Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Silent Cry
    The Silent Cry
    The Silent Cry
    Ebook401 pages11 hours

    The Silent Cry

    By Kenzaburo Oe

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    In Oe's masterpiece of the human condition and family psychology, estranged brothers Mitsusaburo and Takashi have long since left their family home in a remote forested valley on Shikoku, in the south of Japan: Mitsusaburo for work in Tokyo; his younger brother Takashi for the United States, to atone for his part in anti-American student protests. Takashi's return to Japan coincides with a local Korean supermarket magnate's offer to buy the brothers' ancestral storehouse, pitting the brothers against one another and dredging up family histories best forgotten.

    The Silent Cry is the most important Japanese novel of the post-war period and a strange, unsettling tale of how the call of blood and history echoes down the generations.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSerpent's Tail
    Release dateSep 22, 2011
    ISBN9781847657732
    The Silent Cry
    Author

    Kenzaburo Oe

    Kenzaburo Oe is Japan's most important living writer. Born in 1935 on the island of Shikoku, Oe studied literature at Tokyo University before spending the sixties in Paris where he came under the influence of Sartre. After his debut novel, he wrote a string of books dissecting contemporary Japan, including Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids, Teach Us To Outgrow Our Madness, Rouse Up O Young Men of the New Age!, The Pinch Runner Memorandum and the essay collection Hiroshima Notes, on the impact on Japan's national psyche of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the end of the Second World War. He lives in Tokyo with his wife and his eldest son Hikari, who was born with severe brain damage; many of the narrators in Oe's fiction have brain-damaged children, most notably in the semi-autobiographical novel A Personal Matter. He won the 1994 Nobel Prize for Literature.

    Read more from Kenzaburo Oe

    Related to The Silent Cry

    Related ebooks

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Perfection

      Jun 9, 2020

      For years I could barely write a page. I thought I was becoming a virtuoso of smallness while the grief, which is wordless, occupied an ever-greater volume. My friend lived in the estates on the bad side of town. Let’s go to the forest, she said when

      9 min read

    • Article

      Mr. Rain Jacket

      May 20, 2019

      Mr. Rain Jacket
      10 min read

    • Article

      Lapvona By Ottessa Moshfegh Review – A Carnival Of The Grotesque

      Jun 14, 2022

      There’s something encouraging, and perhaps telling, about Ottessa Moshfegh’s success. Her abject, pervy, excremental fictions carry a whiff of deviance and nihilism into a squeaky clean mainstream that comforts some while alienating others. Although

      3 min read

    • Article

      Childhood, Boyhood, Youth

      Mar 3, 2020

      They had finished reading War and Peace, and now they were celebrating their triumph at a Russian supper club in Brighton Beach. There were twelve of them seated at the long table (“Just like that painting of what’s-his-name’s dinner, minus what’s-hi

      21 min read

    • Article

      How to Be Lonely: A Booklist

      Oct 12, 2017

      The Door wrecked me in an already wrecked state last January. The book dwells on humans and their secrets and suggests a gruff sort of love that might entail just leaving people alone. The post How to Be Lonely: A Booklist appeared first on The Milli

      4 min read

    • Article

      Resistance, Rebellion, And Rage: Japan's Opposition To The Tokyo Olympics

      May 22, 2021

      As Japan continues to struggle with a new wave of COVID-19 infections, opposition to the upcoming Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games continues to build.

      4 min read

    • Article

      My Good Friend

      Jun 5, 2023

      Sunday evening About the roof repair, I have nothing new to report. The tiles were supposed to arrive yesterday; they did not. I rang that young man at the store to give him a piece of my mind, but he’s always so nice that I forget I called to quarre

