“Diary of a Mad Old Man” by an outstanding Japanese writer of the 20th century. Tanizaki Junichiro is one of the most famous works not only of this author, but of all post-war Japanese literature. The story has been translated into many languages. Translation into Russian has been carried out for the first time.

The novel by the classic of modern Japanese literature Junichiro Tanizaki (1889–1965) “The Diary of a Crazy Old Man” is deservedly considered a masterpiece of the late period of this wonderful writer’s work. Written just three years before the author's death and causing a lot of noise, the novel amazes with its vitality, frank eroticism and fearlessness in describing the most subtle, most intimate human relationships. The passionate love of a decrepit old man for his young daughter-in-law is not the most original plot in world literature, but not for Tanizaki’s brush. A most subtle stylist, an unrivaled master of literary allusions, a bold experimenter who was never afraid, and often sought to shock the venerable reader, turned a banal story into a parable about man’s inextinguishable thirst for the fullness of life, about man’s impossibility of coming to terms with old age and death. Sad, funny, and sometimes frightening adventures of a hopelessly in love old man, described by himself, end in the most unexpected way, literally turning the entire seemingly clear plot upside down - and the stunned reader takes a long time to come to his senses, gradually realizing the new depth of what has just happened. of the work read.