Diary of a Mad Old Man
by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki
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At a glance:
- Author: Jun’ichirō Tanizaki
- First Published: 1961
- Type of Work: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: June 16, 1960, to mid-April, 1961
- Setting: Tokyo and Kyoto
- Characters: Tokusuke Utsugi, Satsuko, Jokichi, Haruhisa, Nurse Sasaki
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Novel
- Subjects: 1960's, Sex or sexuality, Obsession, Greed, Diseases, Japan or Japanese people, Tokyo
- Locales: Asia, Japan, Tokyo, Japan, Kyoto, Japan
The Novel
Nine-tenths of Diary of a Mad Old Man is composed of entries from the protagonist’s diary (from June 16 to November 18, 1960) up to the point at which a series of seizures incapacitate Tokusuke and bring an end to his written autobiographical introspection, in which he has engaged for many years. The work’s remainder is composed of respective extracts from Nurse Sasaki’s report (November 20), Dr. Katsumi’s clinical record (from December 15, 1960, to February 7, 1961), and notes by the protagonist’s widowed elder daughter, Itsuko Shiroyama,...
(The entire page is 1934 words.)
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