considerable variety of style, from the pristine storybook language of "The Farthest Edge of the Islands," to the young intellectual's jargon of "Everyday Life in a Dream," to the visionary, hysterical, occasionally ritualistic prose of the "sick wife" stories, to the sober, difficult, almost ponderous narration of "This Time That Summer." Shimao's approach to his material varies as well. "Everyday Life in a Dream" is the only representative here of a large number of stories usually called surrealistic by the critics, stories whose plots progress by the logic of dreams. The individual experience of real life are lived through a combination of conscious and unconscious perception. These stories are the least approachable and the least charming to the casual reader, but they serve, among other things, to highlight patterns in the more realistic fiction. "The Farthest Edge of the Islands" is a symbolic heightening of reality in another way, a romantic fairy tale beginning at the extremity of experience, at the farthest edge of the world. The other stories are presented as precise, close chronicles of reality by a participant in that reality whose attention never waivers and who never allows himself to avert his eyes from a world that he sees as his responsibility and in a sense his fault. All but the first story, "The Farthest Edge of the Islands," which is in third-person narration, are told in the first person by the character who plays Shimao's role in the life that inspired the fiction.




The Sting of Death


Book Description

One glorious summer's afternoon, Karen Slocombe is visited by her cousin Penn, who unexpectedly asks for husband Drew's help in tracking down a missing relative, Justine. But why has Penn come to him, and why is she reluctant to get the police involved? Justine's mother, Roma Millan, an avid beekeeper, is not interested in the whereabouts of her daughter, but husband Laurie senses a troubled history between mother and daughter. Detective Den Cooper joins Drew as the case takes a sinister turn when it is discovered that a small child is also missing. But can the tangle of secrets and lies be unravelled before somebody gets hurt?




Exit Laughing


Book Description

There’s nothing funny about dying … or is there? Malachy McCourt, Jacquelyn Mitchard, and 22 more share hilarious and moving stories of confronting death. Exit Laughing makes death more approachable as it reveals the funny side of “passing on.” As painful as it is to lose a loved one, Exit Laughing shows us that in times of grief, humor can help us with coping and even healing. Best-selling author Amy Ferris explains how her mother’s dementia led to a permanent ban from an airline. Ellen Sussman writes of flying her mother's body home and watching the burial wardrobe spill out on the baggage carousel. Broadway and television actor Richard McKenzie shares the riotous story of a funeral procession led by a lost hearse. Bonnie Garvin even manages to find a heavy dose of dark humor in her parents’ three unsuccessful attempts at a double suicide. These stories, along with tales from Joshua Braff, Barbara Graham, Dianne Rinehart, and more, constitute a book whose purpose is to remind readers that when dealing with illness, aging, and dying, there is an important place for laugh-out-loud humor.




To the Stars and Other Stories


Book Description

A boy who feels persecuted by the banality of everyday life yearns to ascend to the cold and majestic plane of the stars. A seamstress finds liberation of a sort in "becoming" a dog and howling at the moon. A club of young girls masquerade as the grieving fiancées of strange men. This book brings together these and other remarkable short stories by the Russian Symbolist Fyodor Sologub that explore the lengths to which people will go to transcend the mundane. Renowned as one of late imperial Russia's finest stylists, Sologub bridges the great nineteenth-century novel and the fin-de-siècle avant-garde. He stands out for his masterful command of both realist and fantastic storytelling; his play with language evinces a belief in its capacity to access other worlds and other levels of meaning. Many of Sologub's stories are set among children whose alienation from the adult world has lent them imagination and curiosity, enabling them to create an alternative reality. At the same time, he bluntly examines the sordid realities of late imperial Russian society and frankly presents sometimes unconventional sexuality. The book also features a selection of Sologub's "little fairy tales," ambiguous parables couched in childlike language whose ingenuity anticipates the miniatures and "incidents" of Daniil Kharms. Susanne Fusso's elegant translation offers these artful tales to an English-speaking audience.




