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paul_cornelius 's review for:
Death on Gokumon Island
by Seishi Yokomizo
Oh, no! My first Seishi Yokomizo, and it turns out to be yet another wonderfully addictive Japanese crime thriller. So, it looks like I'll be running down as many more of these as I can find. Not only is it a quality thriller, but it contains an intriguing social metaphor. And it stands out, too, as a work of superb translation by Louise Heal Kawai. In regards to the latter, the translation is smooth an unerringly sophisticated. Not once does the translator succumb to allowing an extraneous explanation to intrude into the story. The discussion of Japanese poetry, for example, is self contained enough or capable enough of sitting by itself in the narrative that an intelligent reader needs no more interpretation than what they see before their eyes. Not to mention that to give away much more than what exists would be to destroy the mystery of the story.
The mystery itself is rooted in Japanese feudalism. Set in 1946, the year after Japan's defeat in World War II, Seishi Yokomizo is describing a society in crisis. (The book was written in the year in which it is set.) On a remote Japanese island exists the descendants of pirates and criminals, all of whom owe their allegiance to a now dead island patriarch. A priest, a mayor, and a doctor execute the dead man's wishes as if his will still remains in force. Coming into this situation is detective Kosuke Kindaichi, himself a recently demobilized soldier tasked with carrying out the last dying wish of one of his army comrades. Two forces in collision. Traditional Japanese feudalism and the modern world that defeated Japan will need to adjust to. What plays out on the island can be seen as a prelude to how Japan will take its place in the postwar world. At least that is how I see it. (Now to check on Seishi Yokomizo and see if there are grounds for believing what I've just asserted.)
Otherwise, the atmosphere reinforces the mood of the story, misty and rainy and fog bound. And not only a remote island but a sharp mountain that takes in all the land mass of the island except for the western edge. A maze of natural confusion. In its midst, detective Kosuke applies his strict rational mind and deductive energies.
The mystery itself is rooted in Japanese feudalism. Set in 1946, the year after Japan's defeat in World War II, Seishi Yokomizo is describing a society in crisis. (The book was written in the year in which it is set.) On a remote Japanese island exists the descendants of pirates and criminals, all of whom owe their allegiance to a now dead island patriarch. A priest, a mayor, and a doctor execute the dead man's wishes as if his will still remains in force. Coming into this situation is detective Kosuke Kindaichi, himself a recently demobilized soldier tasked with carrying out the last dying wish of one of his army comrades. Two forces in collision. Traditional Japanese feudalism and the modern world that defeated Japan will need to adjust to. What plays out on the island can be seen as a prelude to how Japan will take its place in the postwar world. At least that is how I see it. (Now to check on Seishi Yokomizo and see if there are grounds for believing what I've just asserted.)
Otherwise, the atmosphere reinforces the mood of the story, misty and rainy and fog bound. And not only a remote island but a sharp mountain that takes in all the land mass of the island except for the western edge. A maze of natural confusion. In its midst, detective Kosuke applies his strict rational mind and deductive energies.