Out by Natsuo Kirino Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $9.95 You Save: $13.00 (57%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.36 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Out
Book Review: Sometimes Gruesome, Mostly Gripping
Summary: 4 Stars
"Out" was first published in 1997 and won Japan's top mystery award. It is Natsuo Kirino's first novel to be translated into English. Set in Tokyo, it's centred around four women who work the nightshift in a boxed-lunch factory. The pay is good for a part-time job, but the work is far from rewarding, the hours aren't sociable and the chances for progression are limited. Unfortunately, their home lives aren't much better.
Yoshie is the most likeable of the four friends. She is nicknamed the Skipper since she is so hard-working and effectively runs the line the women work on. Yoshie's husband died from cirrhosis, leaving her to look after her family and mother-in-law - who'd suffered a stroke more than six years previously. She's finding it difficult to make ends meet : the insurance from her husband's death, and her own savings, have been spent - largely on looking after her mother-in-law. She is desperate for her daughter to receive a good education. Meanwhile, her landlord is talking about tearing down her dilapidated house, hoping to build a modern apartment block. Yoshie knows this will involve higher rents.
Kuniko is a different matter entirely. Vain and self-absorbed, she is a thoroughly dislikeable character. She lies about her age, drives an expensive, imported car and spends beyond her means on clothes. She had claimed to be married to her live-in boyfriend : sensibly, he blows town early in the book and carefully covers his tracks. Due to the money she spends on her image, she owes a fortune to a loan-shark.
At 34, Yayoi is the youngest and prettiest of the four friends. Kenji, her husband, had once pursued her relentlessly. However, once married, things changed dramatically. Kenji started spending more time away from home, drinking and gambling. Recently, he had been visiting two clubs in Kabuki-cho. In one, he had been spending a great deal of time (and money) in the company of a beautiful hostess. In the other, he'd lost a fortune at the baccarat tables - including the couple's savings. Eventually, after an argument, Yayoi's patience snaps and she strangles him. She then phones Masako : unsure what to do, she knows her colleague will help her.
Although the focus of the book switches from one character to another, Masako is essentially the book's central character. In her early forties, she is married and has one son. Down-to-earth, and more experienced than her colleagues, her three friends seem to rely on her in particular. The book opens and closes with her and, after Yayoi's confession, it is Masako who makes many of the key decisions.
Although Yayoi knew Kenji had blown a fortune, and suspected he'd been in a fight the night she killed him, she didn't know the full story. The clubs he'd been visiting were owned by Mitsuyoshi Satake who, in recent weeks, had come to view Kenji as a nuisance. Kenji was stalking his top hostess and was behind in his bill at 'Playground' (his illegal, after-hours, baccarat club). Eventually, Satake 'deals' with him, using a method that involved Kenji bouncing down a flight of stairs. Unfortunately for Satake, Yayoi's subsequent actions see him under investigation. With a past he'd rather hide, and in illegal club to protect, this is something he is far form pleased about.
A little grim in places, a bit depressing in others - although I found it a touch implausible at times. In particular, I couldn't understand Masako. I found it hard to believe, for example, she could be so detached with what was not only happening around her, but also to her. Nevertheless, "Out" is a very-well-written book and is easily read. Definitely recommended.
Book Review: Surprisingly good....
Summary: 5 Stars
Having lived in Japan for a number of years certainly helped. When I bought this book, I didn't know of the author but the plot was intriguing, so I bought it and I am quite happy that I did. I recommend to anyone who enjoys mysteries!Book Review: The *real* "Desperate Housewives"...
Summary: 4 Stars
I had heard some buzz about a novel written in Japan and translated into English... Out by Natsuo Kirino. I picked up a copy at the library and finished it last night... A very dark story that redefines "desperate housewives"...
The story revolves around four Japanese women who work the night shift at a packaged food plant. It's a nasty job, but it pays better than day shift work and affords them a part-time schedule. But all of these women are living lives of quiet desperation. One is in a marriage where the son doesn't talk to them and the husband has moved into a separate room. Another fancies herself a fashion plate but is overweight and deeply in debt to the loan sharks. The third is widowed with two daughters and an invalid mother-in-law that makes her life miserable (and has to have her diaper changed multiple times a day). And finally there's the wife with kids, a husband who beats her, and has spent all their savings at the gaming tables (besides chasing around other women). He gets roughed up at the club and sent home. She snaps and strangles him with a belt. She enlists the help of her friends to dispose of the body by cutting it up into small parts and trashing it around the city. But the police find some of the bags in the park trash and are able to identify the body. They are trying to figure out if the wife did it or if the owner of the casino was responsible for the death. After all, the casino owner does have a nasty murder on his record. The tale is tightly woven between the women, the casino owner, and other various players who have figured out the truth and are playing it for their advantage. The question is whether any of them will survive the changes that have occurred now that they are highly involved in the murder...
