Authors:
Ōe, Kenzaburō Translated by: Švambarytė, Dalia
Full translated source bibliographical description:
Ōe, Kenzaburō . Kojintekina taiken, Tokyo 1994.
Published on: 2001
The novel is replete with imagery of death, decay and sex. Written in 1964, the novel is dark, deeply personal, and semi-autobiographical. It tells the story of Bird, a man who must come to terms with the birth of his mentally disabled son.
Bird’s son, like Ōe’s, was born with a brain hernia. Bird tries to escape his responsibility for the child and his crumbling relationship with his wife – turning to alcohol and an old girlfriend. Bird is fired from his job teaching at a cram school in the process. He half attempts to kill the child, albeit indirectly, and is forced to make a decision as to whether or not he wants to keep the child.