Floating Clouds by Hayashi Fumiko, translated by Lane Dunlop [in Bloomsbury Review]
Originally published in 1951, the final novel from Hayashi – undoubtedly one of Japan’s most important women writers of the 20th century – traces a tormented, destructive love affair. When they meet, Yukiko and Tomioka are both stationed in Japanese-occupied French Indochina, living in verdant Vietnam. After the war, both return to a defeated Japan and witness firsthand their country’s utter devastation. The irreparable damage to the post-war Japanese psyche is played out in the lovers’ troubled relationship, caught in a detached limbo and yet unable to let each other go.
Review: “In Celebration of Asian Pacific American Month: A Literary Survey,” The Bloomsbury Review, May/June 2006
Readers: Adult
Published: 2006 (United States)
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