      20 min read

    • Article

      Orwell’s ISLAND

      Jul 17, 2020

      Orwell’s ISLAND
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Silent Cry

    4/5

    130 ratings3 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Es una gran obra que habla de la relación profunda que sólo existe entre hermanos.
    • 5/5
      Based on some reviews I read online, I was expecting this book to be hard work. Most reviewers complained that the book is miserable, the characters unpleasant and unsympathetic. While there isn't much in the way of joy or levity in the pages, I felt some sympathy for the main characters. Their lives are hung about with tragedy and hard decisions, and their relations with each other are corrupted as a result. Mitsu and his wife are struggling to make sense of their child's birth defect. Mitsu's remaining brother Taka is trying to find a place for himself in the world. He is angry and misguided, and the least likeable of the characters, but he stands as an example of those in Japanese society unwilling to accept their post war subjugation who seek to establish their relevance through violence. Mitsu is weak and floundering in depression. I wanted him to stand up to his brother, but could see why he didn't, in his self-imposed role of guardian of his family's heritage and shame. Largely set in the dying village of their youth in winter, the sense of claustrophobia mounts as Mitsu, prevented by snow from returning to Tokyo, retreats into isolation and Taka exploits the pent up frustration of the village's young men. As events escalate, Mitsu seems on the brink of losing everything, but then Taka makes an unexpected move.From this novel, the only one of Ōe's I have read so far, it is clear to me why Ōe was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, while his contemporary Mishima wasn't. Ōe's prose, in comparison to Mishima's, is poetic and graceful. While there are political messages in the story, they aren't thrust down the reader's throat. The novel is an exploration of human fragility, of our responses to uncontrollable events, of the choices we make in life. It examines the stories we tell ourselves and the way we manipulate memory to both form our self-image and justify it. It considers the nature of truth and whether we ever truly know it or speak it. It documents events that demonstrate social compliance and the fallout when such compliance is exploited for ill. The Nobel judges cited The Silent Cry as a key work in the imagined world Ōe created across his writing, 'where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament'. Although it was a difficult read at times, I loved it.
    • 4/5
      In this strange book form the japanese Nobel prize winner a miserable man, living in an unhappy marriage and have a disabled baby, travelling with his brother to their home village just to face the history of their family and his worthless life till the shocking end. Too much typos in the hungarian edition.

