Takeshi Kitano

I got this book as an ARC a couple of years ago at BookExpo. In the ordinary way, even though it says in big letters on the front of ARCs that they're not to be regarded as final versions, the assumption is that this is as near as dammit the identical text to the one that'll be published. Not so in this instance: the version of the text I was reading is a sort of rough first draft of the translation, complete with obvious errors and clearly sans even the most basic copyediting. Presumably everyone was in a rush to get the ARC out in time for BookExpo.

It all sounds like a recipe for a grim read, and if I'd been told in advance the text was in this state I probably wouldn't have begun this collection of three novelettes about youth -- even though I'm a great admirer of its author, the movie director and writer often referred to as "Beat" Takeshi. Surprisingly, though, the stories survive pretty well; I suspect the polished version of the translation is pretty fine.

For my money, easily the best of the stories is "The Nest of Stars", which focuses on the relationship between the narrator and his elder brother, both of whom are having difficulty adapting to the family's move from Tokyo to Osaka after Dad's death. The boys are bonded by their love of amateur astronomy, inherited from their father; but will that be enough to pull them through? What's poignant about the story is the younger boy's slow, then sudden, realization that his big brother's claim to have settled in just fine is just a facade, assumed out of duty.

(The story is slightly marred by the fact that Takeshi knows less about Sirius than his narrator would. Even though there's an old Arab nickname for the star to the effect that it has a thousand colours, this is a misnomer; quite likely, later interpreters applied the nickname to the wrong star, because Sirius doesn't look like that at all . . . yet our narrator describes it as doing so when seen through his small telescope.)

"The Champion in a Padded Kimono" is again about brotherhood. Now adult, the narrator reminisces about a school sports day, and about his elder brother who, by contrast with himself, was lousy at sports. The story's a great read that leaves one frustrated because two of its plot strands (the school athlete of the title, the supposedly magic chocolate the kids get hold of) peter out into nothing, as if the author forgot them. "Okame-san" is about a much older boy who goes from Tokyo to spend a couple of nights in Kyoto doing historical research, about how he gets ripped off by bikers, and about the gal who makes it all worthwhile. It's a nice coming-of-age story.

All in all, I'm very glad I picked up the ARC. I must keep an eye out for a copy of the final version for my shelves.… (more)

This was written and published by Takeshi Kitano in 1987. That's a few years after he starred in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, and a few before he directed his first film. It contains three short stories, originally collected in Japan under the title Shonen, about young boys doing what they do: competing in school sports, contemplating running away, experiencing their first taste of interpersonal frisson with a girl.

The question of how any of these innocents grows up to be one of the tough guys in Kitano's movies lends the book an extra dollop of emotional heft.… (more)