The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet: Difference between revisions

{{work}}

The year is 1799 and Jacob de Zoet, a young clerk at the Dutch East India Company, intends to make his fortune. He plans to stay in Dejima (the man-made island where the Dutch traded with the Japanese) for a single year and earn his fortune so he can marry his fiancee Anna. However, while he is there, he meets an unusual young woman with a burned face by the name of Orito Aibagawa. The daughter of a [[Samurai]] and a midwife, she's studying medicine under Dr. Marinus and Jacob becomes quite attracted to her and Orito seems to reciprocate his affections.

 

However, after a series of twists and turns, both Jacob and Orito end up in serious trouble and soon more lives than theirs rest on the choices they make....

 

 

{{tropelist}}

* [[Honor Before Reason]]: The titular character. Contrasted with several other characters in the book. Also applies to Aibagawa when she {{spoiler|has a chance to escape Shiranui shrine, but goes back for the sake of Yayoi and her twins}}

* [[Indy Ploy]]: Jacob towards the end has to rely on these.

* {{spoiler|[[People Farms]]}}

* [[Screw the Money, I Have Rules]]: Jacob again

* [[This Is Unforgivable!]]: {{spoiler|The magistrate Shiriyama}} says this to {{spoiler|Enomoto}} as they're both dying.

* [[Touch of Death]]: {{spoiler|Enomoto}} has the unnerving ability to remove the "ki" from lesser creatures, effectively killing them instantly.

* [[The Verse]]: A subtle, easily-missed example-- the minor character Satsuki Miyake mentions that she hails from the small island of Yakushima, hinting that she's a distant ancestor of Eiji Miyake, the protagonist of Mitchell's 2001 novel ''number9dream'', who also comes from Yakushima.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Historical Fiction Literature]]

[[Category:Lit Fic]]

[[Category:The New Tens]]