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kurenzhi's review against another edition
3.25
More of a sprawling, social criticism novel that happens to revolve around a criminal incident than a crime novel, really, but an interesting take on the Monster with 21 Faces kidnapping. It's nice to see something translated that actually discusses discrimination against Burakumin in Japan--it's a pretty taboo topic, and aside from the meager amount of Kenji Nakagami's work that has been translated, not one anglophone readers are likely to have had much exposure to.
Hard to judge the efficacy of the pacing without reading part II, but this felt well-done and thoroughly planned to me.
Hard to judge the efficacy of the pacing without reading part II, but this felt well-done and thoroughly planned to me.
gv53's review against another edition
3.0
This book was dense and difficult at times. Quite a slow burn, imagine an Oceans 11 crime, with an enormous amount of business-related information. Overall, a good read, but needed it to be trimmed a bit.
his_reidness's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
thisotherbookaccount's review against another edition
2.0
Follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/thisotherbookaccount
It’s been a hot minute, guys.
Over the past week, I’ve been chipping away at this chunky crime epic from Kaoru Takamura, a renowned Japanese writer who’s making her English debut here. Unfortunately, despite her reputation, this book is a monumental disappointment on multiple levels.
The premise is a tasty one: a group of blue-collar workers grow disillusioned about a society that values corporations over human lives. As such, they decide to take revenge by kidnapping the president of a beer company and extracting blood money from corrupt financiers.
The one good thing I can say about Takamura’s writing is that she’s able to create sympathetic characters on the page. Even the kidnappers are everyday folks you can root for, and you grow to understand each of their motivations. The writing also feels purposeful, moving forward with a slow but steady clip.
And those are about all the good things I can say about this disappointing book.
In short, it’s way too long with way too many characters. There are three main threads to follow — the police, the corporation and the press — and each is filled with characters and details that, ultimately, feel unnecessary. Takamura is obsessed with details like what this police division is doing, what that police division is doing, who is leading each division, what’s the ‘Politics’ desk is doing, what the ‘Crime’ desk is doing, what the HR department is doing, what the PR department is doing — you get the point. I know it’s a crisis situation, and everybody is involved — but do I really need to know EVERYTHING. If I shouldn’t need to read an entire user manual to operate a television, I shouldn’t need to read an entire police/corporate/press procedural to enjoy the story.
It’s too long, it’s too tedious, it’s too complicated, it’s too overhyped and — since I’ve read the spoiler for the second volume — it’s too melodramatic to be worth your time.
It’s been a hot minute, guys.
Over the past week, I’ve been chipping away at this chunky crime epic from Kaoru Takamura, a renowned Japanese writer who’s making her English debut here. Unfortunately, despite her reputation, this book is a monumental disappointment on multiple levels.
The premise is a tasty one: a group of blue-collar workers grow disillusioned about a society that values corporations over human lives. As such, they decide to take revenge by kidnapping the president of a beer company and extracting blood money from corrupt financiers.
The one good thing I can say about Takamura’s writing is that she’s able to create sympathetic characters on the page. Even the kidnappers are everyday folks you can root for, and you grow to understand each of their motivations. The writing also feels purposeful, moving forward with a slow but steady clip.
And those are about all the good things I can say about this disappointing book.
In short, it’s way too long with way too many characters. There are three main threads to follow — the police, the corporation and the press — and each is filled with characters and details that, ultimately, feel unnecessary. Takamura is obsessed with details like what this police division is doing, what that police division is doing, who is leading each division, what’s the ‘Politics’ desk is doing, what the ‘Crime’ desk is doing, what the HR department is doing, what the PR department is doing — you get the point. I know it’s a crisis situation, and everybody is involved — but do I really need to know EVERYTHING. If I shouldn’t need to read an entire user manual to operate a television, I shouldn’t need to read an entire police/corporate/press procedural to enjoy the story.
It’s too long, it’s too tedious, it’s too complicated, it’s too overhyped and — since I’ve read the spoiler for the second volume — it’s too melodramatic to be worth your time.
daydreamereyes's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
nevinator's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
What does it take to break someone? Debt, life-circumstances, tragedy? Life is more than just one bad day, it is the strains of injustices that the body sustains and remembers.
Not the violence of the state, but the losing of a finger. Not the sudden death of family members, but the corporate extortionist who use it as blackmail to gain money. Not a sudden divorce, but the slowing pressure of taking care of a child alone, forever.
Brokenness is incorrect, nor are they desperate: the fire of hatred has been lite and it desires action—so they kidnapped and extort the CEO of Japan’s biggest beer company, Hindoe.
Yet the drama stretch back further then any of these men could have imagine: the book opens with a 20 page letter of resignation in 1946. It’s a story about human beings, who are not political, and completely destitute. A letter describing a busyness that never ends and never gives hope, it distracts from everyone’s emptiness and destitution.
The heroes are also caught in this drama, fighting the emptiness of their lives while doing there job and craft, and no matter how much they try, how many facts are repeated, or how many times that letter of resignation comes back in front of these fresh pair of eyes—more and more the truth gets lost and it was staring them straight in the face: “Did it make any difference in the end to rot from evil or to rot from hatred and cynicism? Was there any distinction between contributing to the contamination of society and the era he lived in, and spending his life abhorring such a state of affairs?”
But he awakes from his thoughts and goes back to his work. If you never read the second volume, that’s okay—the first volume is so satisfying in it’s scenes, themes, and imagery, that it is a must read for the hungry American who’s searching for freedom.
Not the violence of the state, but the losing of a finger. Not the sudden death of family members, but the corporate extortionist who use it as blackmail to gain money. Not a sudden divorce, but the slowing pressure of taking care of a child alone, forever.
Brokenness is incorrect, nor are they desperate: the fire of hatred has been lite and it desires action—so they kidnapped and extort the CEO of Japan’s biggest beer company, Hindoe.
Yet the drama stretch back further then any of these men could have imagine: the book opens with a 20 page letter of resignation in 1946. It’s a story about human beings, who are not political, and completely destitute. A letter describing a busyness that never ends and never gives hope, it distracts from everyone’s emptiness and destitution.
The heroes are also caught in this drama, fighting the emptiness of their lives while doing there job and craft, and no matter how much they try, how many facts are repeated, or how many times that letter of resignation comes back in front of these fresh pair of eyes—more and more the truth gets lost and it was staring them straight in the face: “Did it make any difference in the end to rot from evil or to rot from hatred and cynicism? Was there any distinction between contributing to the contamination of society and the era he lived in, and spending his life abhorring such a state of affairs?”
But he awakes from his thoughts and goes back to his work. If you never read the second volume, that’s okay—the first volume is so satisfying in it’s scenes, themes, and imagery, that it is a must read for the hungry American who’s searching for freedom.
jessicaemily's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
gbozic's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
leoniefnk's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
The first half is so boring, but after that it gets kind of interesting. Still, I don't actually feel much difference in personality or emotional constitution from one character to the next.