Taichi Yamada Sixth Novel Translation
I Haven’t Dreamed of Flying for a While Faber & Faber 2008
Social institutions, suburbia and the supernatural are themes in I Haven’t Dreamed of Flying for a While, the latest Taichi Yamada novel published in English in 2008. The novel starts with
“I talked about how I hadn’t dreamed of flying for a while,
And that very night, for the first time in a while,
I dreamt I was flying
From ‘Dream’ By Sachiko Yoshihara”
Taura and Mutsuko - I Haven't Dreamed of Flying for a While
Readers of Strangers, in which the storyteller grows older, will find the pursuit of Mutsuko Kizuki, a 67 year old by Taura, a 48-year-old deputy director as she grows younger in the translation of I Haven’t Dreamed of Flying for a While by Taichi Yamada riveting.
After the descriptive set up of Taura meeting Mutsuko, Taura and his relationships at work and at home, each chapter feels shorter to read. Avid readers will be able to complete this book within a day.
In the opening chapter Taura is recovering in hospital when he first meets Mutsuko. Marginalized in his workplace and in his suburban home, Taura is detached from his adult son and wife. Taura eventually resigns from his job and spends time dining and staying in luxury hotels with Mutsuko growing younger each time they met.
In I Haven’t Dreamed of Flying for a While, Taichi Yamada sharpens the lens on ageing with commentary on representations of youthfulness and sexual relationships.
Taichi Yamada Novels
The sixth novel by Taichi Yamada, Ijintachi to no Natsu, was the Winner of The 1st Mr. Shugoro Yamamoto Awards and also the Winner of The 8th Japan Literature Awards. Ijintachi to no Natsu has been published as the English translated novel Strangers in 2005. Tooku no Koe wo Sagashite was translated in English and published as In Search of a Distant Voice in 2006.
Steven Poole in his book review of I Haven’t Dreamed of Flying for While by Tachi Yamada, translated by David James Karashima (Faber & Faber, £10.99, 195pp) published in The Guardian, Saturday March 22, 2008 writes “Does the order in which you read a writer’s book matter? As often happens in translation, anglophone readers are getting Yamada’s oeuvre somewhat backwards…Once you have the order right in your head, this is heartening: let’s hope the translators will work forward again.”
A full bibliography of the novels of Taichi Yamada from Japan, their publishers and publications dates are available elsewhere. In brief, Taichi Yamada novel titles are:
Ai yori Aoku Deeper than Indigo
Kishibe no Album The Album on the Shore
Ensen Chizu Tokyo Suburbia
Owari ni Mita Machi The Last Town We Saw – Apocalypse
Tobu Yumewo Shibaraku Minai I Haven’t Dreamed of Flying for a While
Ijintachi to no Natsu Strangers
Oka no Ueno Himawari Sunflower on the Hill
Tooku no Koe wo Sagashite In Search of a Distant Voice
Kimi wo Miagete Looking Up at You
Fuyu no Sinkiro Winter Mirage
Mienai Kurayami Invisible Darkness
Koi no Shiseide In Stance of Love
Minareta Machi ni Kaze ga Fuku My Familiar Town in the Breeze
Yataro-san no Hanashi Story of Yataro
Nihon no Omakage Out of the East
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