Death By Choice by Masahiko Shimada

by Masahiko Shimada

Yoshio Kita's hopelessness and lack of faith in his future as an ordinary and lonely company worker crystallizes into a decision to take his own life, in what he calls 'execution by Death by Choice'. His only remaining problem is how to spend both his remaining self-allocated seven days on earth and all his worldly money, in this darkly comic exploration of the cult of suicide in Japan, a country with one of the world's highest rates of suicide. From fine dining with a former porn actress to insuring his life, from pursuing his ex-girlfriend to an entanglement with an assassin, Yoshio's last seven days on earth take on unexpected twists and turns as Shimada asks his readers what it means to have the freedom to end your own life, and what becomes truly important when your days are numbered - even if it is by free choice.Sensitively translated by Meredith McKinney, this tale of a very modern Japan is now for the first time available to English readers.

Genres: Japan, Japanese Literature, Fiction, Asian Literature

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Masahiko Shimada (島田雅彦) was born on March 13, 1961 in Tokyo, Japan and raised in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture.
He studied at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Graduate School of Education - Russian language.
He is a postmodern novelist and University Professor.

Read more:
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B3%B...

Reviews

[Andrew]

If a weeklong countdown towards suicide could count as a romp, this would be it. It’s a fucking romp.

But look, I’m roughly the same age as the protagonist, and I see my horizons closing, and I’m wondering if I’ve already hit my peak… enough to give me chills as I read. And I’ve heard stories about guys who had similar pilgrim’s progresses – go south of the border and spend that remaining money on hookers and blow and top-notch mezcal, and then they wind up finding their joie de vivre again. Our man here? Not so much. He has a goal, and he is set on it. Enjoy the ride.

[Azjatycka Półka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Punktem wyjścia powieści "Wyrok śmierci na życzenie" Masahiko Shimady jest decyzja, którą główny bohater - Yoshio Kita - podejmuje pewnego dnia, by po przeżyciu tyygodnia odebrać sobie życie. Jego siedem ostatnich dni bardzo szybko się jednak komplikuje. Zanim się nie obejrzymy, jedno doprowadzi do drugiego, i tydzień który miał minąć bez większych atrakcji, zamieni się niemal w film akcji z porwaniami, pościgami i płatnymi mordercami. Nie tego się spodziewaliście, prawda?

Czym w takim razie jest ta książka? Powieścią obyczajową? Sensacyjną? Jest pisana na poważnie? A może z przymrużeniem oka? Jak poradzić sobie z faktem, że mimo wszystko motywem przewodnim tej historii jest samobójstwo? Wydarzenia stają się coraz bardziej absurdalne. Balansujemy na granicy groteski, z ciągłymi rozmowami o śmierci, rzucanymi luźnym tonem konwersacji o pogodzie przez kolejne napotkane przez Kitę osoby. Nie wspominając już o zakończeniu, które może być dla wielu trudne do zaakceptowania.

Nie jest to jednak, w moim odczuciu, książka, która ma po prostu szokować swoim tematem i kontrowersyjnym podejściem do niego. Niewątpliwie zwraca ona uwagę na powszechność problemu samobójstw - i to wśród ludzi w różnym wieku i różnej profesji - a także na to, jak niewiele potrzeba, by ktoś się na takie rozwiązanie zdecydował. Choć akcyjna część książki czasem odciąga od tego problemu, co nawet w drugiej połowie książki miałam autorowi momentami za złe, to jednak natrętna myśl o samobójstwie jest cały czas obecna, jakby wszystkie zmysły bohatera były nakierowane na wyłapywanie z otoczenia wszystkiego, co się z nim wiąże. To kojarzyło mi się z natrętnymi myślami, które towarzyszą na przykład chorującym na depresję czy zmagającym się z innymi problemami psychicznymi.

Oczywiście jest to jedyna z dróg interpretacyjnych i myślę, że książka ta oferuje ich dużo więcej. Trzeba jednak bardzo uważać z jej lekturą, szczególnie, gdy jest się w danym momencie szczególnie wrażliwym na tematy zawarte w tej książce. Jeśli czujecie się na siłach, by zmierzyć się z tematyką tej powieści - bardzo ją polecam.

Więcej o samobójstwie w Japonii i mojej interpretacji tej książki na blogu:
https://azjatyckapolka.wordpress.com/...

[Kyle Muntz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few years ago I started hunting obscure anthologies and dark corners of the internet for contemporary Japanese writing outside of what most people are reading, and Shimada was one of the best writers I came across then, so it was really great to see this book planned for release--though I've also read his first translated novel, "Dream Messenger," and didn't like it nearly as much his short stories, so I was wary, especially since I didn't like the premise of this novel at all, and it seemed like it could go very wrong very easily.

