A Personal Matter (1964)

- June 05, 2023

by Oe Kenzaburo

Bird, a teacher at a Japanese cram school, is shocked to learn that his newborn son suffers from a brain hernia.

He is expected to die soon and will suffer from brain damage even if he survives.

"A Personal Experience" (German)

Bird, whose first impulse is to find a way to escape this predicament rather than deal with it, struggles to understand what he should do.

"A Personal Experience" (Romanian)

Oe Kenzaburo, who faced this situation in his own life, is at his best relating the surreal situation that Bird finds himself in as he confronts the impersonal hospital system with its uninvolved doctors.

Kenzaburo Oe

Other aspects of the novel are far less successful.

"The Nightmare" (Swedish)

Bird is presented as such a shlub that it is difficult to understand the devotion of his mistress Himiko, who alternately plays both mother (by providing him with unconditional sympathy and a shoulder to cry on) and mistress (by providing sex and the possibility of escape from his stifling daily routine).

"A Personal Matter" (French)

Neither Bird the character nor Oe the author seem very concerned about the wife and mother of the unfortunate baby in all this, as she is barely mentioned in the story, which makes Himiko seem like a pathetic bit of wish fulfillment who gives and gives without making any demands in return.

"My Own Thing" (Norwegian)

Her dippy philosophical speeches don't help, either.

"Personal Concerns" (Arabic)

I was also puzzled by the abrupt change in tone at the book's conclusion.

"A Personal Case" (Greek)

For most of its length, this is a very dark book, and its sunny resolution is both unconvincing and puzzling coming from a culture that often seems to have more affinity with sad endings than happy ones.