*Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own*

Longing
2 stars ⭐⭐
In the beginning, I didn't understand the story or where it was going, or what was its purpose, it had a fairytale vibe, but in the end, it makes perfect sense, and even makes the story itself prettier, even though it's still confusing.

Sorrows of a Heretic
1 star ⭐
I found this story boring, I didn't like our main character, and I just wanted the story to end.


The Story of an Unhappy Mother
2.5 stars
That was the most interesting story to read in my opinion, but it's still not something I like to read.

In the end, this book isn't bad, it's just not something I'm used to and like to read.
But if this book interests you, give it a try.

Jun’ichirō Tanizaki was one of Japan’s most prominent modern writers in the early 20th century. He passed away in 1965 and was known for writing honest accounts of family life that was not often depicted out in the open within Japanese society. This collection of short stories was written early in his career between 1916-1921.

This collection contains three short stories, ‘Longing‘, ‘Sorrows of a Heretic‘, and ‘The Story of an Unhappy Mother‘. Longing details the dreamlike sequence of a boy trying to find his way back home to his mother. What he encounters is eerie and complete with a sad revelation at the end. Sorrows of a Heretic is about a despicable young university student and his relations with his family and friends. He is a liar, a cheat, and relentlessly selfish, even in the face of the death of people he deems close to him. His narcissism is hard to stomach throughout this story. The Story of an Unhappy Mother is another one that will make you feel uncomfortable. By all appearances, the mother in this story seems to have the perfect family with her doting sons. However, she has expectations of them that they can’t seem to be able to meet. After her one son gets married she crashes their honeymoon of which an accident occurs that no one wants to speak of. The mother falls into a deep depression and is never the same afterwards. This results in tragedy in which the real outcome of the accident is finally revealed to the reader and remaining family members.

There is some arguably autobiographical content in this book as it relates to the stories. Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s mother passed away of a heart attack in 1917 and he was not able to make it to her death bed.

Jun’ichirō Tanizaki has a great way of setting a distinct tone for his stories that create the unnerving atmosphere he is trying to instil in his readers. These stories are meant to make you uncomfortable and the fact, that 100 years on, these stories can still evoke these feelings showcases the author’s talent. Jun’ichirō Tanizaki had a way of merging ideas and shifting perspectives that made his writing approachable while also making readers uncomfortable as he showed them stories and ideas that may have been taboo or in bad form to discuss. With this collection, he specifically discusses family and how society perceives what makes a good family and asks the question about how far our duties extend to our family and what exactly do we owe them? This also shows the clash of Confucian ideals with that of the West in early 20th Japan.

Overall an engaging read that made me want to explore what else this author has to offer.

Three stories from a master Japanese novelist, set in the early 20th century - two in their first English translation. While the stories all deal with aspects of mother-son relationships and are emotionally rather than narratively driven, stylistically each is quite different and in sum they demonstrate the author's range.

The English translation is clear, readable, and, especially in the first story, poetic and lyrical.

In addition to the stories, there is a fine afterword that gives some details of Tanizaki's life and provides context for where the stories fit in Japanese society as well as in Tanizaki's body of work.

At first I wanted to give up on this book, but I'm glad I didn't. The first story, in my opinion, was really bad. I was bored with the lyrical, repetitive writing, and the story itself bothered me, because sexual things were constantly narrated around this child. (If you want to do a literary analysis it might be interesting, but otherwise, just skip it?). Anyways, the second and third stories were WAY better. The narrator of the second one reminded me of Osamu Dazai's tragic characters, or maybe even the guy from Dostoyevsky's Notes From Underground. Both the second and third story analyse complicated family relationships, and the third story seems to deal with a narcissistic and manipulative parent

While recognizing and appreciating its literary value, I find this collection of short stories depressing. They are centered around miserable people, each of them troubled in their own ways, making bad choices and causing pain to their loved ones. I admit life is not a bed of roses but I prefer my books more uplifting. It definitely is a unique read though.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Columbia University Press for an Advance Reading Copy.

I really like reading about Japanese culture and people, and that's the reason why I requested this book.

First of all, the language is beautiful. But it didn't work for me mainly because of the writing style. I couldn't connect with the writing style and the characters. The stories are too melancholic, descriptive and incoherent.

Thank you for the ARC and sorry I didn't enjoy the read.

