The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 3 March 1998
by Kenzaburo Oe
Japanese author Kenzaburo Oe was awarded the 1994 Nobel Prize for his penetrating exploration of the despair and hope that come from life's desperate twists. This book is a beautifully written tale of a man whose deformed newborn baby sends him spiralling into a pit of self-degradation, remarkable for its brutal honesty. Yet hope and light shine through the cracks in the dark world of Oe's protagonist, Bird. The sad and painful scenes in Bird's life are at times difficult to read, but the book is rewarding by its conclusion.