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    Fear and Trembling: A Novel
    Fear and Trembling: A Novel
    Fear and Trembling: A Novel
    Ebook110 pages1 hour

    Fear and Trembling: A Novel

    By Amélie Nothomb and Adriana Hunter

    3.5/5

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    Alternately disturbing and hilarious, unbelievable and shatteringly convincing, Amélie Nothomb's Fear and Trembling will keep readers clutching tight to the pages of this taut little novel, caught up in the throes of fear, trembling, and, ultimately, delight.

    According to ancient Japanese protocol, foreigners deigning to approach the emperor did so only with fear and trembling. Terror and self-abasement conveyed respect. Amélie, our well-intentioned and eager young Western heroine, goes to Japan to spend a year working at the Yumimoto Corporation. Returning to the land where she was born is the fulfillment of a dream for Amélie; working there turns into comic nightmare.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateApr 1, 2007
    ISBN9781429978996
    Fear and Trembling: A Novel
    Author

    Amélie Nothomb

    Amélie Nothomb nació en Kobe (Japón) en 1967. Proviene de una antigua familia de Bruselas, aunque pasó su infancia y adolescencia en Extremo Oriente, principalmente en China y Japón, donde su padre fue embajador; en la actualidad reside en París. Desde su primera novela, Higiene del asesino, se ha convertido en una de las autoras en lengua francesa más populares y con mayor proyección internacional. Anagrama ha publicado El sabotaje amoroso (Premios de la Vocation, Alain-Fournier y Chardonne), Estupor y temblores (Gran Premio de la Academia Francesa y Premio Internet, otorgado por los lectores internautas), Metafísica de los tubos (Premio Arcebispo Juan de San Clemente), Cosmética del enemigo, Diccionario de nombres propios, Antichrista, Biografía del hambre, Ácido sulfúrico, Diario de Golondrina, Ni de Eva ni de Adán (Premio de Flore), Ordeno y mando, Viaje de invierno, Una forma de vida, Matar al padre, Barba Azul, La nostalgia feliz, Pétronille, El crimen del conde Neville, Riquete el del Copete, Golpéate el corazón,Los nombres epicenos, Sed y Primera sangre (Premio Renaudot), hitos de «una frenética trayectoria prolífera de historias marcadas por la excentricidad, los sagaces y brillantes diálogos de guionista del Hollywood de los cuarenta y cincuenta, y un exquisito combinado de misterio, fantasía y absurdo siempre con una guinda de talento en su interior» (Javier Aparicio Maydeu, El País). En 2006 se le otorgó el Premio Cultural Leteo por el conjunto de su obra, y en 2008 el Gran Premio Jean Giono, asimismo por el conjunto de su obra.

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    Reviews for Fear and Trembling

