Naomi: A Novel
by Junichiro Tanizaki
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Book Summary Information
Author: Junichiro TanizakiEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-04-10
ISBN: 0375724745
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of Naomi: A Novel
Book Review: "She would take the place of both the maid and the bird."
Summary: 4 Stars
Naomi is a novel that will feel surprisingly familiar to the western reader. While much of the important thematic material refers to the fascination Western culture had for Japan, it is also a meditation on modernity and the challenges that it offered traditional models of family and feminine behaviour.
A 28-year old electrical engineer (Jôji) is attracted to Western styles and values and also feels the need for some additional warmth in his life. Rather than go through all the stiffness and ceremony of arranging a marriage, he instead decides to take on a poor 15-year old bar girl named Naomi as a kind of pet.
"I'd decorate the rooms, plant flowers, hang out a birdcage on the sunny veranda, and hire a maid to do the cooking and scrubbing. And if Naomi agreed to come, she'd take the place of the maid and the bird....This is roughly what I had in mind."
Jôji is attracted to Naomi because she has a western name, and also because she has an exotic appearance that makes her resemble Mary Pickford. She appeals to his sense of adventure because of this western air and she also seems safe. Rather than take a risk on an adult stranger, he can simply mold her into the sort of woman that he would prefer (think Murasaki in The Tale of Genji). Once Naomi agrees to move in with him, he encourages her to explore the modern and western side of her nature.
However, he discovers that while is a tourist playing at being adventurous, Naomi actually lives on the edge. She takes to becoming a "western girl" (shorthand for a modern girl) with a vengeance. She chooses increasingly outlandish and expensive clothes, takes up dancing, and has suspicious friendships with young boys. Jôji begins to have doubts about her character, but by then he is already madly in love with her. She increasingly takes control of his life, leading him to ruin.
The subject is a familiar one-- there is something about this notion of modernity vs tradition that seems to play itself out irresistably on the body of the lower class female character. In this case, Naomi's western self is a celebration of modernity that eventually turns into a frenzy of despair. The story bears a lot of similarity to Of Human Bondage, with some of Breton's obsessionary tone in Nadja thrown in for good measure.
The characters are almost entirely unsympathetic-- the smug would-be Pygmalion Jôji more so than the scrappy Naomi. Because the theme has been done so often since the time of writing, it may feel as though it lacks surprises for the modern reader.
Recommended-- interesting and important book which should read well whether you pick it up for the historical or literary value.
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