"Naomi" by Junichiro Tanizaki

Read: 3/9/09

4/5 stars

This month, my book club, Flips Flipping Pages, has decided on a Japanese theme for our monthly book discussion. As opposed to the previous months wherein a specific book was assigned, the March book is actually any Japanese literature book, "literature" loosely referring to any printed work.

So, though i considered trying to pass off the two manga books I had read as Japanese lit, a couple of weeks ago, I lucked into this book in one of my favorite UP used bookstores. I had never heard of the author nor the book, which makes it very surprising that I bought it as I rarely buy anything I have not heard of before. Truth be told, aside from the blurbs and the comments at the back identifying the author as a recipient of Japan's Imperial Prize in Literature, I bought the book because the back cover also stated that the book has sewn bindings. As someone who often buys mass-market or trade paperbacks with perfect binding, I was attracted to owning another paperback book with sewn binding.:)

Enough about the binding.

Part of the reason why I was attracted to this book was its claim of being similar to Lolita. After reading it, I'd say it's claim isn't far off the mark.

Naomi, the title character, starts out as a 14 year old girl who is "adopted" by a man in his late 20s named Joji. Naomi's "adoption" is in no way purely altruistic, as Joji already thinks of grooming her to be his wife. The story, told through Joji's voice, narrates how Naomi develops into a manipulative, materialistic and selfish young woman. Sadly, however, Joji himself contributes to this whole process by indulging Naomi, who becomes his wife when she is 16 years old. More sadly is how Joji himself loses his self-respect by being so enamored with his creation.

Interestingly, the book was published in 1924 and already showed both a fascination for the West and abhorrence towards its influence. See, both Joji and Naomi shun the usual Japanese traditions and try to pattern their lives according to what they believed would be reflective of Western sentiments. They wanted a Western house, Western clothes, Western pastimes, and a Western lifestyle. Naomi was made to study how to speak English. The fascination with the West seemed not to redound to their benefit, though, as Naomi becomes too liberal and Joji less of a man to be able to handle his own wife.

I personally found it an intelligent read and not at all ponderous as I expected. The prose was highly readable, which, I suppose, was only logical as the novel was originally serialized in a newspaper. (It wouldn't exactly do to have heavy prose if one's goal was the ordinary readership of a newspaper.) And so, my foray into unfamiliar Jap lit paid off and I'd say that this was really a great discovery.