Customer Reviews

Diary of a Mad Old Man (Vintage Classics)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Diary of a Mad Old Man is one of the best of Tanizaki's later works. It takes up where earlier Tanizaki novels such as Naomi and Whirlpool left off. Like them, it is a book about absurd sexual obsessions, and like them it is subtle and intelligent and lacks the heavy-breathing solemnity of much modern literary porn. In the Diary, the narrator is an aging man who is apparently impotent yet who nurses a wildly extravagant set of sexual fantasies. His fantasies end up making a mess of his life--as the characters' fantasies always do in Tanizaki's books--and they give us a vision of geriatric sexuality that is almost unique in literature. As usual, Tanizaki is at his most insightful when he is also at his funniest, and the novel is full of the usual Tanizaki complexities that become both more interesting and more amusing the longer you think about them. Tanizaki called himself a feminist (though he is the least polemical of novelists), and his work remains by far the best examination of the way that male sexual obsessions wreck the lives of the men and women who become involved in them.

Like I've said before, one of the things the world lacks is a good supply of well-written, funny books. This fits the bill. The diary is being kept by a tiny, dying old man. The old man finds that bizarre sexual encounters with his daughter-in-law bring him a strangely pleasing vitality. His enjoyment of life increases with his bizarre sexual deviations. One of the funniest parts is where the old man goes around town buying supplies so he can have Bhudda-like cement footprints made of his daughter-in-law so they can hover over his grave for all eternity. This old dude's got himself quite a foot fetish! Mingled in with his sexual thoughts & encounters are listings of medications he's taking & reports of doctor exams. The book balances the sex & the details of his deteriorating condition well. A very interesting juxtapositioning of concepts & actions. Sex being linked to man's vitality is a recurring theme in Tanizaki's works & is the central theme of this very entertaining & well-written book. Get it. You'll love it!

This is an interesting book about an elderly man named Utsugi who's in poor health; however, his sexual urges are pretty strong. He's infatuated with his daughter-in-law Satsuko, a former dancer with a murky past. He shares his thoughts about her with us in his diary along with his health afflictions, the various medications he takes and the different treatments he undergoes. This is a pretty good book that will hold your attention. While it is a good book, it isn't one of Junichiro Tanizaki's best. I recommend you start elsewhere with one of his other novels first like "The Key", then move on to some of his other works if you decide you like his writing.

Aside of his novels, I have Richard Brautigan to thank for introducing me to Junichiro Tanizaki (he dedicated "Sombrero Fallout" to Tanizaki).

"Diary of a Mad Old Man" was the first book by him I read (figuring that it was very short, less than a hundred pages, and concluding that - even if it was terrible - it would not take me all that long to read).

It tells the story of Utsugi (the mad old man of the title) and his relationship with his son's neglected wife, a former dancing girl called Satsuko. Now, on the surface at least, it appears that Satsuko, tired of the neglect imposed by Utsugi's son, decides to torment (perhaps torment is too strong a word - perhaps I mean tease - perhaps I mean something halfway between teasing and torment) Utsugi, inviting him into her shower, letting him kiss her bare foot.

The thing is. That title. "Diary of a Mad Old Man." We are reading the old man's diary and the old man is mad. Or at least, that is what the title would have us presume. And yet, the old man (our narrator after all) does not SEEM mad. Yes, okay, he is consumed by lust, at times, for Satsuko (but what old man wouldn't be?), but madness? The title leads me to doubt what I read. I wonder at times if we are inhabiting the dream world of a certain old man. (It would certainly account for why Satsuko is hot and cold and hot and cold.)

Still. There is a cool sensuality to the writing and it is without doubt a good introduction to an old master.

Junichiro Tanizaki is one of the most brillant Japanese writers of the last century. While best known for his family drama The Makioka Sisters, a lot of his books have to do with subjects more at home to Henry Miller. Tanizaki is a master of illustrating sexual obsession in novels that would be erotic if they weren't so haunted and disturbed.

The Diary of an Mad Old Man is kept by 77-year-old Utsugi as he is recovering from an earlier stroke which left him impotent with countless ailments that the elderly experience. Impossibly, he does find a way to have a sex life. His daughter, Satsuko, just happens to be young and beautiful, and Utsugi begins to lust for her more and more. He even tries to live out his fantasy by allowing Satsuko to rendezvous with her lover in his house, concealing the affair from his own son. By allowing Utsugi certain liberties with her body, Satsuko begins to replace his own family. For example, his daughter asks for a loan so that she can buy a house and Utsugi refuses her. He turns around and buys Satsuko a ring worth millions of yen. What follows is a slow dance, almost a tango of give and take in which neither Utsugi or Satsuko is the villain of the piece. They seem to actually GAIN by the immoral situation. They both get what they want.

Diary was a really good novel but it wasn't a great one compared with previous novels by Tanizaki that I have read. Sometimes the narrative dwells on boring details, but once it gets moving it picks up some power. To me, one of the hardest modes to write in is first person but the author really keeps the diary interesting. While I don't know if I would compare the characterization to that of Shakespeare, there is something of his comedy and tragedy in Tanizaki. Also seek out The Key and Quicksand.

I have been a fan of Tanizaki Junichiro for years and Diary of a Mad Old Man is definitely his masterpiece. An intriguing novel, Tanizaki digs deep into the psyhce of an old (Japanese) man and his battle/duel within himself - psychologically, spiritually, and sexually - and with a young female companion. The length of the book is quite deceiving -- it is incredibly "deep" and insightful. A definite reading pleasure.

This book is incredibly entertaining.

tanizaki continues with his favorite form of the novel, a journal, which in itself is very trite today. the sad thing is that the diary of a mad old man really has very little in it. half the time he is sick and visiting the doctor, and frankly one doesnt care much about his health. the other half which is about his infatuation with his daughter in law is extremely interesting and their interplay is the stuff of magic. while it is exciting and titillating it is also strangely disappointing, for there is hardly any insight into the characters of the people inhabiting the old mans life to make whatever is happening seem plausible. and the little explanation at the end is exceedingly disappointing. a sort of hark back to the moralistic and righteous way of life. (*** mild spoiler ahead ***) the daughter in law character who was a joy as a vamp is turned into a saint who endured the old man's attentions and frankly that was such a let down.

surely, tanizaki is capable of more as his brilliant "Key" proves. skip ahead to that one.