Amazon cover image
Image from Amazon.com

The wild goose

By: Contributor(s): Series: Michigan Monograph Series in Jananese Studies, No.14Publication details: 1995 Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan Ann ArborDescription: xiv, 166 pISBN:
  • 9780939512713
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 895.6342 O4W4
Summary: One small incident CAN be made into an entire novel, as Ogai Mori shows us here. The actual action in The Wild Goose is quite small, even insignificant. But the way Ogai informs us of every thought of every character more than makes up for it. What I found to be truly compelling was the point of view -- the narrator is the best friend of Okada, one of the main characters. Just when it appears that the narrator knows way too much about what Otama (the girl) was thinking, he goes and leaves us with a mystery at the end that brings about what I thought was excellent closure. I would say that the main theme of this novel is "zero reciprocity" -- those of the characters who are in love are never truly loved back, like Otama, who silently longs for Okada, or even Suezo, the man who has taken Otama for his mistress. In this novel, people lie, people cheat, people hide the truth. And people never say what they truly feel. Just like real life. An excellent story.
Tags from this library: No tags from this library for this title. Log in to add tags.
Star ratings
    Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)
Holdings
Item type Current library Item location Collection Shelving location Call number Status Date due Barcode
Books Vikram Sarabhai Library Rack 44-A / Slot 2482 (3rd Floor, East Wing) Non-fiction General Stacks 895.6342 O4W4 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 178486

One small incident CAN be made into an entire novel, as Ogai Mori shows us here. The actual action in The Wild Goose is quite small, even insignificant. But the way Ogai informs us of every thought of every character more than makes up for it. What I found to be truly compelling was the point of view -- the narrator is the best friend of Okada, one of the main characters. Just when it appears that the narrator knows way too much about what Otama (the girl) was thinking, he goes and leaves us with a mystery at the end that brings about what I thought was excellent closure. I would say that the main theme of this novel is "zero reciprocity" -- those of the characters who are in love are never truly loved back, like Otama, who silently longs for Okada, or even Suezo, the man who has taken Otama for his mistress. In this novel, people lie, people cheat, people hide the truth. And people never say what they truly feel. Just like real life. An excellent story.

There are no comments on this title.

to post a comment.