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  • Death by Water

  • Written by: Kenzaburo Oe
  • Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
  • Length: 16 hrs and 48 mins
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (1 rating)

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Death by Water cover art

Death by Water

Written by: Kenzaburo Oe
Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
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Publisher's Summary

Kenzaburo Oe was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for creating "an imagined world, where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today". In Death by Water, his recurring protagonist and literary alter ego returns to his hometown village in search of a red suitcase fabled to hold documents revealing the details of his father's death during World War II: details that will serve as the foundation for his new and final novel.

Since his youth, renowned novelist Kogito Choko planned to fictionalize his father's fatal drowning in order to fully process the loss. Stricken with guilt and regret over his failure to rescue his father, Choko has long been driven to discover why his father was boating on the river in a torrential storm. Though he remembers overhearing his father and a group of soldiers discussing an insurgent scheme to stage a suicide attack on Emperor Mikado, Choko cannot separate his memories from imagination, and his family is hesitant to reveal the entire story.

©2009 Kenzaburo Oe. Translation copyright 2015 by Deborah Boliver Boehm (P)2015 Tantor
Literary Fiction
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What the critics say

"This novel...proceeds almost exclusively via conversation made up of intricate, literarily and dramaturgically knowledgeable, politically progressive, long speeches. And it is enchanting." ( Booklist)

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Profile Image for Geoff Guich

lives up to its accolades

while I was a little confused at first, not knowing exactly what I was getting into with One's penultimate work having only heard "Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids" in the past. It was a little slow and confusing at first, this novel was a "slow burn", but deeply thoughtful and engaging. I am glad I took the time to see this book through.

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