「知の巨人」渡部昇一〈しょういち〉８

（８）渡部昇一と藤沢周平
　渡部昇一は藤沢周平の『白き瓶：小説・長塚節』(文芸春秋)のブックレビューを次のように書いています。
 
　「藤沢周平と言えば庄内藩の地理を頭に置いた海坂(うなさか)藩物を中心にした時代小説で有名であり彼の広い読者層もそこにあると思われる。しかし彼は俳句からはじまって本当の詩人的感受性を養って行った人ではないかと思われる。それは俳人・一茶をはじめとして、北斎や歌麿などを扱った伝記物によく現われている。その中でも本書は長塚節(たかし)という歌人にして地味な小説家についての詳細な伝記である。これが第二十回（昭和六十一年度）吉川英治文学賞を与えられた時、選考委員の一人から「資料の豊かさと検証のきびしさ正しさが力余って、小説としての伸びに問題が生じてもいよう」という主旨の批評があったと伝えられるがそれももっともである。しかしさすがに一流の小説家だけあって読ませるのである。おそらく専門の近代日本文学者でもこれほど詳しく長塚節の生活について述べることは難しいであろう。そうした学術的考証を、ソファに座りながら読んで楽しめる小説にしてくれた藤沢周平の才能に敬意を表したい。」（渡部昇一ブックレビュー　藤沢周平が描く“地味な作家”の読ませる伝記「白き瓶：小説・長塚節」『週刊新潮』2016年11月10日号 掲載）

“A Giant of Knowledge”, Shoichi Watanabe８

 
(8) Shoichi Watanabe and Shuhei Fujisawa
　　　Shoichi Watanabe wrote the following book review of Shuhei Fujisawa's ``A White Jar: A Novel,・ Nagatsuka Takashi'' (Bungei Shunju).
 
　　``Shuhei Fujisawa is famous for his historical novels centered around Unasaka clan stories that take into account the geography of the Shonai clan, and his wide readership is probably based there. However, he is not a haiku poet. He seems to have cultivated the sensibilities of a true poet. This is often seen in biographies about the haiku poet Issa, as well as Hokusai and Utamaro. Among them, this book is a detailed biography of Takashi Nagatsuka, a poet and modest novelist. When this novel was awarded the 20th Eiji Yoshikawa Literary Award (1986), one of the selection committee members said, ``The richness of the materials and the rigorousness and accuracy of the verification were too strong, and there were problems with its growth as a novel.'' It is said that there was a critique saying, ``This could happen,'' which is understandable. However, as expected, he is a first-class novelist, so he makes me read it. It would probably be difficult for even a specialist in modern Japanese literature to describe Takashi Nagatsuka's life in such detail. I would like to pay tribute to Shuhei Fujisawa's talent for turning such academic research into a novel that can be enjoyed while sitting on the couch. ” (Shoichi Watanabe Book Review: Shuhei Fujisawa’s biography of a “simple writer” “A White Jar: A Novel・ Nagatsuka Takashi” published in “Weekly Shincho” November 10, 2016 issue)                       (To be continued)