Description

In Scandalul, claims put an ageing writer’s good name at risk. Suguro is 65. Readers and peers have praised him. Some mock his strict morals and reserve about sex. He expects a quiet life with his wife. Then a woman says he often visits Tokyo’s brothels and sex shops. Her claims clash with the values in his books.

A journalist seeks revenge and threatens to spread the claims. Suguro seeks the truth and finds a sinister double. This double has sadomasochistic desires: lust tied to giving and feeling pain. The search draws out Suguro’s fears and obsessions.

Shusaku Endo’s novel looks at the self, art and evil. It asks where the study of violence and sexual cruelty ends. At what point does studying them mean taking part? This edition forms part of the publisher’s Proză XX series. Andreea Sion translated it from Japanese and wrote the notes.