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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sex & Scheming,
By Boris Bangemann "boyse" (Singapore) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Key (Paperback)
This small novel in the form of two interweaving diaries is a mere 160 pages long. In fact, it is 320 pages long. You have to read it twice to enjoy it fully.The two diaries are written by a 55-year old professor and his wife who is 11 years his junior. To state the facts bluntly: He is oversexed and under-equipped; she is over-equipped and loathes him. In short, they are incompatible. They have been married for more than 20 years. As long as he sticks to his books and she to her traditional upbringing and old-fashioned morality the marriage works. Then, on New Year's Day, the husband starts to write in his diary about the sexual relations with his wife, knowing that she will read it. She, in turn, begins to write a diary in the knowledge that he will read it. A game of intricate manipulation begins during which he gains some momentary fulfillment of his desires and she finally finds a surprising solution to her marriage problem. It is an empty, ironic triumph, though. But I don't want to give away the plot. The title of the novel alludes to the key to the husband's diary. A key is an instrument to open something that is locked. The husband intended the key to open up the heart of his wife to his needs. This is not what happens. His diary sets in motion another process. The key opens up something unexpected in his wife, ironically and tragically. The novel can be read on several levels: as a mystery novel, a classic tragedy, an essay on marriage, a study in deception and self-deception, an exercise in the use of manipulation, a deliberation on sexual politics and obsession (even though this is the most un-erotic book about sex I have ever read), a story of female liberation, or a philosophical musing about the delusions of human beings. It is absolutely a five-star performance. Please note the fine craftsmanship of Tanizaki. How he manipulates the reader, and how he structures the diary entries to reflect the balance of power between husband and wife (with the husband's fading influence and health, his diary entries fade, too). Please note, too, the fine moral balance that Tanizaki strikes. You may despise and pity his characters at the same time. Tanizaki completely refrains from letting his own ethical inclinations show in his characters. It is the process set in motion by the husband's diary that gives each of the two main characters what they desire. Let yourself be surprised.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A simple yet riveting novel about surrepticious communicatio,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Key (Paperback)
Kagi or The Key is a fascinating novel in which Tanizaki brilliantly creates a means of communication for a husband and wife whose sexual relations need a new level of passion. The English translation loses the effect that the Japanese novel possesses; the husband writes in the more modern characters of katakana, while the wife, Ikuko writes in the more traditional Hiragana. The fascinating part of the novel is how well it expresses sexual desires without having the characters directly relate their wants and needs to one another. This follows the more conservative traditions of the Japanese, and suggests that feelings and emotions are taboo and should be kept to oneself. But the overall sense of the novel implies a strong feeling of tension that is only alleviated by deception. The characters are forced to control their sexual instincts and lie to themselves by not opening up to their parter. Truth is also another skeptical idea that is toyed with and conventionalism is a factor as well. The reader is never aware if either Ikuko or her husband ever read the other's diary and this leaves an aura of mystery; a positive aspect the author creates in the story. Overall, an intensifying work of art in both English and Japanese.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The lies behind the lies behind the life,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Key (Paperback)
The Key is written in the form of two parallel diaries, diaries of a middle-aged couple over a four month period - plus a couple of months entries to finish off the story. The man is a 55 year-old academic who loves his wife and feels sexually inadequate. The woman is a 44 year-old traditional Japanese housewife, sexually both repressed and voracious. Their college-aged daughter is cool to the young man her parents present as a potential husband. The young man appears to be more interested in Mother than in daughter.Through the diaries one observes the internal workings of the marriage. The husband hides from himself everywhere except in his diary. His wife hides from herself even in the diary. Each expects the other to "snoop" so that they can communicate through their writing what they cannot speak openly. And they use their sexual relationship as the metaphor for their entire relationship. The author has done an excellent job of uncovering the ambiguity often present in relationships and the complexity of knowing even one's own motivations.
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