The Barren Land

Name: The Barren Land
ISBN: 9787555209010

山崎丰子 / 刘小俊May 2022

4.5

Word count: 1M words
Chapters: 40
ISBN: 9787555209010

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Summary

The novel mainly depicts the legendary striving of Iki Tadashi as he wanders between two "barren lands"—Siberia and the Middle East. From Japan to the United States, from fighter jet procurement, shipping disputes, and the automotive industry storm to South Korea's subway construction and Middle Eastern crude oil extraction, this is a multinational trade war staged across the entire world, and also a thoroughly satisfying contest of human nature!

Editor's review

The Barren Land turns its lens on multinational trade and the scramble for resources, making it one of the most expansive works in Yamasaki Toyoko's social fiction. The protagonist, Iki Tadashi, returns to Japan from detention in Siberia and then throws himself into Middle Eastern crude oil development; personal trauma and business maneuvering remain intertwined throughout. The novel involves fighter jet procurement, shipping competition, turmoil in the automotive industry, subway construction, and crude oil extraction, with scenes spanning Japan, the United States, South Korea, and the Middle East, reading like a world war without gunfire. Its value lies not only in the tension of the business battles themselves but also in showing the choices and costs of people within enormous structures of interest: ideals, loyalty, calculation, and compromise are all pushed to the fore. The narrative is information-dense and the cast large, but the threads advance in an orderly way, making it suitable for readers willing to invest time in following a multi-strand story. Read it as a history of human contest cloaked in business, and pay attention to how the protagonist seeks a foothold between two "barren lands."

Who it's for

A good fit for

Social novel readers who enjoy multinational business warfare and grand narratives
Working readers interested in international resource development and trade negotiations
Mature readers who can handle multiple character threads and a long length
Readers concerned with the historical background of postwar Japan's overseas economic expansion

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer a single main line and light reading
Readers with no interest at all in business negotiations or international politics
Readers with fragmented time who find it hard to follow multi-strand narratives continuously

Reading tips

First remember Iki Tadashi's two core stages—Siberia and the Middle East—then follow the plot by geographical line.
When encountering different business-battle sections such as fighter jet procurement, shipping, and automobiles, make brief notes to clarify the interested parties.
Do not obsess over every business term; prioritize grasping the motives and shifting leverage of each negotiating side.
After finishing, compare several business battles side by side and observe how the author repeatedly writes the theme of 'the contest of human nature.'

版权信息
不毛之地：上
山崎丰子和她的作品（代译序）
第一章相识
第二章毁灭
第三章社长办公室
第四章西伯利亚
第五章命运
第六章浊流
第七章战犯
第八章天涯
第九章起点
第十章祖国
第十一章新起点
第十二章春雷
第十三章美国
第十四章风云
第十五章双翼
不毛之地：中
第十六章怪鸟
第十七章新生
第十八章苏伊士运河
第十九章烈雾
第二十章波纹
第二十一章月光
第二十二章纽约
第二十三章试跑
第二十四章火焰
第二十五章黎明前的黑暗
不毛之地：下
第二十六章印沙安拉
第二十七章三把手
第二十八章热砂
第二十九章那天
第三十章赌定伊朗
第三十一章无油兆
第三十二章天声
终章北极光
后记
译后记

FAQ

Will the business warfare content be too technical and hard to understand?

The book does involve professional fields such as fighter jet procurement, shipping, the automotive industry, and crude oil extraction, but the author grounds business maneuvering in characters' actions and negotiation scenes, and key interest relationships unfold with the plot. Ordinary readers need not understand every term; by grasping who wants what, who is conceding, and who is setting a trap, they can follow the main line.

How does the protagonist Iki Tadashi's experience connect the various storylines?

After returning from detention in Siberia, Iki Tadashi enters the trading company world, and his personal trauma and drive to rebuild his life run through the book. Business projects in different countries are linked through his professional actions; following his perspective, readers move from Japan to the United States, South Korea, and the Middle East and gradually see the full picture of the multinational network of interests.

Compared with The House of the Floating World, does this book have a higher reading threshold?

Both are hefty social novels by Yamasaki Toyoko, but The Barren Land has a more multinational stage, more dispersed business fields, and more frequent shifts of characters and regions, so the tracking cost is somewhat higher. If you have read The House of the Floating World first, it will be easier to adapt to the author's multi-threaded approach; reading this book directly is also feasible, but requires more active sorting of the threads.

Since the book involves multiple countries, how much historical knowledge do I need?

No systematic preparation is needed. The novel conveys the necessary era and regional background through characters' situations and the progression of events, and readers can build understanding as they read. A rough impression of postwar Japan's overseas economic expansion and Middle Eastern resource development will make understanding smoother, but it is not a prerequisite for reading.

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About the author

山崎丰子 Author

Yamazaki Toyoko is a representative writer of Japanese social-problem fiction; public information about her life and nationality is limited, and four of her works are currently included in this collection. Her writing is known for confronting the dark side of reality, weaving grand themes such as medicine, finance, and war into tightly constructed relationships among characters. The representative work The Great White Tower unfolds around power struggles within a university hospital, revealing the complex entanglement between institutions and human nature; The Barren Zone turns its gaze to postwar economic and war-responsibility issues; and The Grand Family sets its stage in the financial world, depicting fierce collisions between family and interest. The Reality-Darkness Trilogy further embodies her sustained questioning of real-world problems. Her works are often categorized as foreign literature and social fiction, featuring grand narratives, solid investigation, and vividly drawn characters, and they have exerted a broad influence on Chinese-language readers.

刘小俊 Author · Chinese

Liu Xiaojun is a translator of Japanese literature. He graduated from the Department of Foreign Languages at Shanxi University with a major in Japanese, went to Japan to study in 1986, and obtained a doctorate in Japanese literature in 2005. He is currently a professor in the Faculty of Letters at Kyoto Women's University, specializing in classical Japanese literature. He has long been engaged in translating Japanese literature, including works such as Fumō Chitai (The Barren Zone) and Bangiku (Late Chrysanthemums), as well as Toyoko Yamasaki's trilogy analyzing the dark side of reality. His translations mostly fall within the fields of social fiction and foreign literature, focusing on Japanese writers' profound examination of real-world issues. He has also touched on food culture, translating a work on French cuisine, which shows an interest in lifestyle books beyond literature. Public information is limited; his birth and death years, English name, and further personal details are unknown, and his existing works center on the translation and introduction of Japanese literature and culture.