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A review by willande123
The Crab Cannery Ship and Other Novels of Struggle by Takiji Kobayashi
5.0
Before reading this fascinating collection, I had never delved into the vast oeuvre of proletarian literature. The three stories undoubtedly have a socialist agenda, but it never feels forced. Kobayashi's elegant writing is incredibly persuasive and powerful. In the title novella, you feel like a member of the crew, living under horrible, diseased conditions in the "shit-hole" of a gigantic trawler and working for almost no pay. In "Life of a Party Member," you can feel the eyes of the secret police following you as you walk down the street, just trying to meet a comrade.
While Kobayashi has an agenda, he does not propagandize. His characters fail significantly more than they succeed. They live in squalid conditions and are under immense psychological pressure from constant surveillance. Strikes are quashed and organizers languish without charge in prison. Trade unions are hijacked by conservative leaders hoping to get elected to the Diet, the Japanese parliament. The reactionary union bosses, which Kobayashi and his characters constantly battle, use their workers as political pawns. Kobayashi paints the political suppression of Japan in the 1930s with shiver-inducing clarity. Never once did I doubt the sincerity or drive of his characters to create a better future.
Kobayashi, an organizing member of the Japanese Communist Party, was brutally murdered by the secret police of Japan's fascist regime, only because his works exposed the daily horrors of Japanese factories. Whatever you think of the political left, it is impossible to deny that without the concerted efforts of millions of working class activists and politicians, many more workers would still be caught in the endless vortex of disgustingly low pay and gross exploitation of labor. Many sacrificed their lives for others. Their altruism deserves to be remembered.
Growing up in an affluent, non-industrial suburb, I had little contact with members of the working class. Workers were sneered at by the upper-middle class white collar workers and their children, my classmates. Unlike many of my peers at school, my mother grew up working class. Her father was a firefighter and her mother a teacher in Jersey City, NJ. Every time I heard one of my friends make a casual comment about custodians and dining workers, I cringed. My mom never let me forget that all workers deserve respect, and my grandpa (still alive at 95!) told me about the horrors of the Great Depression from a young age. Works like Kobayashi's should be required reading for students, especially those who grow up in affluent neighborhoods without any conception of what it means to be exploited.
Željko Cipriš's translation is masterful and expressive, and I'm sure that Kobayashi would be proud. You can feel Kobayashi through Cipriš's words. The only thing that weakens this collection is that Kobayashi's death left the last two works incomplete, and the cliffhangers left me unsatisfied. But the cut-offs are fitting because the story of this young, idealistic writer was cut short too.
Spurred by the Great Recession, The Crab Cannery Ship became a bestseller in Japan for the first time in 2008. That gives me an inkling of hope that in a future that is set to be dominated by the political right, working people will never forget how awful it used to be, and how awful it still is for many workers, especially in the sweatshops of the developing world. Absolutely recommended.
While Kobayashi has an agenda, he does not propagandize. His characters fail significantly more than they succeed. They live in squalid conditions and are under immense psychological pressure from constant surveillance. Strikes are quashed and organizers languish without charge in prison. Trade unions are hijacked by conservative leaders hoping to get elected to the Diet, the Japanese parliament. The reactionary union bosses, which Kobayashi and his characters constantly battle, use their workers as political pawns. Kobayashi paints the political suppression of Japan in the 1930s with shiver-inducing clarity. Never once did I doubt the sincerity or drive of his characters to create a better future.
Kobayashi, an organizing member of the Japanese Communist Party, was brutally murdered by the secret police of Japan's fascist regime, only because his works exposed the daily horrors of Japanese factories. Whatever you think of the political left, it is impossible to deny that without the concerted efforts of millions of working class activists and politicians, many more workers would still be caught in the endless vortex of disgustingly low pay and gross exploitation of labor. Many sacrificed their lives for others. Their altruism deserves to be remembered.
Growing up in an affluent, non-industrial suburb, I had little contact with members of the working class. Workers were sneered at by the upper-middle class white collar workers and their children, my classmates. Unlike many of my peers at school, my mother grew up working class. Her father was a firefighter and her mother a teacher in Jersey City, NJ. Every time I heard one of my friends make a casual comment about custodians and dining workers, I cringed. My mom never let me forget that all workers deserve respect, and my grandpa (still alive at 95!) told me about the horrors of the Great Depression from a young age. Works like Kobayashi's should be required reading for students, especially those who grow up in affluent neighborhoods without any conception of what it means to be exploited.
Željko Cipriš's translation is masterful and expressive, and I'm sure that Kobayashi would be proud. You can feel Kobayashi through Cipriš's words. The only thing that weakens this collection is that Kobayashi's death left the last two works incomplete, and the cliffhangers left me unsatisfied. But the cut-offs are fitting because the story of this young, idealistic writer was cut short too.
Spurred by the Great Recession, The Crab Cannery Ship became a bestseller in Japan for the first time in 2008. That gives me an inkling of hope that in a future that is set to be dominated by the political right, working people will never forget how awful it used to be, and how awful it still is for many workers, especially in the sweatshops of the developing world. Absolutely recommended.