Foreign Studies by Shusaku Endo
In the early 1950s, Shusaku Endo spent several years as an exchange student studying in Paris. Around him existentialism, Sartre, and Beckett were making the city the literary and philosophical capital of the world. But for Endo, the experience was deeply alienating, and he came away infected with tuberculosis, his studies incomplete, and having convinced himself that there could be no cultural commerce between East and West. Foreign Studies consists of three linked narratives exploring this theme. The first part, A Summer in Rouen, concerns Kudo, a Japanese student invited to France in the 1950s. It is a lucent snapshot of a young man who feels adrift in a Western country. The second part, Araki Thomas, sees Endo on familiar territory as he tells of an apostate Japanese Catholic who has visited 17th-century Rome. And You, Too, the third part, is the story of Tanaka, a Japanese scholar of French literature who visits France in the 1960s to research the life and work of the Marquis de Sade.
Shusaku Endo is often regarded as Japan's most important writer. Widely translated around the globe, his works are considered modern classics. Endo was nominated for the 1994 Nobel Prize, and was awarded the Tanizaki Prize--Japan's most prestigious literary award--for Silence. He went on to win every major literary award in Japan, including the Akutagawa, the Noma, and the Shincho. Endo passed away in 1996.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780720612264 |
| ISBN 10 | 0720612268 |
| Title | Foreign Studies |
| Author | Shusaku Endo |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Peter Owen Publishers |
| Year published | 2009-07-01 |
| Number of pages | 240 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |