Synopses & Reviews
The story of Mizue, a Japanese housewife, and Kase, a traditional-style garden designer hired by her husband to landscape their home. As the garden takes shape, Mizue wakens to a new sensuality and desire, and her carefully structured home life begins to crumble. Author Masaaki Tachihara explores the psychology of human passion in an oblique language filled with references to Japanese garden art and aesthetic values. A disturbing and alluring work.
Review
"Fascinating." -Small Press
Synopsis
In detailing the affair between a garden designer and his client's wife, this Japanese novel explores the roots of passion.
Synopsis
Mizue is a Japanese housewife. Kase is a garden designer hired by her husband to landscape their home. As the garden takes shape, Mizue wakens to a new sensuality and desire. A disturbing tale of seduction, based on Japanese aesthetics and the artistic pursuit of destructive beauty.
About the Author
Tachihara (1926-1980) was born the son of a Zen priest in Taegu, Korea, and grew up studying the arts of medieval Japan, expecially literature and the Noh theater. A resident of Kamakura, he wrote novels and short stories, as well as a collection of essays on the Japanese garden. In 1961 he was awarded the Naoki Prize for Fiction.