ガジュマルの家
A magical historical novel that follows island time from the fifteenth century to the modern era through the perspective of the tree spirit Kijimuna. Myth, feng shui, war, and disease overlap as the memories of trees and humans form a long chronicle.
Work Information
The memory of life as a tree spirit begins to tell five hundred years of a southern island.
Winner of the nineteenth Asahi New Writer Literary Award. After appearing in Shosetsu Tripper, it was published in book form by Asahi Shimbun Publications.
Review Summaries
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The work is introduced as striking for its wide span across island myth and history. Through the spirit’s viewpoint, it links human life with the time of nature.
Book Information
- Publisher
- 朝日新聞出版
- Published
- 2008-10-07
- Pages
- 181 pages
- Language
- 日本語
- ISBN-13
- 9784022504814
- ISBN-10
- 4022504811
- Price
- 399 JPY
- Category
- 本/文学・評論/文芸作品/日本文学
一体、何が起こったのだろう? ぼくは人間として生まれる前に、樹木の精霊キジムナーとして500年間、イシャナギ島(石垣島)で生きていた。風水師は墓をつくり、赤十字の老人は死者を運び、悪徳男爵は松を伐採し、島はコレラと言語禍と戦争に見舞われてゆく。15世紀から1980年代に至る南西諸島の時間と神話を大股に渡り歩く、「まるでマルケスみたい」(高橋源一郎氏・評)な、マジカル歴史小説誕生! 第19回朝日新人文学賞受賞作。