Diary of a Mad Old Man (Masterplots II: World Fiction Series)
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
- Principal Characters: Tokusuke Utsugi, Satsuko, Jokichi, Haruhisa, Nurse Sasaki
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: 1960’s, Sex or sexuality, Obsession, Greed, Diseases, Japan or Japanese people, Tokyo
- Locales: 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 1926 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