    3.5/5

    789 ratings32 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Hilarisch is dit zeker te noemen, Nothomb's autobiografische ervaring in een Japans bedrijf. Maar satire is een delicate kunst, en overdrijving schaadt. Nothomb balanceert op de rand van het racisme.
    • 2/5
      Hilarisch is dit zeker te noemen, Nothomb's autobiografische ervaring in een Japans bedrijf. Maar satire is een delicate kunst, en overdrijving schaadt. Nothomb balanceert op de rand van het racisme.
    • 4/5
      In Nothom’s caricature of Japanese corporate life, Belgian national Amelie begins by taking a new job at the import-export division of the Yomimoto Corporation. In almost no time, she finds herself slipping down the corporate ladder. Using an exaggerated sense of humor to poke fun at some of the absurdities of the Japanese work ethic, the author enlightens its readers to a Western mind’s reaction to such a situation. What could be thought of by some as a scathing attack on Japanese corporate life seems to be just the author’s examination of culture clash presented in a very entertaining manner.
    • 3/5
      Quite amusing with a peculiar sense of humour. This book didn't leave me thinking (as some others of hers did) that she had been pulling my leg all the time when it all ended up with an abrupt and unlikely ending.
    • 3/5
      A novella- the protagonist - called Amelie San takes a job in a Japanese corporation. She signed a 1 year contract. The book depicts the clash of western and eastern culture. Amelie - san ends her career in the toilet. Satirical novel by Amélie Nothomb, first published in 1999, and translated into English by Adriana Hunter in 2001. It was awarded the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française that year.Belgian author who actually did spend time in Japan.
    • 4/5
      Si vous êtes interessé par le Japon, c'est le livre qu'il vous faut. Le romantisme des Japo-niaiseries est laissé à l'abandon, au profit d'une description adroite et Européenne, sans prétentions, des conditions de travail au pays du soleil levant à travers le vécu de l'auteure.
    • 3/5
      A book about dreaming of another life but something that doesn't really turns out the way you expected. The heroïne gets to work in Japan but have a hard time in getting accepted at the office. Terror described beautifully.
    • 5/5
      This book was a very highly entertaining read. Nothomb insightful writing is a good observation of the cultural differences between her western culture and the Japanese culture in the woman's work force. It's full of wry humor, yet compassion for the characters. It's a very short but worthwhile read. I recommend it for those who are interested in modern Japan.
    • 3/5
      I read this in the English translation, which apparently does not exist on goodreads.
    • 4/5
      This book has such a simple premise but happens to contain so much thought behind culture. I enjoy Amelie Nothomb, her writing has a certain dark comic side that I find fits perfect with my taste. This book is her most acclaimed with the awards it won, but I enjoyed "The Stranger Next Door" quite a bit more than this book. Perhaps because this contained more of an upfront cultural debate and the other contained more mystery. What I will be taking from this... I do like this Author very much and will be seeking out more of her work to read.
    • 4/5
      An enjoyable memoir of a western woman (Belgian) taking a job for a large corporation in Tokyo, and how she never does anything right. The corporate cultural differences are hysterical. A quick enjoyable read that opens your eyes to differences. I am glad to live & work in North America,, even though according to the author, the Japanese consider us inferior beings LOL!!!
    • 5/5
      Amélie Nothomb was in my sights ever since I read Loving Sabotage, her autobiographical novel of childhood in China. Here's another true to life fiction concerning the adventures of a female employee named Amélie in a male-dominated Japanese company. Her work consisted of going through the fires and tribulations of each of the seven circles of hell. Full of fear and temblor, shock and shiver, but it sometimes managed to be funny as hell.
    • 5/5
      I can't believe I've not read this before - it's been sitting on my shelf for ages - and I think I've been missing out.

      Young Amélie starts work as a translator at Yumimoto at the bottom rung of the corporate ladder, but as she makes a bad impression as soon as she arrives, and continues to break Japanese traditions and infuriate her superiors, she is continually demoted until she takes on the job of 'Madame Pipi' in the 44th floor toilets.

