What Is The Book 'Odd Obsession' About?

2026-04-01 15:09:49
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3 Answers

Mitchell
Mitchell
Favorite read: Forbidden Obsession
Story Interpreter Office Worker
Tanizaki Jun'ichiro's 'Odd Obsession' is one of those books that lingers in your mind long after you've turned the last page. It's a psychological exploration of aging, beauty, and obsession, centered around an older man who becomes fixated on preserving his young wife's beauty by any means necessary. The story takes a darkly comedic turn as he encourages her to have an affair with his daughter's fiancé, believing it will 'awaken' her fading allure. The layers of manipulation and twisted love are both unsettling and fascinating.

What really struck me was how Tanizaki captures the fragility of human ego—how far someone will go to cling to their ideals. The husband's bizarre schemes reveal a desperation that's almost pitiable, while the wife's quiet resistance adds this simmering tension. It's not just about vanity; it's about power, control, and the grotesque ways people try to freeze time. I couldn't look away, even when it got uncomfortable.
2026-04-04 16:11:21
12
Ezra
Ezra
Favorite read: Love's Obsession
Careful Explainer Chef
'Odd Obsession' feels like a twisted fairy tale for adults. The doctor’s obsession isn’t just about his wife’s beauty; it’s about his own irrelevance. By controlling her, he tries to deny time’s passage. The scenes where he meticulously documents her 'decline' are chilling—it’s less about love and more about possession. Tanizaki’s prose is elegant but ruthless, dissecting vanity with surgical precision. What stuck with me was the wife’s quiet agency. She’s not a passive victim; her subtle rebellions make the power dynamics even more compelling.
2026-04-05 11:14:25
15
Braxton
Braxton
Insight Sharer Engineer
If you enjoy stories that peel back the veneer of polite society, 'Odd Obsession' delivers in spades. At its core, it's a satire of bourgeois hypocrisy, wrapped in a bizarre love triangle. The husband, a wealthy doctor, is so terrified of his own mortality that he projects his fears onto his wife, orchestrating this absurd plot to 'test' her loyalty while secretly craving drama. The irony? His machinations expose his own weaknesses far more than hers.

I love how Tanizaki plays with shadows and light—literally and metaphorically. The wife’s beauty is described in almost ethereal terms, but her husband’s obsession casts this grotesque shadow over everything. It’s like watching a slow-motion train wreck where everyone’s complicit. The ending leaves you with this eerie sense of unresolved tension, like the characters are trapped in their own making.
2026-04-07 12:08:21
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3 Answers2026-04-01 18:06:37
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3 Answers2026-04-01 21:18:04
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