日本での発見 / Discoveries in Japan #37: 向田邦子 / Mukōda Kuniko

Mukōda Kuniko should actually not be a discovery in Japan, since she was on my qual exam list at some point until she got de-prioritized for reasons I can no longer remember. Regardless, she as a writer has always had a special place in my heart, since she wrote the screenplay for the TV show with the character after whom I was named, based on a novel by Genji Keita. (That...was a long sentence. Sorry.)

文庫本は電車の中で手軽に読めるからいいんだけど、向田邦子の本は必ずと言っていい程涙で顔がボロボロになるから、公共の場で読むにはちょいと恥ずかしい。今日も帰りの電車の中で目真っ赤にしながら『あ・うん』読んでたし・・・

Mukōda passed away far too young, but even still she in her works (whether essay, novel, or screenplay) pens incisive and sensitive portrayals of a wide range of characters—men and women, young and old. And there's such an honesty and clarity there, something that makes you recognize yourself in those characters, that you can't help but look to the pages for answers to things that you've been struggling with...

さて、『あ・うん』も終わったし、次は中里恒子を読む事にしよう。こっちも電車で読んだらヤバいのだろうか・・・