"Dark" doesn't quite begin to cover this story. Not only do you have the dismemberment of the murdered husband, but they are coerced into other "jobs" because they need the cash. Greed between the friends leads to blackmail, and pretty soon it's hard for each to figure out who can be trusted to keep their mouth shut and not spill the beans to the police (or others). The overwhelming helplessness of each life also is vividly portrayed in the writings. While not condoning the events that happen, you understand how they play out. I'd have given this a top rating if not for the ending. While I don't have a problem with what happens in the end, the emotion and mental "conclusion" were entirely lost on me. I really didn't get what the writer was having the woman feel...
A good read with cultural elements that will probably be unfamiliar and fascinating to you... Just a little confusing at the end...
Book Review: This book will be shared and discussed for some time to come
Summary: 4 Stars
The story behind OUT is almost as interesting as the novel itself. OUT is the debut novel of Natsuo Kirino; published in 1998 in Japan, and garnering not only awards but also popular accolades, it has only recently seen publication here. Kirino has since gone on to become recognized as Japan's preeminent mystery novelist. Her second novel, SOFT CHEEKS, won the Naoki Prize for literature in 1999 and is scheduled for publication in the United States shortly. Aided by a fine translation by Stephen Snyder, OUT is a dark tale, occasionally relieved by grim humor that transcends cultural differences to tell a riveting story of revenge, betrayal and renewal.OUT revolves around four women working in a food processing factory, preparing box lunches on an assembly line, performing physically challenging and mentally boring work while they struggle to stay financially and emotionally afloat. Masako Katori is perhaps the best off financially of the four, though she shares a household with a husband who is more like a distant brother and an uncommunicative teenage son who is, in his sullen silence, a total stranger. Yayoi Yamamoto is married to Kenji, an abusive layabout who fritters away his wife's salary and their meager savings in a clandestine baccarat room while showering a prostitute with unrequited love. Kuniko Jonouchi is kind of an odd duck in the group, all flash and no substance, living far beyond her means while she uses clothes and makeup as a quick fix for her physical and emotional unattractiveness. Yoshie Azuma, known as "Skipper" at the factory, is the oldest of the four and is perhaps the most trapped by circumstance. A widow, she is the sole support and caregiver of her invalid mother-in-law and poorly dispositioned teenage daughter.
The four women are dramatically brought together in a new way when Yamamoto, in a sudden fit of anger, murders Kenji. Yamamoto turns to Katori to dispose of the body. Katori, in turn, seeks the assistance of Azuma in doing so. Jonouchi is brought into the mix when she unexpectedly visits Katori while Katori and Azuma are in the process of preparing Yamamoto's diseased husband's body for disposal. Kirino does not flinch from graphic description, and OUT should by no means be mistaken for a "cozy." Kirino infuses the women with a sense of purpose, and while they bring a varying degree of dedication to the task at hand, each is able to bring enough frustration with her respective situation to the fore to get the job done.
It is only Yamamoto, whose act of passion was the catalyst for the conspiracy of concealment, who is ultimately unable to participate in the disposal of the body and who displays the most remorse. Janouchi's poor execution of her task results in Kenji's body --- or at least part of it --- being discovered. Satake, a psychotic mobster and owner of the baccarat club, which Kenji frequented, is suspected of the murder. Satake, although eventually cleared, loses everything and seeks revenge by attempting to target the real killer --- whom he suspects to be Yamamoto. His pursuit results in a catalytic ending that will leave the lives of the four women changed forever.
Kirino, as is the case with the best of mystery writers, combines a strong plot with a canny description of contemporary Japanese mores and culture to make this an unforgettable work. While OUT was initially slow to attract literary attention in the United States, the gradual critical attention and word of mouth that it has achieved will undoubtedly result in much-deserved popularity. This is a novel that will be shared, and discussed, for some time to come.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Book Review: Wonderful and entertaining
Summary: 5 Stars
I was entertained and drawn into the very dark and bizzar world these "fine" ladies found themselves a part of from the very beginning. I loved the way Kirino took a lot of twists and turns through out the book making me say to myself..."I can't believe what just happened" .. I don't think I have read anything with this much characture in along time.