    Book preview

    The Silent Cry - Kenzaburo Oe

    gWcbook_preview_excerpt.html}ۮƱԜ'n 0 cKZdVIfIVu?s~`>_2֊Ldc w̌ˊ/2qtX.}xtCwWU>+|Ż}?z}:.ܧC)|_bw8iɸS70f@XC?kCiͺ20|)Ѯ7wqZSkliz{]o[]pӧ~pK>lqj?MqS^/-%rٶ&ڧ񷿯Sqo 8rkh|~V,p?p^m ©Y_d}EӶn\"oOO4KÀ pM8=k[K#73k4c Et[_l}lGǩ%ƫ-Ў;`CIpf.jv 9kߌ&/پ88X ݤ?O-o,dw?Bcn=Ցyl;йQ9S51t1^q @M!D/~b\r8v!M~`KR&A=6 qqe2; 39[+TKd1n;3?)!8/'͒ ӕXsYmc 晎a~6 -7.61^ ڎ6n\J-ZN<9S;߻yBnc~3y8Mk3>ͣ ~:XR:y4gfYT3:ͽbȐTl댳}|vef;%<;6; ;DEVaЏ)=7>&YS=wnltfm`?ejpͨGO`:y+ zۆ [ ϵmo`10ܼit-0@K:w1(cm? L22@6>$5H fsO (;Dk?8Δ vsŇJ\at/i ٮg ҷf;NZX7oH$xc6/W|BH>xtz zzӈS_"0)K.4# j2]ˇFh$+~_=Z`gqcA٠ƀgi;8?{3`Ei!R"Y6njpݛI$8̘0`40'݈S谫@U =tg`Ohɠ;&/ 9Jׇrc, < ֮.O"zq5pLty"0g1F muM i̴%7Xel617 BXF.jnƥǥ]h|BDN*F` Ug1ʦ0r<%4-$-n 3< 2L;ܱ m[?[=n׮v1LXu@X;.e zCO ZoӖ/-'ȧ^>27@&Ͷ,Л}bbggş܃ln./f_dڄbi؄8)+H+īa@]aLּ݄pi8&/@MzƍxpM< VQiFl̞䋼)ᨌ5G>~t&#Ge.p/AG/(nV~p~ZC:F`vSqEvP@JK2/[;e퇒Hjo[m4<2Tu⑾.tكS(mUc% oL~8z0dlxzSẠm!OwraWP/}* 3aA}"OA9#C@Ha<n҂c\=ğ+r!qA/q6] 4Ԉ?np)CM&/;-Nlx\ץ^qb12jp^h[{O wAwA$hLڟ4?Fr|^#\,&{A=#WsZyqՎ}([\8of6-0،6 OO DÃ~lZO_>B_HXIb{wٌ.h-C|:N36,L7 (0r v^!j-$bnǰ`ݙk-G}{CҬGdX:O #5X2PAC}oVY@,Sl|J Ql:`@԰GY|Gk#P=}| ̹cܢbFd" =ڸ1|nOr(υ g7gB0[~cњL+Òg?J~TH(AeG!J%n"=ߋ@0C2u%ˌ^#3L5~t-l[ +8|` uq#^Us+D LeM1 bKvK[sQDTW$ ':Q_Gq 892:?Q<Q L³EXuf|G3Ie0XW`5/L͈Zpf叇9凖y: ^{&哊-%p&M[}ygCbkbv!&~p6r&n'ػǛ<mvi/0'ₜOĔ*ؕkx`dzOd{ԙFd|`fh8MžI@gRbI*' +md1hKC/(WA;0:OIA)ؚM"Ȭ8 |Aj͢WI.wtj7xBn"Ca`Y\ L>[Z.$͠hCޜLbAiqT\*aٰAϲF zb;7]cJoKKiFrAGtZܦ"ejI{Ҟ)J9pa8KدqHY|s%>ㆠ_2?WGd0PSrTwK:6m ı371HeZIW2$b=3;5Jkx$<~`&J<6yĚĜIZ(b7k܆!]j\W @OWV)?αbhSN(SzH}tV R%}ŎE:߀}0cAoF{ .\ +5/Jԏbwg8[(Fj_IuZx( dViĜdO)ՠFtmjH8`Vs56xH@(W !%}b<*&9%DKLFPhWfUN\M-0yGةf- %ՖGĈ\>CNj8ȩ!!%^7- @?3ciQެ<~څKd`6'O(GeW۾kEM{n"Aõ˽rwz>#͜X]DCށ /#ZhAMSCAUd u0(5ktXA +N )Q7xo30PқKB~)+ɃrQm[O vb o:MF 휔2`v~aOtPY9VR.M0% jozXd (ownjw \XgYė Ka MϞSk ,Q!8ex2B,IZmح$@6?}v%!f.9![K" b}fE;YtYdIǫfWFw af/"),s,^(x_„ LmHTo#b[ovv[j=%vр͎~< tKOk95˭`jСW>1fbk YU>QQ#vNTXפCSFn7bc>-Hgģ% g=1`c0u$ &8FtJpS. oO^QR(bXjeE4-R (cEa&`,xkٕ%GLXAT0RB<󰴝+a5 =n>\3+EnaǼ#+l3W8OөJv `}x irsBb7ڌ?%VRɌXB K|ފwN !#5(+ Av 49xO|XY~4:sMflmIab ;G(L /R1_ :a{pUf7i{,`wGKT"]qC'<ʌPzhj!qW@!/PlE1<rpE 9kM:ʮ )ڬy ,ы-3hG~bK/G{5wm dkvXq>jlHPcqQBW@u09"l;>lNNS7@hju$9Ľӹ~xƠ#@c{9qg0s@+q̠:!