Reviews

A Quiet Place by Seicho Matsumoto

annyeongnica's review

4.0

"It had happened somewhere far away in place and time; his mind had already filed it in the 'past events' section. He was completely detached from the reality of the experience. It wasn't anything he'd planned and engineered--it had been pure chance, and there was no objective involved in chance. And an action without objective is one with only a tenuous connection to reality."

marcon's review

4.0

3.5*

krida's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.5

There was an attempt at this being kafkaesque; The keyword is attempt.

This was more humorous than it was mystery. It came off as comedic rather than tense. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it but it was a good distraction one Sunday afternoon. The writing felt like a drag; the mystery isn’t at all engaging; overall the work isn’t as impressive. At best, this was an okay read. 

germ_cell's review

emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.5

goshkristina's review

4.0

A bit slow and plodding to start, but it all comes together neatly and quite masterfully. Going to get his other books now.

nyxlibrary's review

3.0

My question is: why?
The ending really disappointed me, but the rest of the book was good.

nfleow's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

elliemayxox's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

It was kind of slow in some areas, and I didn't really find it particularly thrilling. The ending seems to wrap up too quickly and neatly, as if the author was running out of time with a deadline approaching.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood and Murder

jilliancad's review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

jakewritesbooks's review

4.0

Seicho Matsumoto is considered one of the great Japanese crime writing legends and after reading this, I can see why. Not only is it an interesting mystery, almost Hitchcockian in nature, it is a clever send-up of Japanese culture, which seemingly works against the main character Tsuneo Asai at every turn in the tale. Shoutout to Louise Heal Kawai, the translator of the novel. I don't read much in the way of Japanese works but I was able to understand what the writer was trying to say without losing any of the subtleties (I think).