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bookworm_42's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ronanmcd's review against another edition
5.0
Terse and tense. Dark, nihilistic journey skirting Tokyo's underworld. Poetic in its brevity, disturbing in its vision, stunning in its execution.
slui02's review
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
periodicreader's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed reading this, but from the review that had originally led me to it, I expected more. I'm going to put the author's other book The Thief on my to read list as he calls it a "sister novel" but not a sequel.
supreeth's review against another edition
3.0
Nakamura's books works just fine with me, I always save them for the sundays, they're short enough to finish in a day.
Nakamura's a well known noir writer in Japan (not that I reside there or something). I've read four of his books so far and I can see how they can be best-selling books there, but when it comes to English version of the same books, they just seem so bland. All of his books has these lonely, nihilistic main characters. A prostitute, pick pocketer, a taxi driver, photographer, they're all alone, or obsessed with something abnormal.
Nakamura blends philosophy, mystery, noir, and satire together, but fails with the lack of details, it mostly has to do with short length of his books. He brings up authors from non Japanese literature in his books a lot, Dostoyevsky, De Sade, Truman Capote etc. While I always end up having mixed feelings about his books, I find myself picking his another book sooner.
Nakamura's a well known noir writer in Japan (not that I reside there or something). I've read four of his books so far and I can see how they can be best-selling books there, but when it comes to English version of the same books, they just seem so bland. All of his books has these lonely, nihilistic main characters. A prostitute, pick pocketer, a taxi driver, photographer, they're all alone, or obsessed with something abnormal.
Nakamura blends philosophy, mystery, noir, and satire together, but fails with the lack of details, it mostly has to do with short length of his books. He brings up authors from non Japanese literature in his books a lot, Dostoyevsky, De Sade, Truman Capote etc. While I always end up having mixed feelings about his books, I find myself picking his another book sooner.
jasonfurman's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this slim, noirish crime novel set in Tokyo was great (and unfair to complain that it did not live up the Dostoyevsky hype on the cover). Told in the first person it is about a smart, strong, loner woman raised in an orphanage who is employed to pretend to be a prostitute while putting men in compromising positions that her bosses can use to blackmail them. She knows almost nothing about the context for her work, just gets assignments and does them. But then she starts getting pushed from another side that has also been observing her and gets caught between two powerful men, playing a single/double/triple agent game that gets increasingly scary. Overall it presents a bleak vision of Tokyo and human nature with an outstanding heroine and page turning novelty.
mayarelmahdy's review against another edition
2.0
2.5/5
I should make an "Odd Japanaese Stuff" shelf and put this in it. It's not structured at all, and it's weird, yet it's different from the English weird. It's distinctive.
I like how it transported me to an odd place for a while, and had some genuinely cool observations.
I should make an "Odd Japanaese Stuff" shelf and put this in it. It's not structured at all, and it's weird, yet it's different from the English weird. It's distinctive.
I like how it transported me to an odd place for a while, and had some genuinely cool observations.
ireneac's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0