The tomb of the lights / American algae

Description

The two short novels "The tomb of the lamps" (october 1967) and "American algae" (September of 1967), they raised a great expectation when they were published, i l’any 1968 both won the Naoki Award. With an extraordinary talent, complex and deficient, Nosaka hides under the folds of style a look that does not shy away from the most sordid and raw aspects of existence. Grave of the Matchsticks is the story of Seita's death by starvation, secondary education student, l’any 1945, in a train station. Seita has seen her little sister starve to death, which he had had to take care of after his mother was burned to death during the bombing of Kobe. In The American Algae Akiyuki Nosaka describes with a sense of humor the bewilderment of those who saw how their world was transfigured with the arrival of "Democracy" or the "Constitution". Under the pretext of the visit of a pensioner couple from the United States to Japan during the period of "re-education", the author shows us how, deep in the consciousness of the vanquished, it hides a submission of deep meanings. very hard, merciless, it leaves us with the deep imprint of the authentic fiber and without concessions.