Every few years I reread The Stones Cry Out.
This slim novel (original title Ishi no raireki) by Hikaru Okuizumi won Japan's most prestigious literary award, the Akutagawa Prize. On the surface the story of a man who devotes his time to his hobby over his family, it has deep emotional layers that are sorrowful, tender and eloquent, like a Kurosawa film.
An experience to read.
Manase returned from the war to take over his family's used book business. He had been stationed in the Philippines where he ended up trapped in a cave with many dying soldiers, before being caught by the Americans. He recalls the horrible conditions of the cave, with no food or water, where the infected or near dead would be killed to preserve the living, a trauma hard to imagine. Now living a quiet married life, his hobby is stone collecting, believing every small pebble contains the Earth's history. He collects samples to polish and section, and is proud when his younger son takes up an interest. After a family tragedy, as his wife begins to drink and his older son retreats, Manase comes to several shocking realizations how his buried traumas of war have deeply affected those around him.
This is a deceptively simple story that leads you into Manase's life.
It's haunting and powerful.
I read for entertainment, but every now and then come across a book that knocks me out. Manase is an unassuming man which makes his grief and pain that much stronger, a man who loves his family and only wants to share what he enjoys. Masterfully structured, beautifully written, and yet shocking when the blindfold is removed.
Each time I read it, I wonder how watching a man polish a stone can be so interesting, and by the end each time I am heartbroken.
Highly recommended.
1993 (translated 1999) / Tradeback / 138 pages
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