Lou-Lan and Other Stories

By Yasushi Inoue

1968

First Published

3.82

Average Rating

164

Number of Pages

5H00M

Audio Length

From Japan's master of historical fiction, winner of its highest cultural award, six stories in quest of the hidden treasures of Asia's past. The six stories, translated by two outstanding translators from the Japanese, exemplify Inoue's skill at both evoking an historical atmosphere and telling a gripping tale, and they will convey to a Western reader exactly why Inoue was one of the most popular writers in Japan today. The majority of the stories may be generally classified as "historical fiction," but, more precisely, they are extremely well-researched forays into remote geographical areas and little-known periods of history. The title story, "Lou-lan," recounts the turbulent history and final disappearance of an ancient city in Central Asia. "The Sage" and "Princess Yung-t'ai's Necklace" also recreate the tempestuous past of continental Asia. The remaining three stories—"The Opaline Cup," "Passage to Fudaraku," and "The Rhododendrons"—are set in Japan. The first of these is about a pair of cups that were treasured by an ancient king and are brought together after being separated for over a thousand years. The second is a narrative centering around a custom that arose in a remote Buddhist temple, whereby the abbot was cast adrift in a boat to die at sea. And the third is a masterly characterization of an old scholar reminiscing about his life.

Avg Rating

3.82

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

19%

4 STARS

51%

3 STARS

25%

2 STARS

1 STARS

goodreads

Author

Yasushi Inoue

Author · 19 books

Yasushi Inoue (井上靖) was a Japanese writer whose range of genres included poetry, essays, short fiction, and novels. Inoue is famous for his serious historical fiction of ancient Japan and the Asian continent, including Wind and Waves, Tun-huang, and Confucius, but his work also included semi-autobiographical novels and short fiction of great humor, pathos, and wisdom like Shirobamba and Asunaro Monogatari, which depicted the setting of the author's own life—Japan of the early to mid twentieth century—in revealing perspective. 1936 Chiba Kameo Prize —- Ruten,流転 1950 Akutagawa Prize —- Tōgyu,闘牛 1957 Ministry of Education Prize for Literature —- The Roof Tile of Tempyo,天平の甍 1959 Mainichi Press Prize —- Tun-huang,敦煌 1963 Yomiuri Prize —- Fūtō,風濤 (from Wikipedia)