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Loading... The Scarlet Gang of Asakusaby Yasunari Kawabata
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In the 1920s, Asakusa was to Tokyo what Montmartre had been to 1890s Paris and Times Square was to be to 1940s New York. Available in English for the first time, The Scarlet Gang of Asakusa, by Nobel Prize winner Yasunari Kawabata, captures the decadent allure of this entertainment district, where beggars and teenage prostitutes mixed with revue dancers and famous authors. Originally serialized in a Tokyo daily newspaper in 1929 and 1930, this vibrant novel uses unorthodox, kinetic literary techniques to reflect the raw energy of Asakusa, seen through the eyes of a wandering narrator and the cast of mostly female juvenile delinquents who show him their way of life. Markedly different from Kawabata's later work, The Scarlet Gang of Asakusa shows this important writer in a new light. The annotated edition of this little-known literary gem includes the original illustrations by Ota Saburo. The annotations illuminate Tokyo society and Japanese literature, bringing this fascinating piece of Japanese modernism at last to a wide audience. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)895.6344Literature Literature of other languages Asian (east and south east) languages Japanese Japanese fiction 1868–1945 1912–1945LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Asakusa è universale. Qui tutto viene alla luce così com'è, senza artifici. I desideri degli uomini palpitano nella loro nudità. E' una grande corrente in cui si mescolano alla rinfusa tutte le classi e le razze. E' una corrente di insondabile profondità che fluisce senza posa, giorno e notte. Asakusa vive: folle di gente la percorrono senza sosta. E' un crogiolo che fonde di continuo le vecchie cose e dà loro nuova forma.
(pagina 29 - Qui Kawabata cita Soeda Azenbo)
Il fischietto del vigile urbano, la campanella dello strillone, il clangore delle catene delle gru, il motore dei battelli a vapore, i geta che pestano l'asfalto, l'eco delle automobili e dei tram, l'armonica di questa ragazza, la campana del tram, il suono della porta dell'ascensore, clacson di automobili, rumori di sottofondo in lontananza... Diventano un tutt'uno indistinto. Mi abbandono a quell'onda si suoni, come se fosse una ninna nanna.
(pagina 89)
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