Chapter 276: The Cruelty of Life

Yoshikawa Yuichiro originally believed that this work by Akiwara Yuto was an attempt at a new genre style, and thus it would be difficult to break away from the shadows of traditional aesthetic literature.

He thought it might be written rather "crudely."

But after finishing the entire book, his thoughts had completely turned around.

Compared to *Snow Country*, this *A Personal Matter* has completely cast off the shadows of aesthetic literature and dares to face the "cruelty of reality."

And this kind of cruelty is called life.

In this work, whether it is the protagonist, the supporting characters, or even the protagonist's child, their lives are broken and unbearable.

As the protagonist, Bird, he interrupted his graduate studies due to alcoholism; although he became a foreign language teacher at a cram school with his father-in-law's help, reality could not allow him to settle down.

He always felt that life was lacking, his marriage was unsatisfactory, and life was like a cage.

At the low point of his life, his wife gave birth to a son with a brain disability, which intensified Bird's mental crisis.

In his pain, he fantasized about going to Africa to adventure in order to "glimpse something on the other side of the stable and mediocre daily life of the present."

As his lover, Himiko, it was much the same.

She had feelings for Bird, but she still married another graduate student.

However, a year after the marriage, her husband discovered her homosexual behavior and committed suicide in a fit of rage.

From then on, Himiko lived in her original house, taking the living expenses given to her by her husband's father, and began a life of sleeping by day and going out by night.

She "spent her days immersed in mysterious meditation, and at night, she would drive her sports car and wander the streets," as if her life had lost its goal.

However, upon learning that Bird wanted the newborn disabled child to die, she not only actively tried to help facilitate this, but also appeared vibrant for the first time since her husband's death.

These two "losers in life," just because of Bird's disabled child, began yet another contact in life.

In the process of this contact, Bird kept trying to escape, to escape everything about his failure.

He wanted to kill the disabled child, he wanted to go to the free world of Africa in his dreams, and he wanted to leave everything that was currently shackling him.

In order to forget reality, he used alcohol and Himiko's body to detach himself from the lashings of morality.

In his escape, he was like someone slowly drowning in water, tasting that suffocating, oppressive, and viscous, cramped entanglement.

In Yoshikawa Yuichiro's view, compared to the protagonist of *Snow Country*, Bird's self-identification as a failure and his desire to sink into the extremely ugly abyss are more like those of a real person.

He let out a deep sigh.

This work by Akiwara Yuto is based on realism, characterized by psychological experience, and styled with grotesque mutations and exaggerated distortions.

It has completely broken away from aestheticism and can be described as "grotesque psychological realism."

That Akiwara Yuto could actually achieve this is truly surprising!

It seems I don't need to worry too much about the future of traditional literature...

He put down the book and instructed his granddaughter to fetch some manuscript paper, preparing to write a book review and a preface himself.

Besides this, he also had to write a letter to the Classical Literature Association.

Since Akiwara Yuto has already provided an "answer sheet that satisfies me," then I must also lend him a helping hand.

The so-called passing of the torch is one generation handing it to the next...

Three days later, Akiwara Yuto did not wait for Yoshikawa Yuichiro's reply, but instead received an invitation to a lecture.

On this invitation, the words "University of Tokyo Faculty of Letters" were clearly written; besides specifying the time and place, there was only a phone number.

Akiwara Yuto pondered for a moment, then dialed the number of the contact person on the invitation.

"Professor Kanno? Hello, this is Akiwara Yuto."

"May I ask what the theme of this lecture is?"

"No specific theme, you want me to decide for myself?"

"Alright, I accept."

After ending the call, he hung up the phone.

The person he had just spoken to was Takuro Kanno, who was the dean and a professor at the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Letters, managing several literary journals under the university.

Outside of this identity, he was also Yoshikawa Yuichiro's top disciple and held a certain status in the traditional literary world.

Out of these sentiments, Akiwara Yuto agreed to it.

However, during the conversation, Akiwara always felt that Takuro Kanno's tone was a bit cold, appearing somewhat heartless.

Perhaps this is my illusion?

I remember the other party had previously written a book review praising me?

Just as he was thinking, another phone call rang; Akiwara Yuto answered the phone and found it was Ms. Emiko Akiyama, the president of the Kyoto Literature Research Association.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Emiko Akiyama quickly got to the point.

"Teacher Akiwara, have you received the lecture invitation from the University of Tokyo?"

Akiwara Yuto found it strange that she knew so quickly, but he still told the truth: "Yes."

Emiko Akiyama said politely: "I suggest you accept it, because this lecture is not an ordinary lecture."

"Not ordinary?"

Akiwara Yuto was somewhat confused.

According to his previous experience at Kyoto University, a so-called lecture was just sharing one's insights and experiences, and taking the opportunity to build connections.

Other than that, there was nothing else.

He thought for a moment and asked this question.

Emiko Akiyama replied: "Teacher Akiwara, because of your *Snow Country*, many people in the traditional literary world have started to pay attention to you, and even in the Classical Literature Association, many members have proposed accepting you as a member."

She paused, then added: "However, some problems arose during this process."

"What problems?" Akiwara Yuto was somewhat puzzled.

Because the traditional literary circle was too small, he did not know much about the Classical Literature Association.

However, in his view, its status should be about the same as the Mystery Writers Association, just an association working hard to promote traditional literature.

What kind of problem could such an academic association have that would affect him?

Emiko Akiyama replied: "Yoshikawa Yuichiro thinks very highly of you, so he hoped to let you serve directly as a director, but other association members raised some objections."

"In their view, your identity as a mystery writer and your educational background..."

Hearing this, Akiwara Yuto frowned.

He had already proven himself through his works, and there were even a large number of traditional literary critics and authors supporting him in public opinion.

But he didn't expect that in this traditional literary association, there were still people using educational background to discriminate against him.

Compared to this, such phenomena rarely appeared in the mystery world.

Akiwara Yuto thought for a moment and found the difference between the two.

Unlike the mystery world, many people in the traditional literary world are often university professors or lecturers, and basically all have high educational backgrounds.

So, just like the secular world, they might often value this "circle" of theirs.

To them, he was, after all, an "outsider" with only a high school diploma.

While he was deep in thought, Emiko Akiyama continued: "Teacher Akiwara, that is why the association decided to invite you to give a lecture, to use this to prove yourself."

Upon hearing this, Akiwara Yuto nodded solemnly.

It seems that this time, he would have to prepare well!