夏の午後の暑気忘れ、、、「にっぽん退屈党」
- 「･122」AMAZON
- by suna
- 2009/07/12 日 21:01
さあ、やっと、天気予報に晴れマークが出てきて、そろそろ憂鬱な梅雨も明けそうですね。梅雨入りには「雨の日にはクルマを磨いて、、」という小説の中のひとつ“アマゾンにもう一度”で「白熊」アマゾンを紹介しました。で、かつてのAmazon Owners Club時代からの友人「緑熊」アマゾンのＭさんが、「もうひとつ、五木寛之の小説にアマゾンが出てきますよ、、、」と教えてくれました。１９７0年に、週刊文春で連載され、その後単行本出版された「にっぽん退屈党」です。早速、本屋を当たってみましたが、さすがに３０年前の本は店頭には無く、それこそ、amazon.comのWeb Shopを探したら、何と「１円、、!!」送料３４０円也で入手出来ました。黄色くヤレた感じが、、、いかにも古本、、、なのですが、これが、とにかく面白い。60年代、70年代前半に「青年は荒野をめざす」に代表される五木寛之小説は、少なからず、我々の青春時代に大きく影響を与えたものでした。その五木寛之小説にしては、珍しい、ナンセンスな小説なのですが、「にっぽん退屈党」の党首が、5人の若者を集め、金に糸目をつけず、退屈凌ぎに、、、と富士山を噴火させるのです。で、この小説にもアマゾンが登場します。五木寛之自身が60年代末までアマゾンを愛用していただけに、なかなかの表現。「122Sはさしずめ羊の皮をかぶった熊、、、、力持ちで、丈夫で、安全で、いざとなると狼より早い、、、使えば使うほど良さがわかる車、、、、この北欧の熊ちゃんは、、、、」という具合。物語の展開は、およそ奇想天外なのですが、五木寛之自身が、「あとがき」で書いているように「気軽に寝転がって、夏の午後の暑さ忘れの役にでも立てて頂ければ光栄です、、」の通り、暑気払いに、ご一読いかがですか、、、。
ちなみに、写真のバックは、Revell社製の「AMAZON POLIS」カーです。仕事で北海道に行った際に、ミニカー屋さんで発見。とても良く出来た、雰囲気のある１台です。
Tokyo has finally gotten to the point where we see the sun mark on the weather report. This means that we are about to get out of the rainy season. When we went into the rainly season, I introduced the book called "Amazon once more time". A fellow Amazon rider - Mr. M. introduced me to another story by Mr. Itsuki where the Amazon appears. This is called "Nippon Taikutsuto" and was a feature in Bungei Shunjyu around 1970. I went to the bookstore to look for a copy but it was too old to be sold, so I reverted to Amazon.com and acquired a copy for Yen 1 with mailing cost of Yen 340. It was a weathered book already turned yellow with age, but absolutely amazing. For our generation who had spent their youth in the 60s and 70s, Hiroyuki Itsuki has had a big influence on us. This story is a rare nonesense story where the leader of the 5 man Taikutsuto tries to set off Mount Fuji at all cost. Once again, Itsuki describes the Amazon artistically. "The Amazon is a bear with the skin of a sheep, stong, safe and when needed, faster than a wolf." The storyline itself is a bit bizzare, but as Itsuki himself writes in the afterword that he wrote for reading while rolling around on a hot summer afternoon, so why not try this summer. The minicar in the phot is a Amazon Polis by Revel which I found in Hokkaido while I was there for work.
ちなみに、写真のバックは、Revell社製の「AMAZON POLIS」カーです。仕事で北海道に行った際に、ミニカー屋さんで発見。とても良く出来た、雰囲気のある１台です。
Tokyo has finally gotten to the point where we see the sun mark on the weather report. This means that we are about to get out of the rainy season. When we went into the rainly season, I introduced the book called "Amazon once more time". A fellow Amazon rider - Mr. M. introduced me to another story by Mr. Itsuki where the Amazon appears. This is called "Nippon Taikutsuto" and was a feature in Bungei Shunjyu around 1970. I went to the bookstore to look for a copy but it was too old to be sold, so I reverted to Amazon.com and acquired a copy for Yen 1 with mailing cost of Yen 340. It was a weathered book already turned yellow with age, but absolutely amazing. For our generation who had spent their youth in the 60s and 70s, Hiroyuki Itsuki has had a big influence on us. This story is a rare nonesense story where the leader of the 5 man Taikutsuto tries to set off Mount Fuji at all cost. Once again, Itsuki describes the Amazon artistically. "The Amazon is a bear with the skin of a sheep, stong, safe and when needed, faster than a wolf." The storyline itself is a bit bizzare, but as Itsuki himself writes in the afterword that he wrote for reading while rolling around on a hot summer afternoon, so why not try this summer. The minicar in the phot is a Amazon Polis by Revel which I found in Hokkaido while I was there for work.
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