The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
Encyclopedia
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is the fifth novel published by the author David Mitchell
. It is a historical novel set during the Dutch trading concession with Japan in the late 18th century. It begins in the summer of 1799 at the Dutch East Indies Company trading post Dejima
in the harbor of Nagasaki
and tells the story of a Dutch trader's love for a Japanese midwife who is however spirited away into a sinister mountain temple cult.
The title is a reference to one of the native poetical names for Japan, The Land of a Thousand Autumns.
Mitchell spent four years working on the novel, researching and crafting a vision of 18th century Japan. Small details, such as if people used shaving cream or not, could use up lots of time so that a single sentence could take half a day to write. "It was tough," Mitchell said, "It almost finished me off before I finished it off."
The origins of the novel can be found in 1994 when Mitchell was backpacking in western Japan while on a teaching trip. He had been looking for a cheap lunch in Nagasaki
and came upon the Dejima museum. "I never did get the lunch that day," Mitchell said, "but I filled a notebook with information about this place I'd never heard of and resolved one day to write about it."
Some of the events depicted in the novel are based on real history, such as the HMS Phaeton's bombardment of Dejima
and subsequent ritual suicide of Nagasaki's Magistrate Matsudaira. The main character, Jacob de Zoet, bears some resemblance to the real-life Hendrik Doeff
who wrote a memoir about his time in Dejima.
The novel won the 2011 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
regional prize (South Asia and Europe); was long listed for the 2010 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, was one of Time Magazine's "Best Books of the Year" (#4 Fiction), and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
David Mitchell (author)
David Stephen Mitchell is an English novelist. He has written five novels, two of which were shortlisted for the Booker Prize.- Biography :...
. It is a historical novel set during the Dutch trading concession with Japan in the late 18th century. It begins in the summer of 1799 at the Dutch East Indies Company trading post Dejima
Dejima
was a small fan-shaped artificial island built in the bay of Nagasaki in 1634. This island, which was formed by digging a canal through a small peninsula, remained as the single place of direct trade and exchange between Japan and the outside world during the Edo period. Dejima was built to...
in the harbor of Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
and tells the story of a Dutch trader's love for a Japanese midwife who is however spirited away into a sinister mountain temple cult.
The title is a reference to one of the native poetical names for Japan, The Land of a Thousand Autumns.
Mitchell spent four years working on the novel, researching and crafting a vision of 18th century Japan. Small details, such as if people used shaving cream or not, could use up lots of time so that a single sentence could take half a day to write. "It was tough," Mitchell said, "It almost finished me off before I finished it off."
The origins of the novel can be found in 1994 when Mitchell was backpacking in western Japan while on a teaching trip. He had been looking for a cheap lunch in Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
and came upon the Dejima museum. "I never did get the lunch that day," Mitchell said, "but I filled a notebook with information about this place I'd never heard of and resolved one day to write about it."
Some of the events depicted in the novel are based on real history, such as the HMS Phaeton's bombardment of Dejima
Dejima
was a small fan-shaped artificial island built in the bay of Nagasaki in 1634. This island, which was formed by digging a canal through a small peninsula, remained as the single place of direct trade and exchange between Japan and the outside world during the Edo period. Dejima was built to...
and subsequent ritual suicide of Nagasaki's Magistrate Matsudaira. The main character, Jacob de Zoet, bears some resemblance to the real-life Hendrik Doeff
Hendrik Doeff
Hendrik Doeff was the Dutch commissioner in the Dejima trading post in Nagasaki, during the first years of the 19th century.-Biography:...
who wrote a memoir about his time in Dejima.
The novel won the 2011 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Writers is an initiative by the Commonwealth Foundation to unearth, develop and promote the best new fiction from across the Commonwealth. It's flagship are two literary awards and a website...
regional prize (South Asia and Europe); was long listed for the 2010 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, was one of Time Magazine's "Best Books of the Year" (#4 Fiction), and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
External links
- The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet at complete reviewComplete reviewcomplete review is a literary website founded in March 1999. It is best known for reviews of novels in English translation, in particular drawing attention to otherwise neglected contemporary works from around the world, but there are also reviews of classics, non-fiction, drama and poetry...
(aggregation of reviews) - List of characters in The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet