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A review by magtattle
Naomi by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
3.0
"If you think that my account is foolish, please go ahead and laugh. If you think that there's a moral in it, then, please let it serve as a lesson. For myself, it makes no difference what you think of me; I'm in love with Naomi."
It was a hard read: at times pissing me off until I had to put it down, making me snort-laugh with utter dislike toward all of its characters. Still, I cannot deny that the characters are quite intricately written in terms of the masochistic relationship. Despite my disgust for the protagonists, the dynamic game of control is quite cleverly solved: Joji has the finances and sets the terms at first, but their contract is a self-deceptive one. Naomi never needed Joji as much as he did her, and when she did, his narcissistic desire for his "project" gave her the leverage. As a project, Naomi was being cultivated, but the more time and effort Joji put into creating her character, the more of himself and, thus, power she gave her until she had Joji's unwavering attention. Letting go of her meant letting go of his creation, his ego, so he willingly bowed down. There is a joke to be made of Joji as the personification of patriarchy (adoring and objectifying women, raising them up, yet at the same time shackling them from fear of their influence), but I don't have the means to make it. He is foolish, but there is a moral in it: there is a fickle line between being in control, and being controlled. Moreover, you give power to what you adore.
It was a hard read: at times pissing me off until I had to put it down, making me snort-laugh with utter dislike toward all of its characters. Still, I cannot deny that the characters are quite intricately written in terms of the masochistic relationship. Despite my disgust for the protagonists, the dynamic game of control is quite cleverly solved: Joji has the finances and sets the terms at first, but their contract is a self-deceptive one. Naomi never needed Joji as much as he did her, and when she did, his narcissistic desire for his "project" gave her the leverage. As a project, Naomi was being cultivated, but the more time and effort Joji put into creating her character, the more of himself and, thus, power she gave her until she had Joji's unwavering attention. Letting go of her meant letting go of his creation, his ego, so he willingly bowed down. There is a joke to be made of Joji as the personification of patriarchy (adoring and objectifying women, raising them up, yet at the same time shackling them from fear of their influence), but I don't have the means to make it. He is foolish, but there is a moral in it: there is a fickle line between being in control, and being controlled. Moreover, you give power to what you adore.