Chiyo Uno

A piercingly beautiful and candid novel of love, sex and independence in 1920s Japan by a trailblazing Japanese writer. Growing up in a remote mountain village, Kazue always nurtured a spirit of independence. Ignoring the values of her traditional community, she rejects an early arranged marriage and embarks on a scandalous affair. Exiled from her home, Kazue departs to follow her impulses wherever they might lead. Driven by her enduring hope and resilience, Kazue goes first to Korea and then to Tokyo, taking up with a series of men but always casting out again on her own path. Sparklingly beautiful, The Story of a Single Woman is an autobiographical account of desire and freedom by a trailblazing Japanese writer.

Una novela excepcional, mezcla de autobiograf a y ficci n, por «una de las principales escritoras de Jap n -The New York Times, ganadora del Japan Art Academy Prize y el Noma Prize. «Muchas de las raras aves, de los mirlos blancos, de las excepciones a la regla, de la literatura son mujeres. ...] Rara y voladora es Chiyo Uno . -Marta Sanz En 1992, la ya anciana Chiyo Uno public la historia de Kaz e, una muchacha que, tras protagonizar una indiscreci n amorosa, acaba escapando de su hogar. La narradora la sigue hasta Tokio, describe su vida hasta pasados los treinta y cinco a os y se pregunta, en una suerte de hipn tico vaiv n, las razones por las que Kaz e obr , decidi y sinti . El efecto es de una fuerza sorprendente y las frases cortas, sincopadas y estrictas parecen intentos de respuesta, siempre provisionales, a esa incesante inquisici n. Erotismo fr o, pasi n l cida y un estilo condensado y misterioso se a nan en Historia de una mujer soltera, que pertenece a una categor a espec fica de los g neros narrativos japoneses, la watakushi-shosetsu o «novela del yo , forma de relato que combina la autobiograf a y la ficci n. Una obra excepcional por la autora que desafi las convenciones de su poca, ganadora del Japan Art Academy Prize, el Premio de Literatura Femenina y el Noma Literary Prize, nombrada Persona de M rito Cultural por el emperador y considerada «una de las principales escritoras de Jap n (The New York Times). ENGLISH DESCRIPTION An exceptional novel, half autobiography, half fiction, by "one of the top writers in Japan" (The New York Times), winner of the Japan Art Academy Prize and the Noma Prize. "Many strange birds, white ravens, exceptions to the rule in literature are women... Chiyo Uno is winged and rare." --Marta Sanz In 1992, an elderly Chiyo Uno published the story of Kazue, a young girl who, after featuring in a romantic indiscretion, runs away from home. The narrator follows her all the way to Tokyo, describing her life past her thirty-fifth birthday, and wonders, in a sort of hypnotic swing, the reasons why Kazue acted, decided, and felt the way she did. The effect is so surprisingly powerful, that those short, strict, syncopated sentences seem like tentative answers, ever provisional, to that unceasing inquiry. Cold eroticism, lucid passion, and a condensed and mysterious style come together in The Story of a Single Woman, belonging to a specific category in Japanese narrative, the watakushi-shosetusu, or "novel of the I," a story form that combines autobiography and fiction. An exceptional work by the author who defied the conventions of her time, winner of the Japan Art Academy Prize, the Feminine Literature Prize, and the Noma Literary Prize, designated Person of Cultural Merit by the emperor, and considered "one of the top writers in Japan" (The New York Times).

'Oh the cruelty of time, that destroys all things!'Beguiling, strange and hair-raising tales from early 20th century Japan: Nagai's Behind the Prison, Uno's Closet LLB and Akutagawa's deeply macabre General Kim.Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.

A remarkable volume from one of Japan's most important literary characters. Chiyo is recognized as one of the pioneers of feminism in Japan as well as a fine storyteller. The first half of this book describes her struggle for equality in a traditional society, the second is a collection of her best stories.

In this novel Uno Chiyo has created one of the most memorable love stories in Japanese literature. It is the story of Yuasa Joji, a famous artist who returns to Japan after many years in Paris. Once back in Tokyo, he receives love letters from a fervent young woman who begs him to meet her--importunings that start him on a bizarre round of romantic adventures. Writing here at the height of her powers, one of Japan's foremost women writers explores both the folly and the inevitability of human passion, leading the reader to a startling revelation of how lives can be destroyed by the compulsions of love.