しろいろの街の、その骨の体温の

by Sayaka Murata

クラスでは目立たない存在である小４の結佳。女の子同士の複雑な友達関係をやり過ごしながら、習字教室が一緒の伊吹雄太と仲良くなるが、次第に伊吹を「おもちゃ」にしたいという気持ちが強まり、ある日、結佳は伊吹にキスをする。恋愛とも支配ともつかない関係を続けながら彼らは中学生へと進級するが――野間文芸新人賞受賞、少女の「性」や「欲望」を描くことで評価の高い作家が描く、女の子が少女に変化する時間を切り取り丹念に描いた、静かな衝撃作。

290 pages, Kindle Edition

About the author

Sayaka Murata (in Japanese, 村田 沙耶香) is one of the most exciting up-and-coming writers in Japan today.
She herself still works part time in a convenience store, which gave her the inspiration to write Convenience Store Woman (Konbini Ningen). She debuted in 2003 with Junyu (Breastfeeding), which won the Gunzo Prize for new writers. In 2009 she won the Noma Prize for New Writers with Gin iro no uta (Silver Song), and in 2013 the Mishima Yukio Prize for Shiro-oro no machi no, sono hone no taion no (Of Bones, of Body Heat, of Whitening City). Convenience Store Woman won the 2016 Akutagawa Award. Murata has two short stories published in English (both translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori): "Lover on the Breeze" (Ruptured Fiction(s) of the Earthquake, Waseda Bungaku, 2011) and "A Clean Marriage" (Granta 127: Japan, 2014).

Reviews

[Yuko Shimizu · Rating 5 out of 5]

At this point I’ve read almost all books of Sayaka Murata published in Japan, and not every book was a smash hit. Recurring themes and over the top sensational plots, though I like weird stories some are too weird to comprehend.
This felt fresh. There are some signature Murata weirdness, but that’s a lot more subtle. Coming of age in a newly built suburb, and how difficult it is to fit into the school power dynamics…, felt all very real.
One of her best. The winner of Yukio Mishima Award.

[Asuka · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate giving such a low rating for this author’s book because I usually adore her books. Yes, she usually writes about horrible people with mental health issues, which is a genre I don’t dislike at all, but this one was a big no no for me. I can’t handle sexual and emotional abuse of a child being portrayed as if it’s something that can be forgiven. Imagine if the protagonist was a boy and Ibuki was a girl. No. Can’t do it.

[Dessi Vel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is my favourite book so far from Murata Sayaka!! There are so many situations and ways of thinking that resonates with growing up and fhe way it is written is truly beautiful!! Couldn’t stop reading it :)

[Vj · Rating 3 out of 5]

like the stagnating, bleached white, newly but only half-developed suburb set as the backdrop, this novel is boring. mostly. but it's an interesting kind of boring. largely episodic in structure, しろいろの街の、その骨の体温の is a somewhat coming-of-age story centered around the protagonist 結佳 growing up in a dead-end suburb. and like the static, empty imagery of such an environment, the novel is mostly nothing. nothing really happens, but i suppose that's the point. 結佳 repeats her distaste for the town that she lives in, which is something i can really understand with when four fifths is filled with relatively nothing besides a few awkward interactions. even the "popular girls" complain about how they have to go to other towns to buy cute clothes or makeup. the kids are surrounded by nothing, so it only makes sense to reflect it in their lives.

the setting itself is rather unique. usually suburbs are depicted as desolate, decaying dead ends. ニュータウン is as well, yet it's a new development without much history. the blistering white paint that covers ニュータウン is not one of freshness and birth but an eerie white of harsh aridity, of bone dryness. this is a really compelling image; unfortunately, this metaphor is excessively dragged out and repeated ad nauseum. much of the descriptions and observations written are ceaselessly repeated, which might be a plus for evoking the tedium of suburbia, but i can't say it's very pleasant to read.

and yet the story feels true to youth, in a strange way that makes me relive the nervous frenzied interior world of my own teenage years while also buttressing that temporal disconnection from the past with the mundane and trite worries of that time. reading this book felt like i was constantly being reminded of my senescence by how stupid all of the classroom conflict seemed. it's honestly hard to give a fuck about school social hierachy as a grown adult, yet i can still remember all those feelings vividly from Murata's writing. yes, this novel is boring in somewhat novel ways, more likely intended than not. but it's still a neat story of adolescence and determining one's own values.

[Victor Melquiades · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para o meu primeiro livro totalmente em japonês, não sei dizer se foi a melhorar escolha.
Gosto muito dos livros da Sayaka na minha empreitada em aprender japonês, decidi me aventurar em ler livro no original apesar de achar que não estava preparado para isso, afinal minha primeira leitura em japonês foi Doraemon.
Após deliberar se leria algo dela, do otsuichi ou se relia algum Murakami, optei por esse sem saber do numero de paginas.
Demorei mais do que o dobro que levaria num livro em inglês ou português, mas consegui entender perfeitamente e o jeito de escrever em japonês é igualmente belo e fluido como nas traduções.
A evolução da protagonista e a interação com as colegas são camadas, inicialmente achando estranho, depois julgando e por fim aceitando. Exatamente como é a vida.

[Luna · Rating 3 out of 5]

馴染みのある教室、学生の時間のなかに、社会的逸脱したことをぶち込む著者の勇気がすごい。その細かな描写には賛否両論でるかとおもう一方で、そこまでしないとクラスの“上”にいる人にはわかってもらえない息苦しさがあったんだとおもう。興味深かったのは、下同士でも敵対してたところ。社会的地位が異なっていれば、それは世界の見え方が違っていても不思議ではない。ただ同じ社会的ポジションにいても、感情の扱い方、表し方にこうも差がでるものなんだと学んだ。嫌なことされている少年はなぜ嫌と言わなかったのだろうか。嫌と言えなかった？何をされているのか理解できなかった？自分を守る方法を小さいときから教えなければ。

[nonie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it.