Jun’ichiro Tanizaki isn’t as fashionable these days as he once was, so a new translation of three of his short stories can only be met with glee by fans of Japanese literature.
Best known outside Japan for the rollicking “Naomi,” the epic “The Makioka Sisters” and the brilliant “Some Prefer Nettles,” Tanizaki was a master of different styles and voices, a skill in evident display in these new translations by Anthony H. Chambers and Paul McCarthy.