      Absolutely hilarious - I was trying (and failing) to not burst out laughing and look like an idiot while reading on the bus...
    • 4/5
      Reveals with a refined sense of humour a side of the Japanese society that is less known. Working for a major Japanese company in a low position, Amélie manages to descend even lower. It's easy to read and some of the scenes made me lough out loud.
    • 4/5
      Amélie is a 22 year old recent college graduate of Belgian descent who was born in Japan and seeks to return there to work. She signs a one year contract with a company based in Tokyo, and enters the strange and, for her, inscrutable world of a large Japanese company, with its strict hierarchical structure and rules, sexist attitudes and behaviors, and frequent humiliation by supervisors. Amélie is initially given simple tasks, and fails each one spectacularly, due to her incompetent "Western brain". At the same time she antagonizes her immediate supervisor, an strikingly beautiful woman who sacrifices everything to achieve a low level managerial position; as a punishment, she is given more menial tasks, but Amélie struggles even with these chores, until she finally is given a position that she can do without screwing up too badly.Fear and Trembling is supposedly a novel, but it appears to be based on Nothomb's personal experiences. It's a quick and moderately enjoyable read, with a not very flattering view into the soul crushing world of a large Japanese corporation.
    • 3/5
      Fear and Trembling is an autobiographical novel about a young Belgian woman's year of employment with a Japanese firm in Tokyo. It is a humorous but also scathingly satirical look at a typical Japanese corporation, and of Japanese culture in general. The narrator's superiors are authoritarian and inflexible except when confronted by someone of even higher rank. Then they become meek and submissive. Initiative is squashed, and the Japanese seem to take particular pleasure in humiliating a Westerner. The author also digresses at one point into a lengthy diatribe against the Japanese treatment of women. It's a funny novel, and the author's depiction of corporate culture is to some extent universally applicable, but this is not a very appealing portrait of the Japanese.
    • 5/5
      Really entertaining dark comedy about a young woman who thinks she has all the answers only to get slapped down at every turn. No matter what they put her through, she stays peppy.
    • 5/5
      This short novel is both absurdly funny and touchingly sad. It is a fearless exploration of the differences between Eastern and Western culture, shown through the eyes of Amelie, a Japanese-born Belgian woman who has gotten a job in a Japanese corporation. Her experiences range from the absurd (being told by a superior that she is no longer allowed to understand Japanese) to the humiliating as she, with the best of intentions, continues to make mistakes and violate cultural norms. There are some very insightful comments on the nature of Japanese culture; for example, “You find the most outrageous deviants in the countries with the most authoritarian systems.” There is also some very wry, but poignantly accurate, commentary on the duties of Japanese men and women. While Amelie is treated poorly at the company, she provides the context that explains to the reader why her superiors respond the way they do . This was quite a short novel that could be read in one sitting, but leaves you thinking long afterwards. It is humorous, as well as thought-provoking and enlightening about Japanese culture and the clash that can occur when East meets West. A wonderful piece of literature.
    • 3/5
      This short novel was a quick and easy read. I enjoyed about the first third of the book immensely as Amélie begins her year working for Yumimoto Corp in Japan. She is the lowest of the lows as a new employee. She takes orders from everyone. Initially she worships her immediate supervisor, Miss Mori, who appears to be the only sane person in the corporation and perhaps the only friend she will have. Amélie looks at Miss Mori, a statuesque impossibly beautiful woman with an intensity bordering on obsession. But then by chance she is given an unexpected opportunity by someone in another department and thus begins her downfall, as western ideas of what one should do clash irreconciably with the Japanese corporate culture reality. Miss Mori is not her friend, it turns out. She betrays Amélie to thwart her success. She quickly becomes the torturer intent on making Amélie pay her dues. At this point the narrative for me makes a fatal turn and becomes almost slapstick. Amélie, a smart intelligent woman is suddenly a borderline idiot. I suppose we are to see this as her reaction to her initiative and smarts being punished, but it was more like a 360 degree turn out of nowhere. She supposedly goes three days without sleep and then finally collapses in the office and covers herself with garbage to keep warm. She no longer had my sympathy, although the narrator was clearly playing for such from the reader. There were some redeeming moments in the story thereafter, but the novel never recaptured (for me) the intial charm of the culture clash. The middle of the book also contains a rather extended description, almost a rant, about what Japanese women have to endure in their culture. I was immediately struck with the thought of "Where is this coming from? On what basis has the author derived this extensive analysis?; certainly not from her limited interaction with Miss Mori ... and this diatribe certainly broke the rule of show don't tell, by telling us very bluntly whereas we had already been shown (as well as told a bit) parts of this earlier. At the end I was thinking "glad this is over - at least it wasn't a total bust - let's get on to something else" which is not a good way to feel at the end of a book. Let's just say I felt let down.
    • 3/5
      Very funny and quick read. I enjoyed the insight into Japanese culture. The poignancy of a woman of European heritage, born in Japan, but treated like an outsider by all, also comes through. There was a lot of humor, but also some heartbreak. I'm passing it on to my Japanese-obsessed daughter.
    • 4/5
      Living in a foreign country is often not as wondrous and glamorous as it appears to be from the outside. No matter how much you want to get to know your new culture and fit in, there are always differences in the way you approach people or matters, and even if you're trained ahead of time, you don't know what they all are, and they can still catch you unawares, and help bring you down.Such is the case in Nothomb's book, which is a scathing, thinly fictionalized satire of her time working in a large Japanese company. She had wanted to spend time living in Japan again since being there with her parents as a child, and working there is an ideal way to try it, but she missteps with her coworkers time and again, in the most ridiculous ways. For example, after being hired to translate, she is criticized for speaking Japanese in front of people from another company, and forbidden to understand Japanese in the future.Such indignations are par for the course in this book, and the poisonous relationship between Nothomb and her immediate superior, Ms. Fubuki, provides plentiful other examples. It's a very amusing story, if a bit harsh at points, and can be read very quickly. There aren't a lot of characters, and beyond the main two, they're pretty one-dimensional, but it doesn't really make a difference in a satire. It's not something that's likely to stick with you forever, but it makes for a light, fun summer read. I'd get it out of the library rather than buying it, since it really is finishable in an afternoon, but it's worth a chance.
    • 4/5
      This is a gem of a little book, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading!It is a novel, based on the true experiences of the author, Amelie Nothomb. She is a Westerner who goes to work for a Japanese company. Even though she knows Japanese customs inside and out, she finds herself continually making cultural blunders, and gaining the hatred of her superiors despite her efforts to reverse their opinion of her. Despite the lack of reciprocal feelings, Amelie is fascinated and deeply loyal to her direct supervisor, the beautiful and confident Fubuki Mori. This book is easy to read, but has a sort of simplistic beauty to it that leaves it without need for fancy wording or flowery prose. Nothomb is a brilliant writer, and she peppers her story with dashes of culture, insight, clever wording, and strong characters. I loved the sense of Japanese culture, so deeply ingrained in its people, that this book showed a glimpse of.I will remember this book for a long while, and I am looking forward to reading more by Amelie-San.
