|
|
Article: `A Lost Paradise,' by Jun'ichi Watanabe, translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter; Kodansha.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- August 30, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
"Lost Paradise" by Jun'ichi Watanabe took Japan by storm. Readers pounced on the story of a middle-aged male book editor downsized to a make-work job and a younger female calligraphy teacher, both married to others. Their steamy love scenes in various romantic locales set heads spinning and tongues wagging throughout Asia. The movie was a sensation. The novel's Japanese title, "Shitsurakuen," even made No. 1 on a Tokyo publisher's list of the top words of 1997, beating out "Tamagotchi" _ and those toy pets were everywhere _ and "Princess Mononoke," the highest-grossing movie in Japan's history.
Passion, poetry, forbidden love, runaway bestseller, blockbuster ...