A Lost Paradise
By: Junʾichi Watanabe ; translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter
Contributors: Carpenter, Juliet Winters
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Kodansha International; Distributed in the United States by Kodansha America
Published: 2000
Place of publication: Tokyo; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 372
ISBN-13: 9784770023247
Subjects: Japanisch; Erotische Literatur; Adultery; Fiction
Work titles: Shitsurakuen
Description: "Here the lovers are Kuki, a 54-year-old employee in a publishing company, and Rinko, a childless, 37-year-old woman unhappily married to a cold fish of a husband, a professor of medicine. Stuck in a dead-end job and an uneventful marriage, Kuki is irresistibly drawn to Rinko from their first encounter, seeing through her demure demeanor to the passionate woman beneath. She returns his feelings with ever-increasing abandon, despite lingering fears about where her sexual awakening may lead her. In the end, both are prepared to risk all for their relationship: family, career, and social standing, even life itself." "The story contrasts the lovers' defiantly freewheeling passion - described in imaginative, smoldering detail - with a rigid society where people are expected to play a prescribed role, whether as dutiful wife or compliant office worker. In escaping these conventional roles, the lovers often escape the city as well, immersing themselves in the traditional beauties of Japanese nature and art as they give themselves over to each other and the pleasure of the moment. And ultimately they make a much more radical escape: one that will ensure that they are left in peace, to enjoy an abiding love."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: "Originally published in 1997 by Kodansha Ltd. under the title Shitsurakuen"--T.p. verso.