Смерть в середине лета

Byvshie li͡ubovniki vstrechai͡utsi͡a v San-Frant͡sisko, vdali ot rodnoĭ I͡Aponii, - chto ikh obʺedini͡aet, krome grustnykh vospominaniĭ, i pri chem tut termos? Posle neudavshegosi͡a putcha ofit͡ser sovershaet kharakiri na glazakh molodoĭ zheny. Chetyre zhenshchiny v odnu-edinstvennui͡u nochʹ v godu dolzhny, ne proiznosi͡a ni slova, pereĭti semʹ mostov, chtoby ispolnilisʹ ikh zhelanii͡a, - zadacha prostai͡a, no dobratʹsi͡a do kont͡sa puti udastsi͡a ne vsem. Semʹi͡a pytaetsi͡a perezhitʹ to, chto perezhitʹ nevozmozhno, - gibelʹ dvoikh deteĭ, strakh za ostavshikhsi͡a. Zhenshchina na svoem dne rozhdenii͡a teri͡aet zhemchuzhinu, i ot takoĭ melochi neuznavaemo meni͡ai͡utsi͡a konfigurat͡sii druzhby i vrazhdy mezhdu davnimi znakomymi. Vnezapno i͡avivshai͡asi͡a v lavku antikvara tant͡sovshchit͡sa sryvaet emu prodazhu starinnogo i ochenʹ t͡sennogo shkafa - interesno, zachem eĭ shkaf?..I͡Ukio Misima (1925-1970) - zvezda literatury XX veka, samyĭ chitaemyĭ v mire i͡aponskiĭ avtor, obladatelʹ blistatelʹnogo talanta, proslavivshiĭsi͡a kak svoimi rabotami shirochaĭshego diapazona i raznoobrazii͡a zhanrov (romany, pʹesy, rasskazy, ėsse), tak i oshelomitelʹnoĭ biografieĭ (oderzhimostʹ bodibildingom, kraĭne pravye politicheskie vzgli͡ady, kharakiri posle neudachnoĭ popytki monarkhicheskogo perevorota). Misima - beskonechno pronit͡satelʹnyĭ i bezzhalostnyĭ nabli͡udatelʹ, i sbornik ego rasskazov 'Smertʹ v seredine leta' - nepredskazuemyĭ, poroĭ shokirui͡ushchiĭ kaleĭdoskop, v kotorom smeni͡ai͡ut drug druga zhestokostʹ i strastʹ, vysokomerie i ui͡azvimostʹ, strakh i li͡ubovʹ, dushevnai͡a tʹma i uskolʹzai͡ushchiĭ svet.Polovina rasskazov i pʹesa v ėtom sbornike publikui͡utsi͡a na russkom vpervye.

Former lovers meet in San Francisco, far from their native Japan - what unites them except sad memories, and what does a thermos have to do with it? After the failed coup, the officer commits hara-kiri in front of his young wife. Four women on a single night of the year must cross seven bridges without saying a word in order to fulfill their desires - a simple task, but not everyone will be able to reach the end of the path. The family is trying to get over what is impossible to survive - the death of two children, fear for the rest. A woman loses a pearl on her birthday, and from such a trifle, the configurations of friendship and enmity between old acquaintances change unrecognizably. Suddenly, a dancer who appeared in an antique shop disrupts the sale of an ancient and very valuable wardrobe to him - I wonder why she needs a wardrobe?..Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) - the star of literature of the XX century, the most widely read Japanese author in the world, the owner of a brilliant talent, famous for his works of the widest range and variety of genres (novels, plays, short stories, essays), and a stunning biography (obsession with bodybuilding, extreme right-wing political views, hara-kiri after an unsuccessful attempt at a monarchical coup). Mishima is an infinitely astute and ruthless observer, and his collection of short stories, Death in the Middle of Summer, is an unpredictable, sometimes shocking kaleidoscope in which cruelty and passion, arrogance and vulnerability, fear and love, spiritual darkness and elusive light alternate.Half of the stories and the play in this collection are published in Russian for the first time.