The Wind Has Risen

Tatsuo Hori is a recognized classic of Japanese literature, still little known to Russian readers. His impressionistic prose was highly praised by Yasunari Kawabata, while Hori himself considered himself a student and follower of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.

Hori’s main works—“The Wind Strengthens,” “A Beautiful Village,” “Naoko,” “The House Under the Willows”—were created between 1925 and 1946, a period when Japanese literary life was marked by diverse creative directions, and the influence of Western civilization, along with his rethinking of national tradition, created in the intellectual environment an atmosphere of constant philosophical searching.

That atmosphere and the tragic circumstances of Tatsuo Hori’s personal life predetermined his heightened attention to the finiteness of human existence, to the meaning, value, and beauty of life.

The refined aestheticism of his prose serves as a way to pose very difficult questions without stating them out loud. At the same time, among Hori’s works there are pieces so full of love for the surrounding world that any thought of death vanishes without a trace in the sparkling delight of earthly existence.

Most of the works included in this collection are published in Russian for the first time.