Somersault (novel)

Somersault (宙返り Chūgaeri) is a 1999 novel by Kenzaburō Ōe. It is about two former leaders of a religious cult as they try to establish a new movement, a possible nuclear catastrophe, and religious sects in everyday society.^[1] It received inspiration from the Aum Shinrikyo cult and their Tokyo subway sarin attack of 1995. The English translation, by Philip Gabriel,^[2] first appeared in 2003.^[3] It was Ōe's first novel since he won the 1994 literature Nobel Prize.^[4] It was published in the United States by Grove Press.^[5] The book was published in the United Kingdom by Atlantic Books.^[4]

Reception[]

Scott Esposito of the Los Angeles Times said that the translation "wasn't much admired by English-speaking reviewers".^[3] Christopher Tayler of The Guardian said that the "sprawling" Somersault received "widespread criticism".^[1] Publishers Weekly said "Oe [sic] has attempted to create a sprawling masterpiece, but American readers might decide there's more sprawl than masterpiece here."^[2] Steven Poole of The Guardian said, "And yet, for all its longueurs, one finishes Somersault [sic] convinced that buried within the sprawling text is a brilliant, much shorter novel. Perhaps even Nobel laureates occasionally need ruthless editing."^[4] Eric Hanson of the Star Tribune said the novel "would be an underwhelming and unsatisfying read, no matter the writer. But coming from a novelist of Oe's immense stature, it's beyond disappointing. It's depressingly sad [sic]."^[5]

References[]

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