By the Lamp-Lit Lake

Name: By the Lamp-Lit Lake
ISBN: 9787532770076

青山七惠 / Chen YanShanghai Translation Publishing House · ChinaOct 2018

3.7

Word count: 129K words
Chapters: 11
ISBN: 9787532770076

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Summary

*Lake of the Lamp* is a new full-length novel by the young Japanese novelist Nanae Aoyama, a story about holding fast and running away, confinement and growth. Kume Tōko is jokingly called "a person from the sky" by her friends: young as she is, she willingly stays by the mountain lake where travelers grow fewer and fewer, running the family restaurant. The Kume household also includes her taciturn father Genzō, her lively second sister Ayu, and her youngest sister Hanae. Ayu plans to go to Tokyo to become an actress, and high-schooler Hanae seems to have her own plans for the future. Those around her cannot understand Tōko's persistence—Junji, her childhood friend; the mysterious young man Tatsuo who has newly arrived; and a letter from her mother, who eloped long ago. Tōko's fate seems about to change…

Editor's review

In *Lake of the Lamp*, Nanae Aoyama continues her characteristic delicate, restrained narrative style, sketching through three seemingly independent yet interlinked stories the subtle emotional predicaments and spiritual redemption of contemporary urban people. This is not a plot-driven novel in the traditional sense; rather, with keen observation it captures the faintest tremors of the characters' inner lives—the loneliness that cannot be spoken, the remembrance of time past, and the glimmers of life that occasionally flash amid everyday trivialities. The descriptions of natural scenery are highly visual: the lamplight by the lake, the changing seasons, the feel of objects all become external projections of the characters' inner worlds. As a writer who has won the Akutagawa Prize, Aoyama shows in this book a more mature command of narrative. She stretches the time span to decades and, through the perspectives of characters of different ages, explores how memory shapes the present and how loneliness can turn into an occasion for self-knowledge. Reading it requires setting aside expectations of dramatic conflict and instead immersing oneself in the beauty of "ma" and "yohaku" peculiar to Japanese literature, perceiving in seemingly plain dialogue and detail the author's profound observation of the spiritual condition of modern people.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who prefer quiet, delicate literary styles
Readers interested in the "I-novel" tradition in contemporary Japanese literature
People hoping to find a moment of spiritual rest in a busy life
Readers who like to perceive characters' inner worlds through descriptions of objects and nature

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking strong plot and dramatic twists
Those expecting a clear ending and solutions to problems

Reading tips

Read in installments in a quiet environment, leaving at least half a day between stories
Pay attention to how recurring images (light, water, old objects) link the themes
After reading, note the details that moved you most and reflect on how they resonate with your own experience

About the publisher

Shanghai Translation Publishing House China · Founded in 1978

Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.

版权信息
三姐妹
星期四的习惯
生日派对
相亲
遥远的海滩
硫磺气味的丝线
再见
滑冰教室
信的去向
歌声

FAQ

How does this book differ from Aoyama's earlier work *A Perfect Day to Be Alone*?

*Lake of the Lamp* is more complex in time span and narrative structure; its three stories involve characters of different ages, and its themes expand from the loneliness of youth to middle-aged recollection, family relationships, and other richer dimensions. The language remains delicate but gains layers of interwoven time and space.

Are the three stories in the book completely independent?

The three stories have no direct continuity in characters or plot, but through a shared geographical space (the lakeside area), similar emotional themes (loneliness and connection), and faint temporal threads, they form an inner resonance and dialogue, constituting a complete set of thematic variations.

Why are everyday objects described in such particular detail?

Aoyama excels at letting objects carry memory and emotion; old lamps, tea bowls, textiles, and other items often become external symbols of the characters' inner worlds. This aesthetics of "mono no aware" is an important tradition in Japanese literature and a key entry point for understanding the work's deeper meaning.

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About the author

青山七惠 Author

Nao Aoyama is a contemporary Japanese novelist whose works are often grouped under classic works and foreign literature in Chinese reading circles. The collection currently holds thirteen of her books, including One Person's Good Weather, Window Light, Gentle Sighs, Blue Hawaii, Dancing Constellations, and Our Home, as well as omnibus volumes such as the seven-volume Collected Works of Nao Aoyama and the four-volume Nao Aoyama Novellas. Public information about her nationality, birth year, education, and awards is limited, so no inferences are made here. Judging from the works available, she often starts from everyday life, using a light and delicate touch to capture relationships and inner fluctuations, with a slow narrative pace and restrained emotion that lingers in the mind, which has earned her a steady readership among Chinese readers.

Chen Yan Author · China · 1945

Chen Yan (born 1945) is a male professor of the second tier and doctoral supervisor at the School of Japanese Studies, Dalian University of Foreign Languages, and a former dean of the school. He has long been engaged in the theory and practice of Japanese-Chinese and Chinese-Japanese translation and in comparative studies of Chinese and Japanese, and has published more than 40 textbooks, dictionaries and monographs as well as over 70 papers. He has enjoyed the special government allowance of the State Council since 1994 and received the Japanese Foreign Minister's Commendation in 2018. Ten of his works are included in the collection, covering classic works, foreign literature, finance, language and writing, personal finance and film and television, including translations of Japanese literature such as Oku no Hosomichi, The Poppy, The Wavering of Virtue and By the Lake of the Lamp, as well as finance titles such as International Settlement and Read Financial Reports Step by Step.