The Story Archive

Train of Hard Labour

Kenta Nishimura · 2010 CE · Novel · Japanese · Contemporary

A nineteen-year-old day labourer in 1980s Tokyo, whose father was jailed for a sex offence, spends his wages on drink and his days on the margins of the working world. The novel keeps close to his resentment and self-contempt. It follows the Japanese I-novel tradition and won the Akutagawa Prize in 2010.

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Attributes

Genre
PsychologicalComing-of-Age
Theme
Class & InequalityIsolation & AlienationIdentity & SelfSuffering & EnduranceGuilt & Conscience
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
Anti-Hero
Form
Episodic
Symbol / motif
The CityThe Train
Conflict
vs Selfvs Society
Mode / tone
RealistIronic
Culture / tradition
Japanese

Closest analogues