Читать книгу Flower Mat - Shugoro Yamamoto - Страница 3

Shugoro Yamamoto (1903-67), born Satomu Shimizu in Yamanashi Prefecture, adopted his new name in gratitude for the kindnesses shown him by the Yamamoto family with whom he lived during his school days in Yokohama. Critical recognition followed the publication of his first novel, Suma-dera Fukin (Around the Suma Temple), in 1926. Among his nineteen other novels, Nihon Fudoki (Japanese Women's Lives, 1944), Mominoki ivas Nokotta (A Fir Tree, 1958), and Aobeka (1961) were singled out for special awards, all of which Yamamoto declined. Hanamushiro (The Flower Mat, 1948) represents well Yamamoto's belief that the historical novel should not be a mere chronicle of events but a study of the impact of those events on an ordinary human being. This common touch, plus the sorrow and lyricism of his historical novels, have attracted a wide readership among Japanese and have allowed Western readers to share a very Japanese view of life. The Flower Mat was very popular in the original Japanese and was the basis of a successful television drama.