Rouse Up O Young Men of the New Age!
Rouse Up O Young Men of the New Age! (新しい人よ、眼ざめよ; Atarashii hito yo mezameyo) is a 1983 semi-autobiographical novel by Japanese author Kenzaburō Ōe, about his day-to-day life with his mentally handicapped son, Hikari (represented by an alter ego called "Eeyore") and the effect that William Blake's poetry has had on both his life and work. The title comes from the preface to Blake's poem Milton.
Plot summary
Ōe wishes to write a set of definitions to prepare handicapped children like his son for the real world. He struggles with definitions for concepts such as "death," only to learn that his son Eeyore has just as much to teach him about life. Ōe relates his interpretations of events with Eeyore in light of Blake's poetry, and discusses the influence of and similarities between Blake's work on his own.
Editions in English
(translated by John Nathan)
- hardback ISBN 0-8021-1710-4
- paperback ISBN 0-8021-3968-X
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- Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids (1958)
- Aghwee the Sky Monster (1964)
- A Personal Matter (1964)
- The Silent Cry (1967)
- The Day He Himself Shall Wipe My Tears Away (1972)
- The Pinch Runner Memorandum (1976)
- The Game of Contemporaneity (1979)
- Rouse Up O Young Men of the New Age! (1983)
- M/T and the Narrative About the Marvels of the Forest (1986)
- Somersault (1999)
- The Changeling (2000)
- The Beautiful Annabel Lee was Chilled and Killed (2007)
- Death by Water (2009)
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