Ito-san

In these linked stories, set in Japan, the French writer Marc Rigaudis reveals various aspects of sexuality and sadism, typical of the outwardly conformist society in which they are centred. James Kirkup, who has translated the book into English and lived in Japan, says in his introduction that to succeed in that country one cannot be an 'outsider', someone different from everyone else, especially a foreigner. He writes: 'Japan rejects the original, the individual, in favour of the stereotyped, the group.....It is against this frightening background of monotonous social conformity and standardized daily existence that Marc Rigaudis has composed his remarkable collection of stories. His style is plain, direct, unsparing; his themes are far removed from the usual rose-tinted views of Japan.'. Ito-San grips the reader from the first page to the last, the author capturing the oriental ambience and idiosyncrasies of his well-drawn characters with a truly authentic Nipponese touch.