This novel will defintiely be read with growing fascination and disgust at the same time. On the one hand, the ambiguous (or rather, from out perspective, completely unambiguous) attitude of the main character towards his young and beautiful daughter-in-law arouses disgust and pity; on the other, Tanizaki showed deep insight and self-reflection in creating poignant descriptions of senile malaise. The reader follows the author along the thread to the somehow predictable conclusion, but the plot twist at the end puts everything into question. As usual with Tanizaki, the language of Diary of a Mad Old Man is a real literary feast, and each sentence is a pleasure – quite odd given the writer’s focus in this novel.
Availble also in Polish – Dziennik szalonego starca.