Dalkey Archive, August 2011
Despite its slow pacing and familiar plot, Naoyuki Ii's The Shadow of a Blue Cat is an excellent addition to Dalkey Archive's commendable series of Japanese Literature in translation. Much of the translated Japanese works that grace our bookshelves deal predominantly with drifting youths, flowing aimlessly against the pressures of maturity and the necessity of a salary and an adult lifestyle. Ii's novel recognizes this cultural malaise but twists that angst: what of the parents of these dejected teens, and where do they find solace in their thankless jobs and thankless children? "If people our age can't raise issues like fairness or responsibility, then who's going to do it?" an older character asks. "Most of the noise you hear kids making about justice is nothing more than a teething fever that flares up in their growing process."
Just as twenty-first century teens are given a voice in other novels, Ii finally gives a voice to the twenty-first century adult. Those readers without the knowledge of comparable titles may find The Shadow of a Blue Cat to fall short, but, in the right context readers will discover a finely tuned, delicate novel, and one that is unsuspectingly resonant in all its simplicity.
Despite its slow pacing and familiar plot, Naoyuki Ii's The Shadow of a Blue Cat is an excellent addition to Dalkey Archive's commendable series of Japanese Literature in translation. Much of the translated Japanese works that grace our bookshelves deal predominantly with drifting youths, flowing aimlessly against the pressures of maturity and the necessity of a salary and an adult lifestyle. Ii's novel recognizes this cultural malaise but twists that angst: what of the parents of these dejected teens, and where do they find solace in their thankless jobs and thankless children? "If people our age can't raise issues like fairness or responsibility, then who's going to do it?" an older character asks. "Most of the noise you hear kids making about justice is nothing more than a teething fever that flares up in their growing process."
Just as twenty-first century teens are given a voice in other novels, Ii finally gives a voice to the twenty-first century adult. Those readers without the knowledge of comparable titles may find The Shadow of a Blue Cat to fall short, but, in the right context readers will discover a finely tuned, delicate novel, and one that is unsuspectingly resonant in all its simplicity.
Yuki Yajima is a hard-working entrepreneur, struggling to balance the pressures of work with the pressures of his home life. When Momo, an old acquaintance gets in touch with news that Ogita (Momo's ex-husband and Yuki's ex-business partner) is dying of cancer, a wave of memories seeps towards the front of Yuki's mind. Reflecting on his professional life and how he achieved his modest modicum of success, Yuki is transported to a time before the tech boom and before the bursting of any metaphorical economic bubbles. "Like a tongue involuntarily probing a swollen gum," Yuki recalls his days as a teenager, reading Kenzaburo Oe and listening to his uncle wax rhapsodic about his former years as an uninhibited and sexually liberated youth.
These memories contrast sharply with Yuki's handling of his teenage daughter, Ryo. Ryo leads a life better connected to a different sort of novel; disinterested in school, she stays out late in the city socializing with local teens instead of her classmates. Compared to Yuki's memories of the 70s, Ryo's angst feels embarrassingly simple, but without a more appropriate amount of parental direction, she could grow up in all the wrong ways:
"Kids who seek refuge in this 'world without grown-ups' invariably end up having an even harder time of it. And it's ironic how, even as they disdain grown-ups, they're forced to grow up real fast themselves. And they usually turn into adults who don't have anything going for them."
These memories contrast sharply with Yuki's handling of his teenage daughter, Ryo. Ryo leads a life better connected to a different sort of novel; disinterested in school, she stays out late in the city socializing with local teens instead of her classmates. Compared to Yuki's memories of the 70s, Ryo's angst feels embarrassingly simple, but without a more appropriate amount of parental direction, she could grow up in all the wrong ways:
"Kids who seek refuge in this 'world without grown-ups' invariably end up having an even harder time of it. And it's ironic how, even as they disdain grown-ups, they're forced to grow up real fast themselves. And they usually turn into adults who don't have anything going for them."
Ryo has the potential to get into some genuine trouble, and sure enough, she does. By keeping his readers busy jumping from Yuki's professional life to his former life in memories, much of the novel's attention Is focused away from the tireless plod of the twenty-first century. These threads provide enough distraction for Ii to unveil a very real and perfectly understated crisis at home. Finding the difficulties in balancing Japan from the 70s with today's dueling generations, Ii forces one of these threads to grow, and forces her to grow up fast.
Although The Shadow of a Blue Cat breaks no new ground in presenting the tensions of family and growing up, the success of Ii's novel can be attributed to his highly skilled balancing of disparate cultures and generations. By focusing on the adult view of today's challenged youth, Ii makes his novel feel like a new creation built from overused parts, and, within the context of other contemporary novels, his structure feels all the more sound.
Although The Shadow of a Blue Cat breaks no new ground in presenting the tensions of family and growing up, the success of Ii's novel can be attributed to his highly skilled balancing of disparate cultures and generations. By focusing on the adult view of today's challenged youth, Ii makes his novel feel like a new creation built from overused parts, and, within the context of other contemporary novels, his structure feels all the more sound.
Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
