Product Description

An evocative historical novel with a sting in the tail, Shipwrecks is set in medieval Japan; in a coastal village where a father sells himself into indentured servitude to save his family from starvation. He leaves the responsibility for the family's continuing survival with his nine year old son Isaku. Forced to grow up well before his time, Isaku must learn quickly to trap saury fish and to distil salt; and is faced with a number of mysteries, not least his own nascent sexuality and the legend of O-fune-sama - of ships wrecked offshore providing the village with unexpected bounty. As the end of his father's bondage approaches, and another ship founders on the rocks, Isaku and the villagers rejoice. But the cargo is not at all the manna of their hopes. At first mystifying, then terrifying, this cargo is about to change their lives forever.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #200056 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01-10
• Original language: Japanese
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

About the Author
Akira Yoshimura was born in 1927. He is the prize-winning, best-selling author of twenty books - both novels and short story collections. He is president of Japan's writers' union and a member of International PEN.

Customer Reviews

Shipwrecks
Seen through the eyes of Isaku, a nine-year old boy with adult responsibilities by need and whose father like many other villagers has sold himself for several years into indentured servitude, this is a richly evocative story written with the precission of the masters of stoty telling. Shipwrecks transports you to the realms of human dignity in a minuscule fishing village in medieval Japan. This is a powerful descriptive and inspiring account of a period in the lives of the hard working and severely deprived villagers. Their survival depends on the scarce fruits of the sea and their resourfulness to make it to another day. Full of traditions, superstitions and questionable practices such us alluring passing cargo ships to the rugged coastline where they crash against the rocks, slaughtering the crew and taking its vital cargo. A cruel but necessary chore if the villagers want to survive in such a harsh environment in which there is not much room for play and enjoyment and where a bad situation is often followed by a more catastrophic one. You won't be able to put it down.

a different world
When this book was recomended to me i have to say that i was a little apprehensive, i am not a lover of international literature.

I'm happy to say that my reservations proved unfounded as i lost myself in this aincient village and really connected to the main character.

The pacing of the story is spot on, if more time were spent dewlling on day to day life in the village then the story would have quickly become boring - this pitfall is avoided perfectly.

People say that we dont get to know enough about the other characters beside Isaku, but as the story is told through his eyes i think this is fitting and adds to the effect as events unfold.

Overall a very enjoyable read - although the ending didnt satisfy my completely.

extremely powerful book
The power of this book comes from the fact that Yoshimura does not word out Isaku's emotions- he simply states his actions, and his feelings are clear. This makes this book even the more evocative, as you follow its compelling and poweful story.
Also, as a fairly quick read, this book is a must-have