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haliza_ali2021's review
dark
mysterious
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
3.5
Slow pace story. It gets better towards the end tho. Interesting read indeed.
An obsession that lead you to a dark path.
While on his business trip, Asai's wife died of a heart attack, in a very unfamiliar neighbourhood. Asai got curious and started to investigate.. to find the truth of what happened to his wife......
An obsession that lead you to a dark path.
While on his business trip, Asai's wife died of a heart attack, in a very unfamiliar neighbourhood. Asai got curious and started to investigate.. to find the truth of what happened to his wife......
tricia's review
2.0
The translation is as monotonous as the main character. I kept hoping something scandalous/dark/disturbing would happen, but this was written in 1971 so I should’ve managed my expectations. I liked the tension in the last couple of chapters but by then i was rushing through the book and just wanted to get it over with.
lilla75's review
2.0
I found it somewhat monotonous. I love reading books that take place in Japan and for that it was very good. The story itself, maybe because the genre has gotten so explosive since 1975 when this book was written, felt dull in comparison to other books in the genre. I was really hoping that the ending would be that his wife is was a lesbian, but alas, so such luck
sarah984's review
dark
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
3.0
This book was an interesting character study of an utterly boring middle management type who becomes obsessed with the circumstances of his wife's sudden death that occurred while he was away on a business trip.
The first half has the man spiralling into an obsession with the minutiae of events involved and coming up with this convoluted explanation for her death. This look into his psyche was fascinating but then it turned out thathe was 100% correct, which was kind of silly.
The second half kicks off when the man uses this info and makes an impulsive mistake. This part was fun, kind of read like the aftermath in Strangers on a Train, and the actual ending was great.
The first half has the man spiralling into an obsession with the minutiae of events involved and coming up with this convoluted explanation for her death. This look into his psyche was fascinating but then it turned out that
The second half kicks off when the man uses this info and makes an impulsive mistake. This part was fun, kind of read like the aftermath in Strangers on a Train, and the actual ending was great.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Gore, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Stalking, and Violence
Minor: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Suicide
Descriptions of earthquakesabsurtiddy's review against another edition
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? Yes
3.0
fcannon's review
3.0
A different kind of crime novel. I enjoyed the slow build, and then the very palpable tension.
themaddiehatter's review
5.0
I talk about this book here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qn5h9MHMuQ .
Japanese detective thrillers never cease to amaze me. I read "A Quiet Place", by Seicho Matsumoto (translated by Louise Heal Kawai) in about 1-2 sittings. It tells the story of a respectable, government man trying to look into his wife's unexpected heart-attack related death. As he looks into his wife's life and death, the story unfolds in a way I didn't expect at all and it, quite honestly, blew me away.
This was a very different murder mystery than I've read before and than what I was expecting.
It was first published in Japan in 1975 and it was translated and published in English in 2016. I seriously have to get back to my Japanese studies because who knows how many more amazing Japanese mysteries are out there going untranslated.
Japanese detective thrillers never cease to amaze me. I read "A Quiet Place", by Seicho Matsumoto (translated by Louise Heal Kawai) in about 1-2 sittings. It tells the story of a respectable, government man trying to look into his wife's unexpected heart-attack related death. As he looks into his wife's life and death, the story unfolds in a way I didn't expect at all and it, quite honestly, blew me away.
This was a very different murder mystery than I've read before and than what I was expecting.
It was first published in Japan in 1975 and it was translated and published in English in 2016. I seriously have to get back to my Japanese studies because who knows how many more amazing Japanese mysteries are out there going untranslated.
edanielle912's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.5
alundeberg's review
4.0
I've associated many things with Japan, but sex is not one of them. Apparently lots of people are having a lot of sex on that island. I noticed this trend in Murakami's Norwegian Wood, but I refrained from forming a conclusion about the country based on one book. Now I've read A Quiet Place, a very different kind of novel written by a very different author-- but the amount of sex is the same. Japanese culture reminds of the Victorian Era because everyone seems prim and proper and keeping to their place, but pull back the shoji and WOW. This mystery novel is just about as surprising as that fun fact I just gave you. At first we follow the over-thinking, proper, and deferential Tsuneo Asai as he tries to piece together his wife's mysterious death as he thinks and thinks and thinks about it while at the same time thinking about his role and everyone else's role at work. As an over-thinker myself, Matsumoto does an excellent job portraying the neurosis of someone caught up in his own mind. There was so much thinking I began to get bored, but here is where the surprise kicks in: the novel morphs into a Japanese version of Poe's "A Tell-Tale Heart" and the pace picks right back up and it's over-thinking on overdrive as you try to figure out how this story is going to end. Matsumoto does a great job making Japanese culture work to meet his ends. Ultimately, a fun and satisfying read.
foreverinastory's review
2.0
This book was ridiculous.
While on a business trip, Tsuneo Asai finds out his wife has died unexpectedly from a heart attack. He rushes back home to Tokyo. After learning all the details, he goes to the shop where she died and sees it's by a hotel known for couples' getaways. Mr. Asai is convinced Eiko was living another life and cheating on him. Now he's determined to figure out her secrets.
Unless I missed some actual concrete evidence that Eiko had an affair, this whole plot was melodramatic and unrealistic af. Especially, because part of Mr. Asai's evidence was his lack of sex life with his wife. Like please. That is not a reason. Besides his ridiculous conclusion jumps, it actually turned out to be true! I just couldn't wrap my head around this. Not for me.
While on a business trip, Tsuneo Asai finds out his wife has died unexpectedly from a heart attack. He rushes back home to Tokyo. After learning all the details, he goes to the shop where she died and sees it's by a hotel known for couples' getaways. Mr. Asai is convinced Eiko was living another life and cheating on him. Now he's determined to figure out her secrets.
Unless I missed some actual concrete evidence that Eiko had an affair, this whole plot was melodramatic and unrealistic af. Especially, because part of Mr. Asai's evidence was his lack of sex life with his wife. Like please. That is not a reason. Besides his ridiculous conclusion jumps, it actually turned out to be true! I just couldn't wrap my head around this. Not for me.