    • 4/5
      Perhaps not a masterpiece, but a very funny and engaging little novel that perhaps tells us as much about office politics in a large organisation as it does about Japanese society. The key to the way the story works is the inevitability of each step in Amélie's absurd progression given the relations and status of everyone in the hierarchy around her. Management courses would certainly be more interesting if they gave you this sort of thing to read.
    • 5/5
      I absolutely loved Fear and Trembling. I actually watched the movie first and loved it as well. I must say it follows the book almost exactly. It’s a fascinating study of the clash of cultures. The book is translated from the French, and the film is a combination of French and Japanese with English sub-titles.In this short semi-autobiographical novel, Amelie Nothomb describes the experiences of ‘Amelie’ during her year at a Japanese corporation. Amelie is smitten with Japan, knows the language, and is ecstatic that she obtained a corporate position as a translator in the country where she was born. The job is not all she hoped, but she tries her best to stick out her position the way a Japanese person would. I found this book (and movie) to be truly fascinating. Nothomb obviously loves Japan and Japanese culture, but even she finds that the differences of East and West are sometimes difficult to overcome.In speaking of the Japanese woman:“It is best to avoid any kind of physical pleasure because it is apt to make you sweat. There is nothing more shameful than sweat. If you gobble up a steaming bowl of noodles, if you give in to s*xual craving, if you spend the winter dozing in front of the fire, you will sweat. And no one will be in any doubt that you are coarse.The choice between sweat and suicide isn’t a choice. Spilling one’s blood is as admirable as spilling sweat is unspeakable. Take your life, and you will never sweat again. Your anxiety will be over for all eternity.”I own two other books by Nothomb - The Character of Rain and Sulphuric Acid — and I’m very much looking forward to both!1999, 2001 for the English translation, 132 pp.4.5/5
    • 4/5
      Clever, and sharply written, Fear and Trembling by Amelie Nothomb is a strange, unsettling little book. Amelie, the novella’s narrator, was born in Japan to Belgian parents. She spent her childhood there and considers Japan to be her homeland. Amelie now has returned with great anticipation to Japan to work for the Yumimoto Corporation. On first appearances, Amelie is naïve and eager. Her first work assignment is simple and expertly accomplished, yet is evaluated by her superior as unsatisfactory, and without explanation, Amelie is forced to redo her work repeatedly. Eventually, the assignment is taken from Amelie, and she is assigned Miss Mori as her direct superior. Tall, elegant, and beautiful, Miss Mori becomes Amelie’s object of desire and nemesis. As a Westerner, Amelie, despite her knowledge of and affection for Japan, is considered by Yumimoto Corporation to be an outsider, and as such, inherently an inferior and untrustworthy employee. Being a woman, an attribute she shares with Miss Mori, only reinforces this assessment. Amelie is given no real work to do, and so creates her own assignments. Initiative, though, is regarded by the Japanese Corporation as insubordination, and Amelie is punished by being assigned increasing humiliating tasks that are mindless and repetitive. Amelie responds to the increasing tyranny, not with shame or embarrassment, but rather with a calm, Zen-like acceptance. Or is Amelie’s acceptance really perverse pleasure and her response subversion? Hierarchy of power, the rigidity of roles, faceless corporate employees, hypocrisy, and sadomasochism are the novella’s themes, and little Amelie, by story’s end exacts her revenge on The Yumimoto Corporation and Miss Mori with cruel precision.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic! Quick, intense cultural gap. Perfectly illustrated. This book, set in the contemporary corporate culture of Tokyo, is illuminating, stunning, and oh so witty. Sort of Zen philosophy meets theater of the absurd. A must read!
    • 4/5
      In this book based on her own life, Amelie returns to her birthplace Japan on a year-long contract as an interpreter for Yumimoto Corporation. The corporation is a place of rigid hierarchy - "Mister Haneda was senior to Mister Omochi, who was senior to Mister Saito, who was senior to Miss Mori, who was senior to me. I was senior to no one" begins the author.Amelie was born in a small Japanese village and spent her formative years there. For her, this job is a dream come true, a return to her childhood. Little does she know of the trials awaiting her. Early on, she incurs the wrath of Mister Omochi when she converses in fluent Japanese with a visiting Japanese delegation to Yumimoto. Her crime - discomfiting the delegation by not knowing her place within the Japanese culture as a Westerner. She is immediately ordered to un-understand Japanese!Amelie is taken under the wing of a well meaning Mister Tenshi who assigns her the task of writing a report on fat free butter being developed in Belgium. Her success with this report is immediately perceived by her ethereal superior Miss Mori as an attempt to rise too much too soon within Yumimoto without paying her dues. Little transgressions like these get blown out of proportion and with each such misstep, Amelie is reassigned more belittling tasks. The final blow comes when Miss Mori banishes her to the toilets to clean them, both the men's and women's. Amelie enters a Zen like state by doing this task with all the dignity she can muster. She can quit over this, but doing so would be to lose face before all of Yumimoto. All of Amelie's tribulations are detailed with a sparkling dry wit and even when you're laughing at Amelie's predicament, you're feeling terribly sorry for her. The most interesting part of the book was for me reconciling the character Amelie's life with that of the author. Amelie Nothomb's life details correspond roughly with much of the character's but you can't help but wonder if there isn't an element of exaggeration in this tale. In India, I've witnessed the fervor with companies train their teams on Japanese cultural norms. But still, if this is the way most Japanese companies run, how are they the leaders in so many fields today?
    • 4/5
      Grabbed in haste from a bookstall in Geneva, having failed to pack the book I was reading at the time, this book was a happy accident. Delicate, self-deprecating, and at times very funny, Nothomb shows what can happen if you forget you are a foreigner. Her rapid descent from intern to cleaning the toilets is precipitated by speaking perfect Japanese.I hope the English translation does justice to the beautifully pared-down French.Another famous Belgian!
    • 3/5
      A quick read, fun, but with a very limited look at the author's life. Not ideal for those who want deep character development.
    • 5/5
      This is an amazing book. I've heard it's her best, and I am not sure the writing can be improved. Hemingway-esque writing. The plot is funny, sort of a Larry David script meets Hokkaido Highway meets Douglas Coupland. But what is amazing is the sparse, power-packed writing. Reading this is bliss. Nothomb here writes a sort of mini-memoir of what her experience was being a young Westerner with some Japanese roots unleashed into the workforce. While I suspect I am not able to diagram what, if anything, in the book is not realistic, the author has such a pleasant voice, and is immediately likeable. This is one of the few books with relationships at the core that I find truly inspiring without being sappy. It perhaps is reminiscent of the recent office novel 'Then We Came to the End'--if you liked that then you'll like this more.

