Territory of Light - The Body

The chapters of Territory of Light continues with December's being entitled The Body, which bears an ominous connotation, although as the narrator navigates around the festive period and New Years steps are being put into motion of the separation between her and her husband Fujino. The narrator has instigated official proceedings at mediation although at this first meeting Fujino fails to turn up, according to the clerks it's common for husbands to put in a no show and she finds herself leaving the meeting on her own. Eventually meeting up with Fujino in a coffee shop initial disagreements and mistrust arise again and things deteriorate again into stalemate, the relationship with Sugiyama evidently more than merely platonic, accusations abound.

Amidst the logistics of arrangements over the festive period, the relationship with her mother is put briefly under the microscope and also of her reaction to her daughter's separation. After this the narrator and her daughter visit a Chinese restaurant and at a shared table her daughter's mood swings into a temper and they leave. Throughout the book the broader sociological implications of the separation are explored and at the same time the struggles of being a single mother are portrayed, in The Body, her daughter has a toilet accident in the street that has to be dealt with, and the chapter ends rather enigmatically with a drunken man staggering into their path and collapsing, after being asked by her daughter to make him better, the pair find themselves massaging his back until he revives and staggers on. The incident feels that it's going to resurface in future chapters perhaps, while the narrator returns to another mediation session, will Fujino put in an appearance?.


Territory of Light at Penguin Classics