水の舳先

Genzan, a Zen monk, holds calligraphy lessons at a spa whose spring draws seriously ill people from far away for long stays, and the guests come to him with their troubles. Kumiko, who has terminal cancer, is everyone's favourite for her brightness, yet as a Christian she carries a deep solitude. She looks after a dying stranger who has nobody, and afterwards she tells the monk about a sin of her own. Through a Christian and a Buddhist priest, the story opens onto questions of illness, death and what can heal.

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About the book

Form

Novel

Length

144 pages in the original

Set in

Japan

First published

2000 by Shinchosha

Author's age

44 when first published

ISBN

9784104456017 (original)