The reality is... complicated. The first 150 pages of this book are perfect: a little like the film Adrift in Tokyo but more structured, nihilistic and debauched, with great (mostly very strange) characters, sharp writing and particularly dialogue considering the translations, and so many moments of great insight. Then... some mild thriller elements crop up that mostly don't work, and certain elements started to feel absurd--not in a productive way but more like "why would anyone do this?"--though there are a few more nice moments.

So for me this was a brilliant but flawed novel. I wish it had ended on a much more low-key note, and something about that transition really bothered me, but I'm still so glad to see an English publisher pick this up, and would love to see more work from Shimada in the future. Also I read it in one day, which I haven't done for a 250 page book in years, which kind of speaks for itself.

[Tenma · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Haruki Murakami ever wrote a comic novel without his magical surrealism, I think it would have been "Death by Choice". Here we have a guy in his mid thirties who decides to commit suicide after exactly one week. As he embarks on his quest he meets all sorts of characters; a porn star, habitual suicider, doctor/assassin, pop singer, etc, who either try to sway him from killing himself or to make sure he does it cleanly to sell his organs! His one week hiatus turns up into a collection of bizarre/comedic/outwardly events that make this a joyful read ....

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shockingly original.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read some of Shimada for my Master’s degree, so I thought I would pick this more recent novel up. Japan is notorious for suicide, and I found this book to be an interesting look into the life of a man who has given himself a week to live. There are people who take advantage of him and others who make his last week blissful. It was painful to look into the life of someone who is determined to die. I found it odd that I was not overly sad about his decision. I was more thinking about how he might not have wanted to die if he were married or had children or had had better luck in life. I usually think of suicide as being committed by someone who loses all hope and makes a rash decision to end their life. But this character had planned his demise, determined for the day to be the following Friday. I own Shimada’s “Dream Messenger”, as well, and am eager to read that one soon as I enjoyed his writing style.

[Senad Subasic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read like a poor translation, but I don't think it was a poor translation.

[kotunia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spodobał mi się plot twist w podrozdziale Chirurg dorabia

[S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Death by Choice," or perhaps more literally "Self-Death Penalty" concerns seven days of a thirty-five-year-old young man who has committed to killing himself, and all the intensification of sensory detail, choice-making, and wrapping up of personal history that ensues. beginning with an porn-star and her pale-faced junior friend and eventually involving Yoshio Kita's past love, an idol past her peak, a hitman, and various other death-profiteers, DBC presents a tautly written, madcap, Japan-centric story that reflects on the nature of contemporary Japanese society and reveals a cynical, knowing stance on life. written by a member of the same artistic circle as Ryu Murakami, author of Audition, DBC is perhaps most closest to that book in feel, if different in topic matter. if you are a huge Ryu Murakami fan, you might very well consider this book as equal to the third or fourth best book in the RM ouevre, and its sort of decadent, media-knowing perspective will be familiar to that end of Japan fanatics.

if Shimada had the opportunity to go pure-play surreal and/or 'post-modern,' he provides instead a knowing overview of the entertainment industry and the causes and motivations of many anomie-filled, worldweary Tokyo-ites. fantastically tight prose, striking incident, and a rogue's gallery of human failings. ハードボイルド デカダンス


thought the first 20% amazingly fantastic, and then the book as a whole 5/5. wouldn't it have been amazing to get deeper and deeper into Zombie and Mitsuyo?!

[Aisya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is indeed different that any other book I have read. Though I must admit, I have a read a fair amount of Japanese literature and most of them revolve around this vague idea of death and after devouring books after books, I have grown to like them because somehow these books teach me more about life. Death by Choice by Masahiko Shimada does not only explore Yoshio Kita's suicidal endeavour, it also gives the reader a glimpse of the people that Kita encountered in the span of a week. None of these people were ordinary, they were deemed as messengers by Kita, himself; messengers sent to stop Kita from committing suicide. But every effort proved to be fruitless, Kita was determined to end his life. Once Friday comes, he flew to Hokkaido, leaving his lover, Shinobu Yomaichi all by herself in Tokyo. He knew what he will lose but still he had to kill himself to compensate for the evil he had done to his younger brother. In Hokkaido, he met once more with a death artist-doctor who was hired to assassinate him and stop him from committing suicide. Yoshio Kita's one-week journey to end his life was indeed an adventurous one and as we travel to the final moments of Kita's life, readers will discover that freedom is never really ours; it is unachievable. Even though Kita had originally planned to commit suicide at his own will, he never really got the chance to do so because the freedom to die is non-existent.

[Marli · Rating 4 out of 5]

To me, it is rather an insight to what "freedom" means in society's terms looked at from the fundamental level of life and death. It has some nice thoughts I would surely reread.