I like this format short stories it was interesting howas interesting how the characters in each of these short stories had to overcome THI NG. And how it dealt with the issues in Japan when modern society was conflicting with the old ways of doing things. And how one story was about marriage and how the mother in law had difficulties accepting the new wife but it turned but it turned out there was positive to negative things into that story as well. Another one was talking about death and how you are imagining things which were there at 1 point and how you cope with that is another whole issue. This person was just walking along and kept talking to people who were not really there not really there but you could see how he really missed that life but it turned out Okay.

Longing and Other Stories was my first Tanizaki read and I really enjoyed the three story collection. Each story is unique, Longing describes dreamy search along a dark road, Sorrows of a Heretic details the turmoil a young man faces who feels he is above his status in life and The Story of an Unhappy Mother is about the mother son dynamic. Each story is well written and descriptive. Semi-autobiographical, the author weaves a general theme throughout the three stories of a complicated relationship between a mother and son. I loved these stories and will definitely be seeking out more books by this author.

A beautiful book of Eclectic ,Poignant, Hauntingly beautiful Literature .#FB, #Instagram, #Goodreads, #NetGalley, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/358a5cecda71b11036ec19d9f7bf5c96d13e2c55" width="80" height="80" alt="100 Book Reviews" title="100 Book Reviews"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/ef856e6ce35e6d2d729539aa1808a5fb4326a415" width="80" height="80" alt="Reviews Published" title="Reviews Published"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/aa60c7e77cc330186f26ea1f647542df8af8326a" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>, #Amazon.co.uk.

These three stories all pertain to the (often broken) dynamic between a mother and son. The protagonists are always conflicted beings, often selfish or doubtful or in other ways unlikeable. Yet we never really hate them- they are too lifelike for that, too “real”, too reminiscent of flawed people we know.

I liked the second and third the most. They both felt like simple morality tales, while the first was more of a wordy dream-like experience. All three were certainly compelling, although I often found it hard to fully connect with the protagonists.

The thoughts and worries had by these people are timeless, reflections on family.
It’s a very brief yet enthralling collection, though it felt a little dry at times.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love Tanizaki and Japanese literature in general, it has a lyrical and poetical trait that is very specific to it.

Collections of stories is not my favourite genre, but I'll gladly make an exception for this one, because it is an outstanding example!

Three stories that revolve around family relationships, in particular mother-son ones, seen from different points of view and narrated in different styles. My favourite was the first one, it will remain with me for quite some time.

A fascinating read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5*

The quality of the writing is striking, as one would expect from Tanizaki, but despite that, none of the stories truly touched me.

What binds this stories together is the subject: the relationship between son and mother/parental figure. But also the exploration of changes in traditions and traditional values in Japanese society, and in particular in familial dynamics. According to the forward, this stories also have a autobiographical component, which may interest those who are familiar(have an interest) with the author's background. But as far as I am concerned, it was in now way evident(apart from the second story because the main character shared his name with the author), or made any difference to how I read/enjoyed the stories.

I found "Longing" to be a very sorrowful story. Written in a more simplistic language, making us aware of the age of the narrator, it has a dream like quality to it and even getting a bit phantasmagorical in its descriptions. While I did appreciate it at an intellectual level, emotionally I really struggled with it. It was to some extent confusing, I just could pinpoint if it was a realistic depiction of a child's experience or just a fantastical tale.

"Sorrows of a Heretic" and "The Story of an Unhappy Mother" were to me the two sides of the same coin. The protagonist of "Sorrows of a Heretic" reminded me of a regular teen from the Western World. While many of his actions and feeling may be familiar to a Western reader, it will surly seem rather out of character to someone familiar with Japanese families of that period. On the other hand, the protagonist of "The Story of an Unhappy Mother" depicts what one would expect of a child of an Edo family. Yet for a Western reader it would be rather hard to actually understand, at a deeper level, such strong feelings and extreme behaviour. This last story has been my favourite one because it really took me out of my comfort zone and once again highlighted the striking difference between west and east.

Anything about Japan or written by a Japanese author will be one for me. I was born in Japan and I love Japanese culture so I requested the ARC for the book and was so happy that I got the ARC.

The book consists of three stories--"Longing" talks about a young precarious boy in a fantastic journey, " Sorrows of a Heretic" is about a student living in poverty and fighting with his family and "The Story of an Unhappy Mother:" talks about the relationship between the newlyweds and mother. Each of these stories are told in a beautiful way with depicting the descriptions of Japanese culture and traditions as well as descriptions of countrysides, emotions and feelings said in the book.

