A Personal Matter topic

A Personal Matter (個人的な体験, Kojinteki na taiken) is a novel by Japanese writer Kenzaburo Oe (大江 健三郎 Ōe Kenzaburō). The novel is replete with imagery of death, decay and sex. Written in 1964, the novel is dark, deeply personal, and semi-autobiographical. It tells the story of Bird, a man who must come to terms with the birth of his mentally disabled son. Bird's son, like Oe's, was born with a brain hernia. Bird tries to escape his responsibility for the child, turning to alcohol and an old... full article at wikipedia