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A Lost Paradise book cover
A Lost Paradise
1997
First Published
3.81
Average Rating
435
Number of Pages

The book that caused a sensation! This tale of extramarital sexual obsession and all-or-nothing love struck a deep chord in Japanese readers. Published only recently, it set sales records in the millions of copies and soon crossed over to other media as well—first as a radio and TV drama, then as a blockbuster movie. The popularity of the novel has spread across Asia as well, with hugely successful translations into Korean and Chinese. In the West, readers may be reminded of The Bridges of Madison County, another best-selling novel of blazing midlife passion—one with a very different outcome. Here the lovers are Kuki, a 54-year-old employee in a publishing company, and Rinko, a childless, 37-year-old woman unhappily married to a cold fish of a husband, a professor of medicine. Stuck in a dead-end job and an uneventful marriage, Kuki is irresistibly drawn to Rinko from their first encounter, seeing through her demure demeanor to the passionate woman beneath. She returns his feelings with ever-increasing abandon, despite lingering fears about where her sexual awakening may lead her. In the end, both are prepared to risk all for their relationship: family, career, and social standing, even life itself. The story contrasts the lovers' defiantly freewheeling passion—described in imaginative, smoldering detail—with a rigid society where people are expected to play a prescribed role, whether as dutiful wife or compliant office worker. In escaping these conventional roles, the lovers often escape the city as well, immersing themselves in the traditional beauties of Japanese nature and art as they give themselves over to each other and the pleasure of the moment. And ultimately they make a much more radical escape: one that will ensure that they are left in peace, to enjoy an abiding love. Perhaps not all the choices they make will seem reasonable, or even understandable, to Western readers. But their story, with elements as modern as yesterday's headlines and as timeless as the tug between love and death, opens a window into the secrets of the Japanese soul.

Avg Rating
3.81
Number of Ratings
359
5 STARS
28%
4 STARS
38%
3 STARS
24%
2 STARS
8%
1 STARS
2%
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Author

Jun'ichi Watanabe
Jun'ichi Watanabe
Author · 4 books

Junichi Watanabe (渡辺 淳一, Watanabe Jun'ichi, October 24, 1933 – April 30, 2014) was a Japanese writer, known for his portrayal of the extra-marital affairs of middle aged people. His 1997 novel 'A Lost Paradise' became a bestseller in Japan and over Asia, and was made into a film and a TV miniseries. He has written more than 50 novels in total, and won awards including Naoki Prize in 1970 for 'Light and Shadow' (Hikari to kage), New Current Coterie magazine prize for Makeup, the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize in 1979 for 'The Setting Sun in the Distance' (Toki rakujitsu) and 'The Russian Brothel of Nagasaki' (Nagasaki roshia yujokan). He was born in Sunagawamachi (present-day Kamisunagawa) and died on April 30, 2014 of prostate cancer in Tokyo.

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