The Book of the Dead
Orikuchi Shinobu author Jeffrey Angles translator
Format:Paperback
Publisher:University of Minnesota Press
Published:16th Jan '17
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
First published in 1939 and extensively revised in 1943, The Book of the Dead, loosely inspired by the tale of Isis and Osiris from ancient Egypt, is a sweeping historical romance that tells a gothic tale of love between a noblewoman and a ghost in eighth-century Japan. Its author, Orikuchi Shinobu, was a well-received novelist, distinguished poet, and an esteemed scholar. He is often considered one of the fathers of Japanese folklore studies, and The Book of the Dead is without a doubt the most important novel of Orikuchi’s career—and it is a book like no other.
Here, for the first time, is the complete English translation of Orikuchi’s masterwork, whose vast influence is evidenced by multiple critical studies dedicated to it and by its many adaptations, which include an animated film and a popular manga. This translation features an introduction by award-winning translator Jeffrey Angles discussing the historical background of the work as well as its major themes: the ancient origins of the Japanese nation, the development of religion in a modernizing society, and the devotion necessary to create a masterpiece. Also included are three chapters from The Mandala of Light by Japanese intellectual historian Andō Reiji, who places the novel and Orikuchi’s thought in the broader intellectual context of early twentieth-century Japan.
The Book of the Dead focuses on the power of faith and religious devotion, and can be read as a parable illustrating the suffering an artist must experience to create great art. Readers will soon discover that a great deal lies hidden beneath the surface of the story; the entire text is a modernist mystery waiting to be decoded.
"At once a work of innovative fiction, written in an evocative and poetic style, as well as a remarkably astute recreation of the natural, mental and spiritual world of Japan’s ancient civilization, The Book of the Dead, long recognized as a modern classic in that country, is now widely accessible for the first time to readers everywhere, thanks to this eloquent translation by Jeffrey Angles. Orikuchi’s work will prove fascinating to any reader with an attraction to literature, anthropology, psychology, or history. There is no other work quite like it in the whole modern Japanese canon."—J. Thomas Rimer, University of Pittsburgh
"Orikuchi has fairly haunted modern Japanese literature, and now Jeffrey Angles, in making his The Book of the Dead available in English, helps us understand why. Set eighth-century Japan, Orikuchi's 1943 historical novel illuminated and challenged Japan's twentieth century with this tale of a past emperor who discarded human lives, a story whose publication amidst a world war makes Orikuchi one of the bravest of all modern Japanese writers. Angles' erudite Introduction and Andō Reiji's critical essays alone make this translation worth its price."—John Whittier Treat, Yale University
"Jeffrey Angles has given us a smooth, supple translation of this remarkable book, and thanks to him, Orikuchi's glorious evocation of the distant past will live on in our contemporary world. The sounds of the ancient Japanese language may have disappeared, but in this translation, the text has been reborn with all the strength and grandeur of ancient societies everywhere."—Hiromi Ito, author of Killing Kanoko and Wild Grass on the Riverbank
"What this fascinating and insightful collection illustrates is the thin line between reality and fiction, history and myth—and the creative ways in which they can be interwoven to produce new ideas and new styles both of scholarship as well as literary production."—PopMatters
"It is a superb novel, a classic of Japanese literature, which deserves to be far better known in the English-speaking world."—The Modern Novel
"A landmark translation that proves to be both an enigmatic and revelatory read, tectonic in it's implications."—Lines from the Horizon
"A scrupulously researched book of academic rigor that is challenging for the general reader but stimulating for those who give it dedicated contemplation."—Japan Times
"This book is enlightening with regard to modern Japanese literature and aspects of Japanese history."—CHOICE
- Winner of The Book of the Dead 2017
ISBN: 9780816688104
Dimensions: 216mm x 140mm x 51mm
Weight: unknown
352 pages