last week, at 12am, i decided to stay up an extra hour to consume Junichiro Tanizaki’s gorgeous prose and manifesto on imperfection and shadow. In Praise of Shadows is a wonderfully written piece that idolizes the somber and austerity of the traditional Japanese aesthetic.
here is a quotation from my favorite of Tanizaki’s discourses, this one on the beauty and proper use of Japanese lacquerware:
The sheen of the lacquer, set out in the night, reflects the wavering candlelight, announcing the drafts that find their way from time to time into the quiet room, luring one into a state of reverie.
Tanizaki touches upon several topics to further his proposition, and while some would criticize his style as meandering and at times disjointed, i interpret this stylistic choice as an embodiment of his thesis. there is no need to blatantly state a theory or to structure an argument in so clear a framework. instead, Tanizaki cleverly carves small pockets of discussion such that the reader learns to appreciate these recesses of thought and discovers a sense of comfort in the enveloping shadow of his literary work.
unkliched 