エヌ氏の遊園地

by Shinichi Hoshi, 星新一

エヌ博士の研究室を襲った強盗。金のもうかる薬を盗んだのはよかったけれど……。女性アレルギーの名探偵のもとに届いた大きな箱。その箱の中に入っていたものは……。別荘で休暇を過すエヌ氏のもとに、突然かかってきた電話。なんとその電話は江戸時代の霊魂からだった……。卓抜なアイデアと奇想天外なユーモアで、不思議な世界にあなたを招待するショートショート31編。

244 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Shinichi Hoshi (Japanese: 星新一) is recognized as one of Japan's most influential science fiction writers of all time, He published more than 1,000 of his signature "short-short" stories. Some call his crisp, no-frills prose the "Haiku of Science Fiction."

Reviews

[Angel 一匹狼 · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books by Shinichi Hoshi are starting to be difficult to review. They are all kind of the same, but the stories within them have different quality. In some books, like "ボッコちゃん", they are really good; in some others, like "ようこそ地球さん", they are not bad but are not on the level of the first.

"エヌ氏の遊園地" falls into middle ground. It is really, really good, with some amazing stories, but can't get to the levels of "ボッコちゃん". With 31 stories in the volume, you will love some, and others will leave with you with a 'meh' on your lips. However, as with previous volumes, it all depends a little bit on the mood of the reader and their willingness to fall into Hoshi's silly look on humanity. In general, though, it is difficult not to fall in love with Hoshi's quirky look on human's (or the Japanese culture of the era, in particular) behavior and mentality, even if some of the stories are a little bit outdated.

Recommended.

The best: the humor, Hoshi's look on humanity, it is all very silly indeed

The worst: as always, repetition and some weaker short stories

Alternatives: Hoshi lives in a world of its own. Pratchett or Jonathan Stroud are other options, for example.

7.5/10

(Original in Japanese)