I really loved the book. Anyone looking for stories involving group of women trying to make do in a world (albeit illegally) might like this. Having a thriller concept at the foreground, the author dredges into women's life in Japan.
All the characters are someone I’d remember for long time. Even characters like Anna who don’t actually change the narrative would stay with me. They aren't just caricatures written into a plot, but rather how characters unspool given such circumstances. All 4 lead characters aren't someone you'd like – Masako, Yayoi, Yoshie, Kuniko. But still you'd want to see what they do. While some writers take pages to actually give us meat about the character, Natsuo Kirino does it in a single line. And she does this with all the characters.
You don't want advice, you want money.
Also I came to know that I like sprawling narratives. Out by Natsuo Kirino and Journey Under the Midnight Sun by Keigo Higashino. Both of them might feel to some people like they’re going on and on with no end in sight, but they never felt boring to me. This underbelly of Japanese society (Yakuza, loansharks and others) and how every character has their own story and we get to know all about it is something I’ve come to like.
Also a question for anyone who has read Ryu Murakami's novel Love and Pop. Is the book translated into English?? Goodreads doesn't have English translation listed. Out features few lines about that book, so wanted to read it. So if anyone has any info, let me know.
« Spoilers Below »
The female characters have lot of internalized misogyny. Masako at a point tells to a Yayoi whose husband spends all his money on another woman (Anna):
"Maybe you should ask yourself why your husband would fall in love with another woman."
The whole “your husband is out to woe another woman because you weren’t all that good” twists the domestic abuse Yayoi faces back onto herself.
And the book hits you with character realizations sometimes and they truly show how low the characters stoop to. At one point Yoshie says:
"Yes. I need the money, and that's the only way I can get it. I guess I'm even more desperate than poor Kazue."
That line flips the whole Kazue/ Yoshie's morale. Kazue was in the wrong for robbing the money but what about what Yoshie was doing? She was literally slicing open bodies for money. And there's a really good line about this too. Author compares the work they do at lunch box factory and their side business. There they pack food down the factory line and here they're "packing" body parts for disposal. Such comparisons bring out the way the characters dissociate either in the factory line or at this place.
And book has really strong female characters. Masako is being hunted by Sato and their "friend" Kuniko is already dead. And the way Masako responds then isn't just to escape the situation. She responds back with:
We need to make sure this murder gets pinned on Satako.
Even at such a situation she doesn't back down.
The book has got really perfect imagery which suits the atmosphere of the book. After Satake's business is closed due to the investigation, when he comes back to his office there's this line:
… with exception of the one where Kunimatsu was sitting, they were all covered by white shrouds that reminded Satake of a wake.
The book itself deals with darker themes. But having such prose that too from a Japanese novel feels fresh (Japanese novels usually have no nonsense approach in their writing. It's too simple but really effective for the themes they go for).
Overall this is one of those books I'm definitely going to re-read for the way writer brings those characters to life on page.
by paperscrawls