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Takahiro UedaDiary of a Monk

Welcome to our website. For those of you who are visiting our blog for the first time. First of all, please click here.

Nice to meet you. My name is Takahiro Ueda, the administrator of this blog. This blog started as my attempt to look at various things in my daily life and write words with the motto of asking myself questions, as you can see in the title of the blog.

This article will give you a general guide within our blog. If you are new to our blog or wondering what to read, please read this article first.
heck-bent on robbing a robberYukio Mishima and Japanese Literature

Ryunosuke Akutagawa's "Jigoken" Synopsis and Impressions - To complete the picture of hell, one must see hell... A masterpiece depicting the madness of a genius painter!

この作品を読んでいると、まるでサスペンス映画を観ているかのような緊張感に自分が包まれていることを感じます。天才画家良秀が弟子を鎖で縛ったりミミズクをけしかけるくらいまではまだいいのです。「また始まったよ良秀の奇行が」くらいのものです。ですがそこから段々妙な予感が私達の中に生まれ、次第に不気味に思えてきます。「まさか、良秀がやろうとしていることって・・・」とついハラハラしてしまいます。この徐々に徐々に恐怖や不安を煽っていくスタイルは、ミステリーのお手本とも言うべき実に鮮やかなストーリーテリングです。さすが芥川龍之介です。

この作品には「完璧な絵を描き上げんとする狂気の画家を、言葉の芸術家が完全に描き切るのだ」という芥川の野心すら感じさせられます。

この作品が芥川文学の中でも傑作として評価されている理由がよくわかります。
デパートの誕生French Literature, History and Culture

Shigeru Kashima, "The Birth of Department Stores" - Why Do We Want to Buy? What is the secret of learning from the long-established department stores in Paris?

According to Kashima, "department stores are not only a purely capitalistic institution, they are its ultimate expression.

Why is this, he says, because "the inherent capitalist process of buying things not by necessity but by desire is precisely the one triggered by department stores.

In other words, the birth of the department store was so significant that the capitalist system we live under today began here. Why do we "want things"? In this book, we can learn the origin of the desire capitalism that stimulates it.

This book is a very valuable work as a business bible. It is a very stimulating and interesting work of cultural and world history, but it is also an extravagant book in which you can learn about the mechanics of business.
変革の時代Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Southeast Asia

M・ウィクラマシンハ『変革の時代』あらすじと感想～スリランカ新興商人の実態をリアルに描写。ゾラを彷彿とさせる名著

まさにこの小説は２０世紀前半のスリランカを知るための絶好の資料となります。遠く離れた日本に住む私たちにとってこれほどありがたいスリランカ絵巻はありません。

『変革の時代』では新興商人が金や地位に溺れる虚飾の世界や、それに反発を覚える息子世代の心情、旧社会の伝統を捨てきれない村の人々とのずれなど様々な立場からスリランカ社会を見ていくことになります。

これは見事な作品です。前作に引き続きウィクラマシンハの恐るべき描写力を本作でも感じることになりました。
Reading PragueDiary of a Monk

24 novels recommended by book-loving monks - a quick look at recommended works at each level from introductory to advanced!

In this article, we will introduce novels that we highly recommend for each level of readers, from beginners to advanced readers.

Basically, the books introduced here are all great books that I recommend with confidence. All of them are extremely interesting works, so please take a look at the linked pages for the books that interest you, regardless of whether they are categorized as introductory or advanced.
Impressions of the Summer Recounted in Autumn - Trip to Paris and Georgia

Takahiro Ueda, "Impressions of the Summer Written in Autumn: A Journey to Paris and Georgia" Articles - A Journey to Learn from Tolstoy and Dostoevsky

For approximately one month, from mid-August to mid-September 2022, I have been traveling around Europe, mainly in Georgia.

This trip visited France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Georgia-Armenia.

Its main purpose was to see the Caucasus Mountains of northern Georgia to study Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.

This article will list all 31 articles. We hope you will use it as a table of contents for "Impressions of Summer in Autumn.
Impressions of the Summer Recounted in Autumn - Trip to Paris and Georgia

(14) To Zola's house in Medan, a suburb of Paris - with the gentle stream of the Seine loved by the great writers of France.

この記事ではパリ郊外メダンにあるゾラの家をご紹介します。

『ナナ』などの大ヒットによって資産を蓄えたゾラが長い年月をかけて完成させたのがこの邸宅になります。

フランスの文豪が愛したセーヌ河畔の静かな住宅地。

小舟を浮かべて時を過ごしたとされる美しきパリ郊外の雰囲気もこの記事では紹介していきます。
Impressions of the Summer Recounted in Autumn - Trip to Paris and Georgia

(13) I can't get enough of Monet's "Impression, Sunrise"! Enjoy its masterpieces at the Marmottan Monet Museum!

モネの『印象・日の出』は本当に不思議な絵です。全体がぼんやりしているものの、それが心地よい。夕陽とその光の反射の描写はまさに天下一品だと思います。なぜか引き込まれる不思議な魅力がこの絵にはあります。これ以上はうまく言葉にできません。

私がパリで最も好きになった絵画は間違いなくこの作品です。

ありがたいことにこの美術館はルーブルやオルセーと違ってそれほど混雑はしません。だからゆっくりと心行くまで好きな作品に没頭できます。ぜひこの美術館もおすすめしたいです。そして『印象・日の出』をじっくりと堪能していた頂ければ何よりです。
Impressions of the Summer Recounted in Autumn - Trip to Paris and Georgia

(9) A panoramic view of Paris from the Sacré Coeur: a huge church on the hill of Montmartre, associated with Zola's late masterpiece novel "Paris".

In our previous article, we introduced the places associated with Emile Zola's "Lugon Makkar Series".

And in this article, we will introduce the Sacré Coeur Abbey, the main setting of "Paris," the final volume of the "Three Cities Twins," which Zola wrote in full after completing the "Lugon-Macall Series.

This church is famous for its spectacular view of Paris, but from a Zola fan's point of view, it has a completely different meaning. What Zola thought about this church will be introduced in this article.