Keiichirō Hirano (平野 啓一郎 Hirano Keiichirō, born June 22, 1975) is a Japanese novelist.
Hirano was born in Gamagori, Aichi prefecture, Japan. He published his first novel (Nisshoku, 日蝕) in 1998 and won the Akutagawa Prize the next year as one of the youngest winners ever (at 23 years of age). He graduated from the Law Department of Kyoto University in 1999. In 2005 he was nominated as a cultural ambassador and spent a year in France.
وقعت الرواية في يدي منذ يومين, ومثل أي معجب بالأدب الياباني شرعت في قراءتها مباشرةً متجاوزاً الكتب الكثيرة التي تنتظر دورها, والحقيقة أنني لم أندم. رواية صغيرة الحجم لا تتجاوز 170 صفحة ولكنها كبيرة, كبيرة بمستواها ومعانيها. الأدب الياباني بحر واسع ومن الممتع الإبحار فيه, وما زلنا مقصرين في اللغة العربية بذلك, رغم الجهود السابقة لبعض المترجمين الجيدين الذين نقلوا لنا بعض الروائع من الأدب الياباني, ورغم أن ذلك تم عبر لغة وسيطة ثالثة على الأغلب إلا أن جهودهم مشكورة ومحمودة, وهنا لا بد من تسجيل الإعجاب والشكر أيضاً للمترجم الممتاز الأستاذ ميسرة عفيفي لتقديمه لنا هذه الجوهرة الجميلة لأديب رائع ومهم, وخصوصاً أنه يترجِم عن اليابانية مباشرةً وهذا بحد ذاته أمر رائع ويبشر بالخير. ونتمنى أن يواصل ميسرة عفيفي جهده المهم هذا وينقل لنا مستقبلاً الكثير من أعمال الأدباء اليابانيين وخصوصاً من لم يترجم منهم قبل الآن إلى العربية.
في مقدمة الكتاب قدمت المترجمة الكاتب الياباني، والذي كان ذلك العمل أول عمل يتلقى عليه جائزة رغم أنه كان لا يزال طالب جامعي، كما أنه اختار اللغة اليابانية القديمة الغير مألوفة لليابانيين المعاصرين لكتابة الرواية، أما عن موضوعها فهي جزء من مذكرات راهب فرنسي بالقرن الخامس عشر وكأنه أراد اختيار فئة معينة من القراء لهذا الكتاب.
يبدأ الراهب نيقولا بسرد الأحداث بداية مع رحلة بحثه عن كتاب فلسفي قديم، فيمر على قرية ويستقر بها مدة ويرى بها من العجائب ما سيبقى في ذاكرته للأبد، أما عن أفكاره فهي تحاصره دائماً، فهو في حيرة بين عقائد ديانته والعلوم كالفلسفة والكيمياء، فعلى عكس مبادئ الكنيسة وقتها ومحاكم التفتيش كان يريد نيقولا الاستفادة من تلك العلوم وفهمها بدلاً من اتهام الناس بالهرطقة.
بعض المشاهد اللي صورها الكاتب ذكرتني بفيلم The seventh seal كمشهد الراهب وهو يعظ أهل القرية ويبث في قلوبهم الرعب.
Set in the late 15th Century, this was an interesting story shared in memoir-ish style, a story of a young Dominican monk who is on a quest, but ends up wrapped up in strange events, events which seem to get stranger as time passes.
There is a flow to this story that feels a bit like a gentle river as this begins, but one that becomes more dangerous over time. A story of those who wish to destroy those people and/or things that don’t serve what they see as ‘their’ wishes.
There are many moments in this story with lovely prose, but overall as this story continued it felt as though it was moved along simply by chaos and bedlam, just for the sake of the ending, which was disappointing.
Pub Date: 12 Nov 2024
Many thanks for the ARC provided by Columbia University Press
أحب أجواء القرون الوسطى في الروايات، أشعر أنّه عالم غير العالم الذي نعيش فيه تماما، ساحرات ومحاكم تفتيش، ومعاداة للعلم وسيطرة الكنيسة..و.. لكن الرواية لم تعجبني كثيرًا، ربما لأنني لم أفهم مغزاها تماما.
يبدو أن هذه السنة ستكون بالنسبة لي سنة الروايات الصادمة الرواية رائعة بشكل يخلب الالباب والمترجم ابدع في ايصال فكرة الرواية ومضمونها والحبكة والاحداث الحبكة والمعالجة في منتهي الروعة لن أنكر أن الاحداث كانت مملة وبطيئة في اول الرواية إلا أن بالوصول إلي منتصفها والذي لن يأخذ الكثير من الوقت فعدد صفحات الرواية اصلا 193 صفحة تأخذ الاحداث منحني من التشويق ابهرني وافقدني الاحساس بالعالم من حولي بداية موفقة لي مع الادب الياباني
دلني على هذه الرواية تغريدة اشارت الى الكاتب الياباني كيئتشيرو هيرانو ولا زلت اعشق ادب الشرق بكل ما تحمله كلمة الحب من معنى لاني اعلم تماماً ان سحر الشرق يحوي على اسرار لا يسعنا ادراكها الا عن طريق المترجمين الرواية لم تكن لدولة الكاتب اليابان وانما كانت عن الكنيسة الكاثلوكية في القرن الخامس عشر ابان مرحلة محاكم التفتيش وان كانت هذه الرواي�� غزيرة المعلومات لكنها لم تكن عن الشرق الذي اردت زيادة التعرف عليه
تحية للمترجم الاستاذ ميسرة عفيفي لهذا الجهد والاخلاص في نقل محتوى هذا الادب الينا
Eclipse by Keiichirō Hirano is an upcoming short novel, coming this November. The story follows a Dominican monk on a journey from France to Florence, Italy, in search of rare manuscripts. Along the way, he stops in a small village where strange and unsettling events begin to unfold.
