"American School"
I remember being impressed by the way the artist depicted the turbulent emotions of the people.
I found this book in a used bookstore in Kyoto. It's a softcover first edition published by Misuzu Shobo in 1955. The words "Akutagawa Prize Winner" are printed in very small letters on the cover. I'm sure they would advertise it more widely now. I think it cost only a few hundred yen. I was very happy to get my hands on this book.
I first read "American School" in the Shincho Bunko edition when I was a university student, and I remember being impressed by the way he described people's turbulent emotions in a clean, concise style. At that time, Kojima Nobuo was truly skilled at portraying ordinary people forced into "difficult circumstances."
This can be said of the "Third Generation" writers in general, but the feeling of relief (a sense of liberation) that comes from being liberated from the war and dumped into the desolate, burnt-out wasteland of the postwar period, while exhausted, makes their writing styles fresh and relatable. I liked how they were completely free of the dampness of autobiographical novels.
