Sax Rohmer by Tosh Berman

 

Sax Rohmer by Tosh Berman

"Life for Sale" by Yukio Mishima; translated by Stephen Dodd (Penguin Classic)

ISBN: 978-0-241-33314-3

I think I read everything that is translated into English by Yukio Mishima.  Recently three more works came out, which means the Mishima estate is allowing more translations of his excellent writing.  "Life for Sale" is very much a pulp-style story.  It reminds me in of parts of the books by Edogawa Rampo.  Not in its violence, but its pulp-style of prose writing.  And this is very much a page-turner, with some absurdity attached to the narrative.  Mishima wrote this book in 1968, almost exactly two years before he committed suicide.  There are great lightness and humor, but there are substantial traces of the Mishima aesthetic throughout the novel. 

The book takes place during the student riots in Shinjuku, and the 'spring' of the counter-culture in Japan.  Mishima was very much the opposite of those students, yet, I suspect he admired them as well.  The same with the Hippies taking LSD.  Anything going against convention was the sugar in Mishima's tea.   In 1968, this was the height of his right-wing stance, as well as having his private army.  On the other hand, Shuji Terayama, the great writer, filmmaker, and playwright, was making his mark in Japan as a combination of Artaud and Fellini.  Both are important figures of the Shinjuku life in the 1960s.  

The story is about a man who tried to commit suicide for no real reason; he survives.  He then decides to sell his life to whoever comes to his apartment.  Money is not an issue, but a lot comes his way.  I will say no more because of the fun of reading this book are the twists and turns.   I think some will think of "Life for Sale" as a minor work, but for me, it's my favorite Mishima. 

"Kzradock the Onion Man and the Spring-Fresh Methuselah: From The Notes of Dr. Renard de Monspensier" by Louis Levy (Wakefield Press) Trans. by W. C. Bamberger

ISBN: 978-1-939663-28-3 Wakefield Press

Louis Levy's "Kradock the Onion Man" is a fantastic novel. Reads and written as pulp, but has many layers (like an onion - ha) that at the surface seems to be a crazed thriller, but alas, it's very 20th-century angst. In a nutshell, the plot is regarding a doctor in a mental hospital who is looking over a patient with troublesome patterns that leads to violence and surreal overtures to what is and what isn't reality. Our Dr. Renard de Montpensier chronicles the narration, where in essence do we trust his point-of-view? The novel was written and published in 1910, and I believe the novel was serialized in a newspaper or publication. It reads like a serial, where there is a cliffhanger at the end of the chapter. So it is pulp, but I think this piece of Danish literature is picking up the vibes of 1910 Europe. Like all good art, its ears are picking up things that we the public are not aware of. The book is full of surreal horror scenes that are theatrically set pieces, where one can almost meditate on its meaning or how it conveys within the plotting of the novel. It's interesting that both Gershom Scholem and Walter Benjamin were fans of "Kzradock," so they must have picked up on the vibrations that are within the story. The afterword by the novel's translator W.C. Bamberger is enlightening and enjoyable. Thanks to him and Wakefield Press bringing Levy's book to the 21st century. A superb book.