While the novel is beautifully written, I found myself completely lost. The narrative is often confusing, and I struggled to grasp the underlying meaning or direction of the story. Despite this, the writing style kept me engaged, even as the plot remained elusive.
Eclipse seems to be the kind of novel that might reveal more upon a second reading. Though I didn't enjoy this particular work, I’m inclined to explore more of his books that have been translated into English.
أول رواية كتبها كيئتشيرو هيرانو، لكنها قراءتي الثانية له. أبهرتني كما في سابقتها (حكاية قمر)، بل ربما أكثر. أظن أنني سأضيف أعمال هذا الكاتب لقائمة أفضل ما قرأت على الإطلاق. رواية ساحرة تهزّنا من الداخل و تجعلنا ندخل في دوامة من الأسئلة الوجودية، لا تنتهي. ولن تُكرّر. كل الشكر للمترجم على الترجمة الخلّابة.
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Eclipse by Hirano Keiichiro is a first person POV literary historical Japanese novella. A young Dominican friar in the fifteenth century goes to Florence for books on pre-Christian philosophy. On the way, he meets an alchemist in a town that is having a few struggles of its own. And what he finds is both human and not.
As someone who grew up Catholic, I’m always a fan of how other people view historical (and modern) Catholic practices from as many POVs as possible. The Samurai by Endo Shusaku, a Catholic Japanese author, is one of my favorite historicals of all time for that very reason. Hirano Keiichiro goes into the complex views of Catholicism vs alchemy at the time and how faith and science can both be at odds and influence each other. The priest in town having a child after taking the cloth was something that happened quite often (the Medici family had a lot of ties to the Papacy, for instance) and even continues to this day despite the vows to abstain from physical relationships.
The novella explores a lot of dichotomies and takes a more philosophical tone rather than a plot-focused narrative. A lot of the imagery is creating a contrast that gets called back to or is part of the larger whole. Towards the end, we get a far more detailed look into the philosophy in relation to the experiments of the local alchemist.
Content warning for mentions of torture and the G slur
I would recommend this to fans of literary historical novels and readers looking for a Japanese novella set in Europe in the fifteenth century
The opening of Eclipse caught my interest, and I wondered how the story would unfold. By the end, though, part of me wondered what I had just read, since it was a strange tale. You can clearly see the themes running through the book: a challenge to long-held views, and a presentiment of harsh retribution against any who dare to do so. The historical ideas of witchcraft certainly have modern-day equivalents, which is, I believe, what the author sought to highlight. And in this, he does succeed. However, despite its short page count, this is not necessarily an easy read, and I think it will only appeal to a certain type of reader; others could be left baffled and find it too obscure. I am giving it 3.5 stars. I didn't dislike it and found it intriguing, but it didn't completely capture my heart or mind.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
A young Dominican friar sets out to Florence on a journey to gain knowledge. On his way, he stops off to try to converse with - and learn from, an oddly bland and unresponsive alchemist. The story was mildly interesting, though incredibly dull, and it felt lazy all the way through. Using the friars' cowardly tendencies and unwillingness to speak up for anyone but himself as an excuse to give the least amount of information about the goings on in the village and beyond. I'm glad it was a short book, because nothing much really happened. The few big events were strange because there wasn't enough information imparted beforehand. Though the small-minded, suspicious 15th-century village life was outlined well. I would recommend Eclipse still because it is so short and an interesting little read, but it's not extraordinary.
‘We cannot help looking, at every opportunity, for signs of a miracle in our daily lives.’
This was such a fascinating and unusual read. A young Dominican monk goes on a scholarly quest, only to get caught up in a strange, hermitical alchemists work, culminating in a bizarre sequence of events, both natural, and perhaps, supernatural. This story was definitely not what I expected it to be. It wasn’t an easy read, as the novel is dense with philosophical theory, questions and monologues about the meaning of life and religion’s place in society. Despite this, the story still flowed well, and I found myself always wanting to know what would happen next. This novel was both intriguing and enjoyable to read.
This book seemed right up my street from the description... Japanese historical fiction..Yes please! I was really disappointed though - this was a tedious read and I only persevered because of its short length. Some errors in translation stuck out for me. For example, "what sounded the tocsin for me".. Tocsin comes from late 16th century where this novel is set in the 15th century. Dull and I wouldn't recommend it.
2.5* -- This was a miss for me - I was excited to read Japanese historical fiction and the plot of a young Dominican friar who journeys from Paris to Florence in search of manuscripts of pre-Christian philosophy books seemed so unusual that I had to try it. I wonder if many things were lost in translation for me. It was beautifully written but there was just something missing. I will definitely look at the author's other translated works. Thanks to Columbia University Press and NetGalley for this ARC.
رواية من روايات التخبط بين التعاليم الدينية والعلم ومحاولة إيجاد جوهر مشترك بينهما .. بدأت برتابة وملل حتى المنتصف تقريباً وإنتهت بالكثير من التساؤلات لكنها ممتعة وغريبة وتثير الفضول والبحث لذلك أستحقت الخمس نجوم ..
무엇인가 좀 더 깊고 무거운 주제를 건드리고 싶어하지만, 현란한 수사들을 빼면 생각보다 그다지 남는 것도 없는 느낌이다. 게다가, 일원론적 세계관을 보완할 수 있는게 고작 이원론이라니. 너무나도 단순한 정반합의 구조를 착실하게 따라가고 있는 느낌이다. 이 작품으로 '미시마 유키오의 재래'를 말하기에는 너무나도 부족한 감이 있다.