June 2005
Crime Time
Three books to send a shiver down your spine
OUT ***
By Natsuo Kirino,
translated by Stephen Snyder
Vintage, 2004
Natsuo Kirino is the queen of Japanese crime writing. She won Japan’s top mystery award for
Out, and several of her books have been made into movies.
Out was first published in 1997, but has only recently been published in English. The story follows four women in the Tokyo suburbs who work the graveyard shift at a boxed-lunch factory. Between the four of them they have heavy debts, problems with their husbands and children, sick relatives and never-ending chores. They all dream of a way out of their dead-end lives. Yayoi, a young mother, is the first to crack. In a moment of anger, she strangles her philandering, gambling husband. Yayoi confesses to her closest colleague, Masako, who, along with the other two co-workers, helps to dismember and dispose of the body.
Out is an unflinching look at the darkness of the human soul. It shows that even the most ordinary person will do anything in a bid for freedom. The book has feminist themes and the author gives the impression that she, like her characters, is not to be messed with by men. Kirino’s prose is at times succinct and lyrical, which works best when she is describing location and atmosphere. At other times she goes into too much detail, especially with the dialogues, so they end up lacking spark. Her language and writing style are matter-of-fact, perhaps the result of having been translated from Japanese. In the beginning it takes some time to distinguish the female characters from each other as they lack individuality. However, the book is definitely the kind that rewards you for persevering! The book is very gory in parts and evokes a generally bleak feeling throughout. Those who prefer succinct prose will not be impressed that it took Kirino 520 pages to tell a story that could have been condensed. But if you are a fan of crime books, Out is an enjoyable read, and makes other gritty urban tales of violence seem like kids’ stuff.
BEST AMERICAN CRIME WRITING: 2004 EDITION ****
By Otto Penzler and Thomas H. Cook
Vintage, 2004
This is the third installment in the annual series of nonfiction crime writing. Penzler and Cook showcase 20 thought-provoking essays on notorious cases and major criminal-justice and political issues. The essays, written by such well-known writers as Scott Turow and James Ellroy, and public figures, such as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., were originally published in
Esquire, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and other periodicals. The book covers a wide range of topics, including Jon Krakauer’s profile of fundamentalist terrorism, not in the Middle East, but in a small community in central Utah. Also, Elizabeth Franck’s study of a child pornography case involving a law professor in New York is a harrowing read. The author of
Black Hawk Down, Mark Bowden, discusses coercive interrogation tactics in his timely essay. The introduction by Joseph Wambaugh reveals the massive legal risks these writers and their magazines face in publishing pieces such as these. The quality of writing is very high throughout the book, and it is a must for fans of hard-hitting crime journalism.
THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING IN ABERYSTWYTH *
By Malcolm Pryce
Bloomsbury, 2005
This quirky tale is the third novel in the Louie Knight series, after Aberystwyth Mon Amour and Last Tango in Aberystwyth. It makes more sense if you have read Pryce’s first two books, although this is not essential. The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Aberystwyth is not for crime fans who want a serious read. Instead, it is for people prepared for an extremely bizarre plot involving a widowed monkey, a man whose best friend is a donkey and a highly intelligent man whose biggest fear in life is a suitcase. Yes, you will find it all in this book!
Wise-cracking private detective Louie Knight takes on a strange new case and becomes caught up in a tale of intrigue and terror, tormented at every turn by a gallery of mad nuns, gangsters and waifs. He is also haunted by the loss of his girlfriend, Myfanwy, who disappeared after being fed drugged raspberry ripple. Louie’s hunt for Myfanwy takes him to the limits of his own endurance and brings him face to face with things no man should ever have to see.
If you have an off-beat sense of humor, you might find this novel funny in places. However, most readers will be disappointed by the patchy plot and loose ends. This makes it quite a frustrating read, which no good novel should be. <<<
