قصة الكتاب :
Gentōsha (Gentōsha Bunko), 2014. 358 pp. ¥600. ISBN 978-4-34-
442187-5.
Murakami Ryū
Born in Nagasaki Prefecture in 1952. Received the Gunzō New Writers
Award and the Akutagawa Prize in 1976 for Kagirinaku tōmei ni
chikai burū [trans. Almost Transparent Blue], the Noma Prize for New
Writers in 1981 for Koin rokkā beibīzu [trans. Coin Locker Babies],
the Tanizaki Jun’ichirō Prize in 2000 for Kyōseichū [Parasites], the
Mainichi Publishing Culture Award and the Noma Prize for Literature
in 2005 for Hantō o deyo [trans. From the Fatherland with
Love], and the Mainichi Art Award in 2011 for Utau kujira [The
Singing Whale].

55-sai kara no harō raifu is a collection of five connected long stories by popular
author Murakami Ryū. Although each of the stories stands alone, they all center
on ordinary people in late middle age who, having passed the midpoint of their
lives, are trying somehow to start again.
The characters include a 58-year-old woman who divorces her husband, unable
to face life with him after he retires, and a 54-year-old man who is afraid of becoming
homeless upon losing his job at a company. In one story, a man takes early
retirement and buys an RV with the severance payment, planning to travel around
Japan with his wife. When she unexpectedly refuses, he falls into a kind of depression.
In another, a woman loves a pet dog more than her husband. When it dies
of illness, her husband, who had appeared cold, comes close and supports her.
There is also an old truck driver driven mad by a late-blooming love for an unknown
woman.
Incidentally, the Japanese title features an amusing play on words. In Japan
today, public employment security offices have been given the nickname “Hello
Work” with the aim of making them friendlier places for jobseekers. It could be
read as suggesting we should send a greeting to our new life when we decide to
start again. The stories expressively describe the varied lives of Japanese people in
late middle age. (NM)