The Maids
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Author Description
The Maids is a jewel: an astonishing complement to The Makioka Sisters, set in the same house, in the same turbulent decades, but among the servants as much as the masters. The Maids concerns all the young women who work -- before, during, and after WWII -- in the pampered, elegant household of the famous author Chikura Raikichi, his wife Sanko, and her younger sister. Though quite well-to-do, Raikichi has a small house: the family and the maids (usually a few, sharing a little room next to the kitchen) are on top of one another. This proximity helps to explain Raikichi's extremely close observation of the maids and their daily lives, although his interest carries with it more than a dash of the erotic, calling to mind Tanizaki's raciest books such as Diary of a Mad Old Man and The Key. In the sensualist, semi-innocent, sexist patrician Raikichi, Tanizaki offers a richly ironic self-portrait, but he presents as well a moving, nuanced chronicle of change and loss: centuries-old values and manners are vanishing, and here -- in the evanescent beauty of the small gestures and intricacies of private life -- we find a whole world to be mourned. And yet, there is such vivacity and such beauty of writing that Tanizaki creates an intensely compelling epic in a kitchen full of lively girls. Ethereally suggestive, sensational yet serious, witty but psychologically complex, The Maids is in many ways The Makioka Sisters revisited in a lighter, more comic mode
Menrva's Summary
THE PULSE
The intimate lives of servants in a wealthy household during a period of immense social change become the focus of an aging author's keen, sensual observation. The narrative centers on the young women who work in the elegant home of the author Chikura Raikichi, his wife Sanko, and her sister, particularly during the turbulent decades surrounding World War II. Despite their affluence, the family lives in close quarters with their maids, fostering an environment of constant proximity that fuels Raikichi's detailed, often erotic, scrutiny. The story chronicles the vanishing of centuries-old values and manners through the lens of private life, mourning this loss while celebrating the vivacity and beauty found within the domestic sphere.
INSIDE THE PAGES
- Exploration of the lives of domestic servants in a Japanese household.
- Set against the backdrop of the pre
- and post-World War II eras.
- Features the author Chikura Raikichi, presented as a semi-innocent, sexist patrician.
- Raikichi's interest in the maids is described as both observational and erotic.
- The narrative highlights the close proximity between the family and their staff.
- Themes of vanishing traditional values and manners.
- A chronicle of change and loss in private life.
- Celebration of the beauty and vivacity within the domestic sphere.
THE COLLECTIVE ECHO
The Maids is lauded as a brilliant complement to The Makioka Sisters, offering a similar setting but shifting focus to the lives of the household's servants. Critics note its rich irony, particularly in the character of the author Chikura Raikichi, who serves as a self-portrait for Tanizaki. The novel is praised for its nuanced chronicle of societal change and the elegiac mourning of disappearing traditional values, all while capturing the vibrant energy of the young women within the kitchen. Its writing is described as ethereal, sensational yet serious, witty, and psychologically complex, creating a compelling epic within a domestic setting.
Page Count:
176
Publication Date:
2017-01-01
ISBN-10:
0811224929
ISBN-13:
9780811224925
Historical Fiction
Literary Fiction
Fiction
Domestic Life
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