In a nutshell, I will rate each of the stories

"Longing" - 3/5 stars - I really like this young boy in the story and do like the setting. But it was a bit boring to me.

"Sorrows of a Heretic" - 3/5 stars-- the descriptions and the lifestyle of a poor Japanese family was well described in this book. But again it was partially boring.

"The story of an Unhappy Mother"- 4.5/5 -- now that got me interested in the story. This talks about the newly wed brother, who makes a decision that will affect his own mother as well as his own life. The raw emotions, feelings and sorrow that both the mother as well as the son is facing is too real and overall, I enjoyed reading this sad short story.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this set of short stories set during the 1900'. Worth four stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

I spent a day reading this and I enjoyed it immensely. The writing is beautiful and poetic. The only story I didn't like was the middle one and I wouldn't even say dislike. It could be boring at times but I felt compelled to continue. All the stories dealt with death and family dynamics in a way that's new to me. The author does not care about holding back blows in some cases and dances around in others. He weaves a great story. The first and last story felt like fables. I would buy this collection just for them honestly. I'll be picking up more from Tanizaki. I've never heard of him before and this has me interested.

This is 3 beautiful stories. They are older stories (from the 1910s), newly translated, by a fairly famous Japanese author. I actually hadn't heard of him, but I was taken in by the lovely cover art. I also generally like Japanese literature, so I thought that I would give this a try.

The stories are sort of haunting. They convey a lot of emotion from the narrators. There is also a feeling of futility involved in these stories. All three are about family life and look at the relationship between the members. I really liked all of them.

Tanizaki paints detailed scenes and dreamscapes set in the Tokyo area with mother-son relationship family drama and symbolism throughout. Stories are haunting and poignant pieces that will leave you reflecting on their many levels of meaning and interpretation.

having heard so much about Tanizaki from bookstagram, I was skeptical about being disappointed because hype is something I don't deal with very well as a reader. Well, safe to say I am enthralled by his style of writing and only want to explore more of his short stories and novellas from now on. Thank you for providing this ARC in exchange of an honest review.

3.5. There are three longish short stories compiled in the collection, “Longing” (1918), “Sorrows of a Heretic” (1916-17) and “The Story of an Unhappy Mother” (1921). All three stories focus on family, particularly that of mothers and sons. The more I read the more I think of Japanese literature as being the brother/sister of Russian literature. There’s something about the dejected, disillusioned youths in both that remind me of one another. The protagonist of the second story here is a university student who fails to go to classes and instead freeloads off his friends and disobeys and disappoints his parents; there’s something of Raskolnikov in him. The first story on the other hand is Kafkaesque, a young boy walking through a strange nightmarish landscape at night, looking for his mother. The ending of this story failed completely for me and ruined what was otherwise going to be a strong and unnerving piece. The last story took some time for it to find momentum but ultimately was compelling enough. The second story was the strongest for me and earnt itself a solid 4 stars and the collection as a whole would have followed suit, had the ending of the first story not been so damaging.

As far as the prose goes, Tanizaki reminded me of the clear and beautiful prose found in other Japanese writers I have read and admired: Mishima, Kawabata, etc. Japanese prose has that distinctive ‘telling’ type of writing which comes across as very technical and economical, because when done poorly, would ignore every writing course’s mantra: Show Don’t Tell. The telling sort of prose has made itself into contemporary Japanese literature and is the sort of prose that Murakami has made for himself as a style. I’ve never found Murakami’s style particularly original in that respect, only his ideas. That being said, it’s clear that Tanizaki is a skilled writer and I’m now doubly eager to read some of his novels, the household names such as <i>The Makioka Sisters</i> and <i>Some Prefer Nettles</i>. This collection was a brief but strong starting point for his body of work and anyone familiar with Tanizaki would equally relish these stories of his.

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4340470528

This version of Longing and Other Stories was very kind to readers like me who haven't taken a lit class in years. It flowed very well and was easy to read even when the characters were being difficult people. My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley.

Having read other works by Junichiro Tanizaki, I was happy to have an opportunity to read this collection of three short stories that was pulled from his early work. Loosely connected by a focus on the mother / son relationship each of these stories showcase Tanizaki's gift of writing about family dynamics. The highlight for me was the first story entitled "Longing", as the slow pace invoked a contemplative and almost meditative feeling. Anthony H. Chambers and Paul McCarthy give us a superb translation.

Thank you to NetGalley and Columbia University Press for the opportunity to provide an honest review in exchange for an opportunity to read the advanced review copy of this book.