Kenzaburo Oe: A PERSONAL MATTER

Some call A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe an Existentialist novel. Yes, indeed, it is. The novel tells the central character’s questioning his existence and worries about the future when he finds himself engulfed in a dilemma in the midst of an absurdly unexpected happening, i.e., the birth of his son with brain hernia so prominent that it appears like a second head, making the infant look like a little monster. The character’s choices are as dark and rebellious as the kind of language that author used to weave the highly impressive prose of the novel. Yes, the novel is dark and brave, but, as a piece of literature, it is great. One of the best books I’ve read.

The author, Kenzaburo Oe, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1994.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

{30 January 2010}