ǂCf舲Ԉl2E&Ϊz޴o)Qظww6; *waDvBg Âgi ^XdK.m.2Q^R$<]l;(@Z3I[ɕfXr>k uրCFe\gKt&`ɶgf$q;fq<>^ih{ʯdgdg߿_*raTg(p UzJyR-(- K?jkEu)b|wfc#63(dw"})8E8t%OUCc Q$}睳UzJtk| B.բR pc5H4 #|fDw% +cJ۫È'5̍?kG C ǨoWQS [50Րdny '>=z6)bύ&.L`.B-IO̎gh 9*'b&Ʊ5{;)Mt<]1>.A uPFD2ýҠC詵 z]HIk5k]^K1ɰn^~ M]1$x , ^qC D'׍W17F| 01ZڢX n -5SYVQd]dɛ9SH}Xs.9h؇S X~i>ljƍ,sh)f8@ktpXb6d#l߆$Oi{3SI Zb EdkI1{2={ &NI{X[&jq!3},Ed;q@@ FhdҁU6pV6+]v]I %]j@B\,S pǯE#;Oo4{(Ë.'<`ak(4'sOேxc$D|n>yk_a(yUêcm ?Opn|R;ƾyp,<*O:;y.p4ÁXվ-rxx@ĉ]cIc"?顸n Rz?VBi%F觰bEaYs̪ COVv(l%yCO1!s_p~X}~ XLktU_TZcʏ\4[>ʜl*i〓{>*F3LBPR|X'&kZ-GXe?q3dpNIou)4[MY`6+@y.x! O< >`YucrYP{0/eOIE-t>uDM54~&~,*D R`syZ"xe>ԒEg N5HfC*>D]T2qgBa-AՂ k-JTKP%g4r' ~j 'L$Ѹ!{ixqO0zKOZ='ք15_1vc1lCP嵃4êǞュh*l#a¨j8Zeyw_}H? b?K-ٸDتebM`܂X<0AY}&h45hYc=AӄEc GP0';*Թz`{;FłKrt[tPëI+k}p$w}uV fĦڊȢ!Ҭ .̰CP!G }Yت8~7-aY^7˪B|4z F-I)3t&T^y*f#|"5~4Id|kj_m(ai,Jܓ+K㬢gnnSݹ{]E!ZYm#߰bdHX{f'-b?0dD"T# dpcD]fE+W*?e6&_)cTylL YX0vl@Ik&6w|]in 2S/p,9,5OZ'G>źE]gZ^aRCTpЍ& ,fvp8,x.tsIJvUJ^v}ëzat5dj-+m^^_ۉG4z 6z*[*sㄆ͎ Sm&5֭F=bV9ZfΙ ?MEW4u.$/7E٦v v6 s鞭6N+Qu{Nu:jQlS27ơדג]VgH- {l}U k"SYc|ga2kۍJEoA xRށ>\ ٝuE㠗7ՊcXrX߄{Y)SPDWDvqUo%^qRNc-=>3ykPz/5e"<^_cxww]J.b)!2ޞVM?s M5HlaX?JB߅/J!d]ȷS`H?zD<9!e%K|``<>{&=_=\fϮ4O% F| NJh X 5ci=Dϐr`H22 e>A+Xl8i1eyc~v-Ǿw!X4cGokLGxST׏RK؝+myˁa@ 'ͼbQ23~}􋸨QJ]n:ӣHQNc0a=3Yoذ/.wOyNT#W+\:txJdj~#-Bǵ?t"0lKw7)BmkQ:1f?t }^QEQ6!زb=k:/>tgfW)k(Kcׄƾ&w뵁'5{EÝMnb ޲.j8=Zbq'or񧲸L̖ͺV6>w:+M=7 |D, R | `{EOq O @ 9m-^Hs*oݪ=!Iȳ\mWxҝ%=*O-n!W)ƀn =7&(<9@T%(4 kwui3]5_=c#l]wWMiÉ*k7\aǦ\8kxQ| !KBԒI=veO^Rm=(tmB`L=pT ߻7Ԫ;#"1;PTQZ_ d[IٚL",蚼z5_+މM1 3z婡i~Eqsd#fa'=Z]|Mo Ɋp8EG oP0f_W>ogL ?׷示71GZXg wwl;}&LyC{Ae*Ken:5 %p_=!X=\1d&#^եp2C"`'LAW(lV?il|QFX$JՑ;2WzUSYDlnc*>=vZ^/4=G dUBl[ 9讛#Ia_cCǝGeȈbN}*xd.8T46X~€wb_1ل034Mn0qf z[M6bo$#08 lQ 4T֘'dIayfk^@x=$U2Xhb1+Z^>*in~w(] 5kɇohE^/T=$ZJSJ0] j^M{L(mV[x})P&NZcG9n~Dޒ8!=:5/S*^6ɮەEl +a5qGSHpCkn4B\yrxlo'H=|w(2kDf&Y!Aw+h;;Cn<S]9%#JQlB_5cr S30g^KWD"T1Y1Ʈo54:yzsqX{"YE?Q8"&M]m34o~ E@`L1lƊQo6+zq; oE+R67+q:(M]>ݛ MIcG`.qD'9gŀJɄ[^Ro&l8;3KW䥨+UӚ|)49ZB՞itte|W)y~kj2QW>Í1+U3So kExuSYWቜ"j}ۜ@pIH+0X c5R3m2d46s:^~\HY\Z}kv>TLPA Hl/_IrG[k$zx2n3̨뒥)=0卙ScoB詃>ZW&k^9VR?})B^4nAZ}-7*$gj櫽ó%p BY5y/Ɔ?裬"
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1