End of Tragedy


Book Description




O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?


Book Description

"A thorough exploration, through personal stories and artistic/academic meditations, of the bleakest and most fearful questions around God's presence in human suffering and death"--




The Honey and the Sting


Book Description

'A lush, thrilling page-turner humming with its own exquisite dark beauty. I loved it!' Eve Chase, author of The Glass House 'Fremantle builds the tension with delicious skill in this page-turning thriller' Times The compelling, transfixing novel about the bond between three sisters from the author of The Poison Bed _______ Three sisters. Three secrets. Three ways to fall . . . George Villiers is rich, powerful and has the King's ear. Doctor's daughter Hester is a mere servant - to be cast aside when he has done with her, especially since she is pregnant. Returning to her family, Hester vows that Villiers will never lay eyes on their son. She and her sisters Melis and Hope will protect the boy. But Villiers is a man who will not be defied. He will claim his son - and the secret letters he believes Hester has stolen. What can three defenceless women do against one very powerful man? Yet secret letters are a weakness - and, in the right hands, a weapon . . . _______ 'Rich and fascinating' Guardian 'Wonderfully inventive and darkly satisfying, this story of three sisters resonates with myth and mystery' Andrew Taylor, bestselling author of The Ashes of London 'Gripping and page-turning. Propels a trio of vivid women towards their complex destinies . . . Hugely enjoyable' V.B. Grey, author of the forthcoming Tell Me How It Ends




The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature


Book Description

This comprehensive anthology collects works of fiction, poetry, drama, and essay-writing from a pivotal time in Japanese history. In addition to their literary achievements, the texts reflect the political, social, and intellectual changes that occurred in Japanese society during this period, including exposure to Western ideas and literature, the rise of nationalism, and the complex interaction of traditional and modern forces. The volume offers outstanding, often new translations of classic texts by such celebrated writers as Nagai Kafu, Shimazaki Toson, Natsume Soseki, Kawabata Yasunari, and Yosano Akiko. The editors have also unearthed works from lesser-known women writers, many of which have never been available in English. Organized chronologically and by genre within each period, the volume reveals the major influences in the development of modern Japanese literature: the Japanese classics themselves, the example of Chinese poetry, and the encounter with Western literature and culture. Modern Japanese writers reread the classics of Japanese literature, infused them with contemporary language, and refashioned them with an increased emphasis on psychological elements. They also reinterpreted older aesthetic concepts in light of twentieth-century mentalities. While modern ideas captured the imagination of some Japanese writers, the example of classical Chinese poetry remained important for others. Meiji writers continued to compose poetry in classical Chinese and adhere to a Confucian system of thought. Another factor in shaping modern Japanese literature was the example of foreign works, which offered new literary inspiration and opportunities for Japanese readers and writers. Divided into four chapters, the anthology begins with the early modern texts of the 1870s, continues with works written during the years of social change preceding World War I and the innovative writing of the interwar period, and concludes with texts from World War II. Each chapter includes a helpful critical introduction, situating the works within their literary, political, and cultural contexts. Additionally, there are biographical introductions for each writer.




Japanese Fiction of the Allied Occupation


Book Description

The reconstruction of identity in post World War II Japan after the trauma of war, defeat and occupation forms the subject of this latest volume in Brill's monograph series Japanese Studies Library. Closely examining the role of fiction produced during the Allied Occupation, Sharalyn Orbaugh begins with an examination of the rhetoric of wartime propaganda, and explores how elements of that rhetoric were redeployed postwar as authors produced fiction linked to the redefinition of what it means to be Japanese. Drawing on tools and methods from trauma studies, gender and race studies, and film and literary theory, the study traces important nodes in the construction and maintenance of discourses of identity through attention to writers' representations of the gaze, the body, language, and social performance. This book will be of interest to any student of the literary or cultural history of World War II and its aftermath. "Japanese Fiction of the Allied Occupation was awarded Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2007,"