A Personal Matter
(Note: all Japanese names in this article are given in the Japanese order, with surname first and given name second)
A Personal Matter (個人的な体験 kojinteki na taiken) is a novel by Japanese writer Oe Kenzaburo (大江 健三郎 Ōe Kenzaburō). The novel is replete with imagery of death, decay and sex.
Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
Written in 1968, 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 mental 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 girlfriend. He must decide whether to let the child live.
Though the novel has a "happy" end, it should be considered in juxtaposition with the story Aghwee the Sky Monster (also by Oe), in which a father faced with a similar decision makes a different choice (as of this writing Oe's son, Oe Hikari is still alive, and despite his disability has made something of a name for himself in Japan with his musical compositions).
