Out: Natsuo Kirino

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It turns out that he was a pervert but not the pervert. That storyline was completely dropped, we end up having no clue who he was or where he went, so in the end Kazuo ends up being the one parking lot pervert anyway.) The first quarter of Out didn't fully capture my attention but I had never considered abandoning it. The synopsis made it clear that Out was not a conventional whodunit so the main enticement was in seeing whether Yayoi would get away with murder. And as I progressed, Out became less easy to put down and I began to wonder for whom I should cheer. This is a novel of anti-heros and of victims seeking justice. Out (original title: Auto), trans. Stephen Snyder (New York: Kodansha, 2003; New York: Vintage, 2005)

Dekasseguis are Brazilians who are descendants from Japanese immigrants and who went to work in Japan after the "Lost Decade" of the 80s. It is known that dekasseguis face a lot of prejudice and discrimination in Japan, so the fact that the characters would treat the Brazilian workers at their factory as inferior doesn't feel unrealistic. It is a problem, however, when the author's writing reflects this prejudice. An exciting, disturbing read. . . . Kirino’s Tokyo is an unexpected place, far from the glamorous stereotype.”– Telegraph (UK) What finally gives Yayoi the strength and resolve to kill Kenji? Has she simply been pushed over the edge? How does the realization that she hates Kenji [p. 44] affect her? Does giving a name to her emotions make it easier for her to act? I enjoyed the dark, bleak storyline which involves nightshifts at a creepy boxed lunch factory. The plot involves human dismemberment, lots of it. The last body-chop brought with it a particularly fun twist.When stones lying warm in the sun were turned over, they exposed the cold, damp earth underneath; and that was where Masako had burrowed deep. There was no trace of warmth in this dark earth, but for a bug curled up tight in it, it was a peaceful and familiar world. Four Japanese women - Masako, Yayoi, Yoshie and Kuniko - work the night shift together at a factory making boxed lunches. Yayoi's husband, Yamamoto, is drunk and violent, and obsessed with an escort girl named Anna, who works at a club run by psychopathic gangster Satake. Yamamoto has also lost all the couple's savings playing baccarat at Satake's club. One night Satake beats Yamamoto up and throws him out. When Yamamoto gets home, his wife strangles him with his own belt. She confides in her friends, and they, led by Masako, agree to take Yamamoto's body, cut it up and dispose of it in garbage bags dispersed around Tokyo. Kuniko, the fashionable one, is a delusional middle aged woman living above her means, deep in depth to loan sharks and in denial about her own abilities.

She seems to think we're guiltier than she is -- even though she's the one who killed her husband." La creación de personajes de Kirino es simplemente espectacular. En las dos anteriores novelas que leí de ella, sus personajes ya poseían esa fuerza, sobre todo los femeninos, pero es que las cuatro protagonitas de esta novela son increíblemente reales. Están creadas con una maestría que asusta. Y creo, que es en gran parte el origen del siguiente punto fuerte de la novela: la adicción que crea. Se lee de un tirón, no puedes soltarla ni un momento. Es uno de los thrillers más adictivos que he leído jamás. So dark, so gruesome . . . it left this reader reeling. No gritty urban American tale of violence can match the horror of Out.”–Carol Memmott, USA Today Kirino draws a grim picture of life in contemporary Japan. How are the points she makes unique to Japanese society? Are there any parallels to American society? Kirino began her writing career in 1984, when she started composing novels in the romantic genre. [6] However, these types of novels were not popular in Japan, so she found it difficult to make a living while writing them. [6] She also did not have a passion for writing romance novels and wanted to concentrate on works focusing on the psychological aspect of crimes. [6] She then turned her focus towards writing mystery novels in the early 1990s. [6] To date, she has written several short story collections and many novels, [7] and is now one of Japan's most popular writers. [8]

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In spite of writing in stories in the genre, Kirino does not particularly like mysteries. For influential books from her childhood, Kirino cites Two Years' Vacation, The Three Musketeers, and Little Women as favorites. [1] Rebecca L. Copeland, "Woman Uncovered: Pornography and Power in the Detective Fiction of Kirino Natsuo", Japan Forum 16/2 (2004): 249–69. Idem, "Inside OUT: Space, Gender, and Power in Kirino Natsuo", Japanese Language and Literature 40/2 (2006): 197–217.

A feminist revenge plot meets social critique and hardcore horror in a startling Japanese mix of satire and sensation.”– The Independent (UK) Japan's Government Medals of Honor (Japan) for distinguished performances and contributions to society.

So far, four of her novels ( Out, Grotesque, Real World, and The Goddess Chronicle, the last of which was written for the Canongate Myth Series) have been translated into English. [7] A further novel, In is scheduled for publication in 2013. The tale of poverty and loan sharks is a bleak one, especially combined with the seemingly universal misogyny, occurrences of domestic violence and even attempted rape. Riaru warudo (Tokyo: Shueisha, 2003); English translation by J. Philip Gabriel as Real World (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008) The truth is there was so much going on at the same time, and I expected the story to give in and fold into itself the way collapsed stars do too. When all the material has been used up and it all just folds and it is done. Which is what happened somewhere past the halfway mark, and credit to the writer they kept it going longer than I thought it would. Too many coincidences that couldn't be ignored even though they made for exciting parts, too many holes that couldn't be filled, and things just got progressively worse the more the story advanced, culminating in a bathetic (and personally, unconvincing) ending. If this book is to be believed, Japanese women are surrounded by chauvinistic, sadistic a-holes, cruelly remote ghosts, or losers who spend all their money with a nasty smirk. Or they are jerks-in-the-making, sullen teenagers who can go a year without saying a single word to their mothers, conveying hate through their angry eyes. At best, they're cowardly, bumbling, social pariahs... or dead.