    Book preview

    Fear and Trembling - Amélie Nothomb

    MISTER HANEDA WAS senior to Mister Omochi, who was senior to Mister Saito, who was senior to Miss Mori, who was senior to me, I was senior to no one.

    You could put this another way. I took orders from Miss Mori, who took orders from Mister Saito, and so on up the ladder; of course, orders that came down could jump a level or two.

    And so it was that, within the import-export division of the Yumimoto Corporation, I took orders from everyone.

    ON THE 8th of January in 1990 an elevator spat me out on the top floor of a towering Tokyo office building. An enormous bay window at the far end of the landing sucked me over with the irresistible force of a shattered porthole on an airplane. Far, very far, below, I could see the city; it seemed so distant and unreal from that height that suddenly I wasn’t sure I had ever even set foot there.

    It didn’t occur to me that I ought to introduce myself at the reception desk. Actually, at that moment, I didn’t have a single thought in my head, nothing aside from fascination with the endless space outside the great bay window.

    Eventually a hoarse voice from behind pronounced my name. I turned around. A small, thin, ugly man in his fifties was looking at me irritably.

    Why didn’t you let the receptionist know that you’d arrived? he asked.

    I couldn’t think of anything to say. I bowed my head and shoulders, realizing that in just ten minutes, and without having spoken a single word, I had made a bad impression on my first day at Yumimoto.

    The man told me he was Mister Saito. He led me through huge, endless, open-plan offices, introducing me to hordes of people whose names I forgot as soon as he had pronounced them.

