A Personal Matter Kenzaburo Oe Pdf __link__ Info

Bird names the baby “the monster” and avoids the hospital. He reunites with a former girlfriend, Himiko, a neurotic, sexually liberated woman whose lover recently committed suicide. Together they descend into three days of alcohol, sadomasochistic sex, and evasion. Bird decides to let the baby die by asking a corrupt doctor to “transfer” it to a clinic where infants are secretly left to starve.

And yes, the PDF exists in the grey corners of the internet. You can find a scanned, often poorly formatted version of the 1968 English translation. But here is the paradox of this particular novel: To read A Personal Matter as a fragmented digital file is to miss the point of its brutal, claustrophobic genius. a personal matter kenzaburo oe pdf

Oe’s prose in this translation (by John Nathan) is visceral and kinetic. The narrative moves with a frantic pace, mirroring Bird’s unraveling mental state. The tone is dark, often cynical, and laced with a grotesque humor. The scenes with Bird’s girlfriend, Himiko, who floats through life in a drugged haze facilitating his escapism, add a surreal, nightmare quality to the text. Bird names the baby “the monster” and avoids