{"id":6002,"date":"2016-08-21T09:51:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-21T13:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=6002"},"modified":"2021-12-16T07:56:09","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T12:56:09","slug":"the-masuda-affair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6002","title":{"rendered":"The Masuda Affair"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Masuda Affair<\/a><\/em> (2011) I.J. Parker<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The-Masuda-Affair\"<\/a>Akitada is struggling to deal with the death of his son in a smallpox epidemic, when he comes upon a small abused boy alone in the rain. Rescuing the boy has far greater consequences than he could have imagined, when this draws Akitada into the death of a high-ranking courtesan.<\/p>\n

The poets called it the \u2018darkness of the heart\u2019, this inconsolable grief a parent feels after the death of a child, a despair of life that clouds the mind and makes a torment of day-to-day existence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On the homefront, Tora has fallen in love with a dancer and kept his marriage secret from Akitada, but her kidnapping places everyone in jeopardy.<\/p>\n

the psychological concept called \u2018the darkness of the heart\u2019 serves to some extent as the theme of this novel. Almost a commonplace in the literature of the period, which made much of human emotions, it refers to the dilemma faced by parents who lose a child. Although Buddhist doctrine insists on denial of all worldly attachments, a parent\u2019s love for and the bitter grief attendant on the loss of a child cannot be denied.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Akitada’s grief over his son, and how he and his wife come to terms with their grief and recriminations is very touching. It’s also interesting how Akitada learns to overcome his prejudices.
\nRating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by IJ Parker<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Masuda Affair (2011) I.J. Parker Akitada is struggling to deal with the death of his son in a smallpox epidemic, when he comes upon a small abused boy alone in the rain. Rescuing the boy has far greater consequences than he could have imagined, when this draws Akitada into the death of a high-ranking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31,33,8],"tags":[393,549,118,558],"class_list":["post-6002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asian","category-historical","category-mystery","tag-akitada","tag-high-middle-ages","tag-i-j-parker","tag-song-dynasty"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-1yO","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5800,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5800","url_meta":{"origin":6002,"position":0},"title":"Three Tales of Love and Murder","author":"Michelle","date":"April 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Three Tales of Love and Murder (2012) I.J. Parker Set in Heian-Kyo (Kyoto) in 11th century Japan. These are three Akitada short stories\/novellas, all about love and murder (of course, from the title). Death and Cherry Blossoms Heian-Kyo (Kyoto), during the Flowery Month (May) This finds Akitada at the start\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"Three Tales of Love and Murder","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Three-Tales-of-Love-and-Murder.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6022,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6022","url_meta":{"origin":6002,"position":1},"title":"The Crane Pavilion","author":"Michelle","date":"August 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Crane Pavilion (2014) I.J. Parker I skipped the book before this after reading the blurb for this book. After the loss of his wife and newborn son, Akitada returns home, ostensibly to care for his motherless children, but really to withdraw from the world into his grief. When his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Crane-Pavilion","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Crane-Pavilion-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3053,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3053","url_meta":{"origin":6002,"position":2},"title":"Akitada and the Way of Justice","author":"Michelle","date":"July 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Akitada and the Way of Justice (2011) I. J. Parker This is a collection of eleven short stories featuring the 11th century Japanese \"detective\" (there wasn't such a term at the time) Akitada, over the span of his career, from the first mystery he was involved in to one towards\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Akitada and the Way of Justice","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/akitada-way-of-justice.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5988,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5988","url_meta":{"origin":6002,"position":3},"title":"Black Arrow","author":"Michelle","date":"August 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Black Arrow (2006) I.J. Parker Set in Echigo Province, JAPAN GODS-ABSENT MONTH (NOVEMBER), A.D. 1015 Akitada has been sent to Echigo as provisional governor, and discovers that there are many problems at his new post, from the decrepit compound to a possible revolution to outcasts possibly harboring fugitives. Plus the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black-Arrow","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Black-Arrow.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6011,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6011","url_meta":{"origin":6002,"position":4},"title":"The Emperor’s Woman","author":"Michelle","date":"August 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Emperor's Woman (2012) I.J. Parker Set in 1028. She was intended to be the emperor\u2019s concubine, but she died at the bottom of a cliff near Prince Atsuhira\u2019s private villa. The palace covered up the scandal. Months later, Akitada is drawn into the case when his best friend is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Emperors-Woman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Emperors-Woman.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5985,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5985","url_meta":{"origin":6002,"position":5},"title":"The Hell Screen","author":"Michelle","date":"August 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Hell Screen (2003) I.J. Parker I was trying to figure out what I was in the mood to read, when I stumbled across The Hell Screen and remembered that I have the Lord Sugawara Akitada mysteries. Akitada is returning to the capital after receiving notice that his mother is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Hell-Screen","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Hell-Screen.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6002\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}