The 2nd Selected Works
TITLE
Shadows of Trees
(Jueitan)
(Jueitan)
AUTHOR
Translator
GERMAN / Tobias Cheung 
Originally Published by:
Bungeishunju (1988)
KEY POINTS
- A masterpiece that boldly and masterfully employs an extremely elaborate literary style to give an ample taste of the epitome of novelistic pleasure
SYNOPSIS
When I look at the shadows of trees, I am overcome by a disconsolately nostalgic mood.
The narrator, a writer, has a predilection for the clear-cut shape of trees against the backdrop of a bluntly plain wall. He especially likes days with strong sunlight, when the shadow of a row of trees is cast straight back. Depending on the season, time of day, and weather, the shadows may be slanted or slimmed down, and he finds each type attractive in its own way. On the other hand, he does not show a strong interest in shadows cast on the ground. What is more, his enthusiasm is dampened when the shadows are cast on brick walls or walls with many windows.
The source of this kind of idiosyncratic taste is a subject of great interest to the narrator himself as it may serve as an ideal clue for his study of himself, but he has no idea about what it may be. He does, however, have the recollection, based on the short stories of Nabokov that he has read, that Nabokov has the exact same predilection. On the other hand, when he asks three translators who have undertaken translations of Nabokov's works about this, they all respond that they cannot identify such a work. The narrator wonders if it might possibly be that a tale he himself had been in the process of composing while awake crept into a dream and became categorized in a corner of his memory as a short story of some other person.
And this is how the narrator resolves to write a short story while fully acknowledging the risk that the story may contain some portions similar to the existing works of some other writer. To put himself at ease, he begins following the paths of his shadowy memories and finds that they can be traced back from his present self as a novelist over 70, to himself as a two–and-a-half year old child, back to a previous life, and even further to before he ever took birth.
This is a masterpiece of the author, who passed away in 2012 after a busy career in literary genres including the authorship of novels, criticism, and translation.
GENRE: Literary fiction
AWARDS: 15th Kawabata Yasunari Prize for Literature
(Given for outstanding novels)
