About Love and Beauty

with a Modern Translation and Annotations

By: Osamu Dazai

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

This short story was written by Osamu Dazai in 1939. Five siblings from a wealthy family - the eldest son is 28, the eldest daughter is 26, the second son is 24, the second daughter is 21, and the third son is 18 - create a story in relay format to pass the time.

The story of an old mathematician begins to be told. As they all have different personalities and favorite books, the stories they create also show their individuality. The interactions between them are written in an attractive way. You can read it all at once and enjoy the unexpected twist at the end.

As the work is written with a meta structure, readers can read it as if they were seeing the backstage of Dazai's creative process.

Annotations

[1] Henrik Ibsen

[2] A Doll's House

[3] Michel de Montaigne

[4] Goethe

[5] Tengu

[6] Ruiko Kuroiwa

[7] Siken Morita

[8] Kyoka Izumi

[9] Conan Doyle

[10] Seru kimono

[11] Gauss

[12] Cantor

[13] Teiji Takagi

[14] Henri Poincaré

[15] Shinjuku

[16] Tabi

[17] Six Tatami Mats