Late Chrysanthemums

Name: Late Chrysanthemums
ISBN: 9787559668134

林芙美子 / 刘小俊Beijing United Publishing Co., Ltd. · ChinaNov 2023

4.0

Word count: 171K words
Chapters: 61
ISBN: 9787559668134

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Summary

The legendary Japanese woman writer Fumiko Hayashi is a model of women’s literature in the Showa era, praised by masters such as Yasunari Kawabata and Yukio Mishima, and the film master Mikio Naruse was especially devoted to her, adapting her works for the screen six times. Through years of hard struggle and a troubled romantic life, Fumiko Hayashi always loved passionately, lived brilliantly, and wrote with fervor, striving upward in adversity and flourishing under the nourishment of love and desire. She infused this wildness and vitality into her works and characters, and through her distinctive “wandering” style left a brilliant mark on the field of the I-novel.

Late Chrysanthemums is a complete collection of Fumiko Hayashi’s short-story masterpieces, including the classic title work Late Chrysanthemums, which Mikio Naruse adapted into a film of the same name, as well as other representative works such as The Accordion and the Fishing Village, A Record of Poverty, and Oysters. It also includes the essays “Literary Autobiography” and “The Slight Intoxication of Love,” Fumiko Hayashi’s sincere confessions about her literary life and emotional experience. The volume covers every stage of Fumiko Hayashi’s creation and fully presents the trajectory of her literary life. Translated by the professional translator Liu Xiaojun, this is a carefully revised new edition with a brand-new introductory preface.

Writers, peddlers, dancers, geisha—the female characters are vivid and three-dimensional, strong and independent; their stories reveal women’s will to survive amid the turbulent currents of the times and record the entanglements of love and desire in everyday trivialities. The delicate depiction of female psychology, the precise capture of people’s spiritual states before and after the war, and the meticulous sketching of complex human nature strike the heart and resonate with readers through Fumiko Hayashi’s plain and lucid prose.

Editor's review

Fumiko Hayashi’s Late Chrysanthemums is a short-story collection that embodies the author’s late-life mood and literary craftsmanship, published in a fine Chinese translation by Beijing United Publishing Co. The book includes eleven representative works such as “Late Chrysanthemums,” “Beef,” and “Sea Bream,” and the title story “Late Chrysanthemums” was adapted by Mikio Naruse into a classic film. With a cool and delicate touch, these works depict the survival difficulties, emotional entanglements, and tenacious vitality of ordinary men and women—especially women—during the transformation of postwar Japanese society. Fumiko Hayashi has been called “Japan’s Xiao Hong”; her writing is concise and her observation minute, and beneath seemingly plain everyday narration surges a profound perception and compassion for the unpredictability of fate. She excels at depicting characters’ subtle psychological movements and integrates themes such as loneliness, desire, aging, and dignity into the details of food, drink, and relations between men and women, giving the stories a quiet and enduring power. Reading Late Chrysanthemums is not only an appreciation of a uniquely charming female voice in Showa literary circles but also an experience of honest courage that transcends the era and confronts the nihilism and beauty of life. For readers who love Japanese literature and care about the depth of human nature and the postwar social landscape, this collection is a rare gem.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in the literature and social atmosphere of Japan’s Showa period
Literature lovers who appreciate delicate psychological description and everyday-life narrative
Readers who wish to understand Fumiko Hayashi and her female writing in greater depth
Film fans who like Mikio Naruse’s films and wish to trace their literary sources

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking strong plot conflict and fast-paced stories
Readers completely unfamiliar with postwar Japanese social background and unwilling to learn any context

Reading tips

It is recommended to read in order, especially starting with famous pieces such as “Late Chrysanthemums” and “Beef,” to feel the author’s distinctive narrative rhythm.
While reading, pay attention to descriptions of food, clothing, and other everyday details; they are often important metaphors for characters’ states of mind and relationships.
Compare the book with Mikio Naruse’s film adaptation of Late Chrysanthemums for a richer textual experience.

About the publisher

Beijing United Publishing Co., Ltd. China · Founded in 1993

Beijing United Publishing Co., Ltd. is a publisher known for its literature and history titles, with 2,065 books in the collection. Its publishing covers foreign literature, contemporary Chinese prose and essays, history, folk literature, and cultural books. Its list ranges from Sima Qian's complete edition of the Records of the Grand Historian to foreign classics such as The Book of Disquiet, All Quiet on the Western Front, Snow Country, The Stranger, and Jean-Christophe, as well as modern Chinese works including Teahouse and Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk. Its authors and translators include Yasunari Kawabata, Fernando Pessoa, Erich Maria Remarque, Jin Xinyi, Zhou Miao, and Chen Chao. Public information is limited, but its catalogue reflects a balance between Chinese and foreign literary classics and historical and cultural works.

版权信息
代译序林芙美子的终章
阁楼上的椅子
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
九
十
十一
十二
十三
十四
杜鹃
牡蛎
清贫记
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
九
十
十一
十二
河虾虎
门前杂记
就业
黄昏
鹭歌
手风琴和渔乡小镇
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
九
十
一个女人
幸福的彼岸
一
二
三
四
五
六
沦落
晚菊
作家手记
文学自传（随笔）
恋爱的微醺（随笔）

FAQ

What is the Douban rating of Late Chrysanthemums?

According to available information, the book has received high praise on the Douban platform; please refer to the platform’s real-time display for the specific rating. Readers generally praise the quality of the translation and Fumiko Hayashi’s distinctive literary texture.

What is Fumiko Hayashi’s writing style like?

Fumiko Hayashi’s style is known for being cool and delicate, and she excels at uncovering characters’ deep psychology and sense of fate from the crevices of everyday life. Her writing combines poetic quality with realistic power, focusing especially on women’s conditions of existence amid changing times.

Have all the works collected in this book been adapted into films?

No. The most famous is the short story “Late Chrysanthemums,” which director Mikio Naruse brought to the screen in 1954. The other pieces are mostly independent literary works that collectively demonstrate the author’s achievements in the short-story form.

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About the author

林芙美子 Author

Hayashi Fumiko is a fairly representative novelist in the history of modern Japanese literature. Publicly available information about her life and creative background is limited; the library currently holds two of her works, with Floating Clouds and Late Chrysanthemums as her representative works. Her writing tends to focus on the emotions and survival circumstances of ordinary women in real life, with a delicate and restrained touch. She often takes everyday life as an entry point to present her characters' inner loneliness, drifting and helplessness. Her works gaze at individual fate while also implying observation of social reality, with a plain and natural style that carries a strong autobiographical flavor and the mark of her era. Hayashi Fumiko's works are often classified under foreign literature among Chinese readers and attract attention as part of modern Japanese literature. Although confirmable information about her education, awards and specific experiences is lacking, her novels, with their female perspective and authentic, moving narration, retain a place in East Asian literary exchange.

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.