2. Tachihara's life was marked by a series of dichotomies. Make a list of them.

3. What divergent views did Tachihara's mother and father have about his education?

4. What sort of problems did Tachihara face when he went to live in Japan?

5. How did Tachihara spend the war years? Who did he hope would win the war?

6. Why was Ivan Turgenev's novel Fathers and Sons particularly meaningful to Tachihara?

7. When Tachihara immersed himself in Japan's past, what period did he turn to? Why?

8. How did Tachihara's early literary career differ from that of Oe Kenzaburo or Oba Minako?