Dangerous lovers

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Dangerous Beloved ( Japanese 国境 の 南 、 太陽 の 西 , kokkyō no minami, taiyō no nishi , Ger . "South of the border, west of the sun") is a novel by the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami from 1992. It was published in German first in 2000 in a second translation from English by Giovanni and Ditte Bandini . In 2013, DuMont-Verlag brought out a new translation of the original Japanese text by Ursula Gräfe , in which the original title of the book “ Südlich der Grenz, westlich der Sonne ” was retained.

Hajime met Shimamoto in childhood. Both are only children in a society in which almost all children have siblings. They get along well and can talk about anything. But at the age of twelve Hajime is not yet ready for a relationship and when he moves, the two gradually lose sight of each other.

In later years he has numerous love affairs until he finds Yukiko and marries. With a loan from her father, he opened two jazz bars one after the other. But he cannot forget Shimamoto even as a happy family man and when she meets him again, she completely messes up his life.

Course of action

Born in 1951, Hajime grew up as an only child in an undefined Japanese suburb. When he was twelve years old, he met the girl Shimamoto. They go to school together, both are only children and both feel like outsiders in a society in which all children grow up with siblings. Since Shimamoto lives in his neighborhood, "a stone's throw away from each other," the two are put together at school and Hajime is instructed by his teacher to look after them. So they both become friends. Shimamoto is slightly disabled, so the way to school is long and both of them enjoy it. After school, they are often at Shimamoto's parents' home listening to classical music and Nat King Cole . Their intimate conversations create a feeling of mutual security and affection in both of them. After completing primary school, Hajime's parents move to a more distant part of the city. Hajime hesitates to continue cultivating the relationship and breaks off contact.

At the age of 17, Hajime meets Izumi, and both are gradually exploring their sexuality. However, Izumi asks him to give her more time because she is not yet ready for a sexual union. Hajime then turns to Izumi's cousin, whom he is fascinated by, and a brief, intense sexual relationship develops. By chance, Izumi learns of her boyfriend's betrayal. She is deeply hurt by his lie and separates from him because she can never forgive his breach of trust.

Affairs run through his life. After completing his studies, he takes on an insignificant position in a school book publisher, the work bores him. Then he meets a woman on the street who reminds him of Shimamoto. As if spellbound, he follows the woman through the rain-soaked streets of Tokyo to a café. When she realizes that she is being followed, she calls someone and leaves the café. A little later, Hajime finds himself in the grip of a man who urgently urges him not to pursue the woman any further. He hands him an envelope containing 100,000 yen and disappears.

Hajime's monotonous life takes a sudden turn when he meets Yukiko two years after the incident. Hajime is now thirty years old. Out of alleged affection, he asks Yukiko, the daughter of a wealthy Tokyo construction company, to become his wife. Yukiko agrees because she genuinely loves him. Hajime receives money from his father-in-law and uses it to found two jazz bars, which he arranges to suit his taste. After six years he meets an old schoolmate who tells him about Izumi. He says it has hardened completely, internally and externally. Her face shows traces of an alienation that instills fear even in strangers. This schoolmate, who once fell in love with Izumi and envied Hajime for his apparent happiness, is now horrified and speechless at the forlornness that overtaken Izumi.

In this situation, in which Hajime finds himself hopelessly confronted with the guilt of his first infidelity, Shimamoto takes the stage, completely unexpectedly. She sits down in one of Hajime's bars and waits. Hajime only recognizes her after a conversation she has started. They start talking, Shimamoto never telling about their past and asking Hajime not to ask questions about it. She never had to work, but is very wealthy. She confesses to Hajime that she has loved only him in her life and still does. One day, at Shimamoto's request, they drive together to a river that flows into the sea. There she scatters the ashes of her deceased daughter and imagines that she ends up in the sea and in the rain. For the excursion Hajime had to lie to his wife, this lie is almost exposed, as it is initially unclear whether the return flight to Tokyo can take place due to heavy snowfall. On the way back, Hajime Shimamoto saves her life. She suffers from an illness that is not described in detail and has not taken her medication for a long time. After that, Shimamoto cannot be seen again for several months and Hajime waits for her in one of his bars every evening.

When Shimamoto shows up again, they drive together to Hajime's vacation home in Hakone and sleep together. Hajime is willing to give up his marriage and family for Shimamoto and live with them. He expects Shimamoto to tell him everything about the past 25 years, since he hardly knows her. She agrees. But the next morning she disappeared. Hajime goes back alone and lives with his wife outside as if nothing had happened. Yukiko has already noticed that something is wrong and gives Hajime time to think about whether he wants to leave her. Hajime ponders for a few weeks, but Shimamoto no longer appears. He also thinks that Shimamoto only re-entered his life so that they could both commit suicide, but something must have stopped them in the end. While walking aimlessly through the city, a taxi suddenly stops next to Hajime, behind whose window he recognizes Izumi's completely expressionless face. Once again confronted in shock with the guilt of his first infidelity, "something inside him dissolves and disappears, silently and finally." Freed from this, Hajime chooses Yukiko, confesses his love for her and regrets the mistakes he has made.

Others

In 2000, Sigrid Löffler in the Literary Quartet literally referred to the book as literary fast food - McDonald’s and accused the author of having no language. She explicitly criticized the erotic representations. The Japanese salutation qualified them as ritualized language. Marcel Reich-Ranicki and Hellmuth Karasek, however, praised the book. Reich-Ranicki spoke of extraordinary delicacy and Karasek stated that he had not read a romance novel of such skill in a long time. The dispute and the reverberation in the media made the book and the author known to a much larger group than a unanimous review would have been able to do. With her demolition , Ms. Löffler contributed involuntarily, but not insignificantly, to the success of the book and author in the German-speaking area. Ms. Löffler herself left the series after the argument.

The first German edition of the novel was a second translation from the American one . The Japanese original was only translated into German in 2013.

In 2005 the novel was Cologne's “ Book for the City ”.

Book editions

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Simone Hamm: Murakami newly translated: softer, rounder, less flippant. In: Deutschlandfunk , January 27, 2014, accessed on June 21, 2017.