    He showed me the office that was the domain of his superior, Mister Omochi, who was enormously fat and terrifying, proving that he was the vice-president of the division.

    Then he indicated a door and announced solemnly that behind it was Mister Haneda, the president. It went without saying that I shouldn’t even dream of meeting him.

    Finally he led me to a gigantic office in which at least forty people were working. He indicated a desk, which sat directly opposite from another desk, belonging, he informed me, to my immediate superior, Miss Mori. She was in a meeting and would join me in the early afternoon.

    Mister Saito introduced me briefly to the assembly, after which he asked me whether I enjoyed a challenge. It was clear saying no would not be an option.

    Yes, I said.

    It was the first word I had spoken. Until then, I had made do with tilting my head.

    The challenge that Mister Saito was proposing consisted of accepting an invitation on his behalf from someone named Adam Johnson, to play golf the following Sunday. I was to write a letter of acceptance to this gentleman in English.

    Who is Adam Johnson? I was stupid enough to ask.

    My superior sighed exasperatedly and didn’t answer. I wondered whether it was absurd not to know who Mister Johnson was. Was my question indiscreet? I never found out, nor ever learned who Adam Johnson was.

    The exercise seemed simple enough. I sat down and wrote a cordial letter, something along the lines of Mister Saito would be delighted to play golf next Sunday with Mister Johnson, and sends him his best regards, etc, etc. I took it to Mister Saito.

    He read my work, gave a scornful little cry, and tore it up.

    Start over.

    I thought I had perhaps been too friendly or familiar with Adam Johnson, and composed a cold, formal reply. Mister Saito acknowledges Mister Johnson’s request and wishes to inform him of his willingness to conform with his desires by engaging in a game of golf with him, etc, etc.

    He read my work, gave a scornful little cry, and tore it up.

    Start over.

    I wanted to ask what I had done wrong, but it was clear Mister Saito did not tolerate questions, as had been proved by his reaction to my brief inquiry into the identity of the letter’s recipient. I would, therefore, have to find for myself the correct phraseology with which to address this mysterious golfer, Adam Johnson.

    I spent the next few hours composing missives. Mister Saito punctuated my output by tearing it up, with no other commentary than that same little cry; it became a sort of refrain. Each time I had to come up with a new formula.

    There was something Fair duchess, I am dying of love for you about this whole exercise that demanded a certain amount of creative wit. I explored permutations of grammatical categories. What if Adam Johnson were the verb, next Sunday the subject, playing golf the object, and Mister Saito the adverb? Next Sunday accepts with pleasure the invitation to go Adamjohnsoning a playing golf MisterSaitoingly. Take that, Aristotle!

    I was just beginning to enjoy myself when Mister Saito interrupted me. He tore up the umpteenth letter without even reading it and told me that Miss Mori had arrived.

    You will work with her this afternoon. In the meantime, go and get me a cup of coffee.

    It was already two o’clock in the afternoon. My epistolary exercises had so absorbed me that I had forgotten about taking a break.

    I put the cup down on Mister Saito’s desk and turned around. A young woman as tall and slender as an archer’s bow was walking toward me.

    Whenever I think of Fubuki Mori, I see the Japanese longbow, taller than a man. That’s why I have decided to call the company Yumimoto, which means pertaining to the bow.

    And whenever I see a bow, I think of Fubuki.

    MISS MORI?

    Please, call me Fubuki.

    Miss Mori was at least five feet ten, a height few Japanese men achieved. She was ravishingly svelte and graceful despite the stiffness to which she, like all Japanese women, had to sacrifice herself. But what transfixed me was the splendor of her face.

    She was talking to me. The sound of her soft voice brimmed with intelligence. She was showing me some files, explaining what they contained, and smiling. I was dimly aware that I wasn’t listening to what she was saying.

    Then she invited me to read the documents she had placed on my desk, which, as I’ve said, was opposite hers. She sat down and started to work. I leafed meekly through the paperwork. It dealt with rulings and listings.

    The spectacle of her face, a mere eight feet away, was captivating. Her eyelids were lowered over some pages with numbers, so she couldn’t see that I was studying her closely. She had the most beautiful nose in the world, a Japanese nose, an inimitable nose, whose delicate nostrils would be recognized among a thousand others. Not all Japanese have this nose, but anyone who has can only be of Japanese descent. Had Cleopatra had this nose, the history and geography of the world would have undergone a major

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