動機

Prefecture D #2

by Hideo Yokoyama, 橫山秀夫, 緋華璃 (Translator)

署內統一保管的三十本警察手冊失竊了，嫌犯究竟是自己人還是外來者？
男人們的尊嚴與矜持相互碰撞，激發出強烈的火花，精采短篇「動機」不容錯過。

「逆轉之夏」，主角有殺害女高中生的前科，但他卻接到了匿名的委託殺人電話，並陷入煩惱之中!?

「密室的人」則是描寫在開庭時睡著的法官所經歷的難堪過程。

Genres: Japanese Literature, Mystery

312 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2000

About the author

Hideo Yokoyama (横山 秀夫) worked as an investigative reporter with a regional newspaper north of Tokyo for 12 years before striking out on his own as a fiction writer. He made his literary debut in 1998 when his collection of police stories Kage no kisetsu (Season of Shadows) won the Matsumoto Seicho Prize; the volume was also short-listed for the Naoki Prize. In 2000 his story Doki (Motive) was awarded the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Short Stories. His 2002 novel Han'ochi (Half Solved) earned a Konomys No. 1 and gained him a place among Japan's best-selling authors. He repeated his Konomys No. 1 ranking in 2013 with 64 Rokuyon (64), his first novel in seven years. Other prominent works include his 2003 Kuraimazu hai (Climber's High), centering on the crash of JAL Flight 123 that he covered as a reporter in 1985; the World War II novel Deguchi no nai umi (Seas with No Exit, 2004); the police novel Shindo zero (Seismic Intensity Zero, 2005); and the story collection Rinjo (Initial Investigation, 2004).

Source:http://www.booksfromjapan.jp/authors/...

Reviews

[W.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

2022/10/11

事件的真實樣貌，絕對不是你眼前所見──
每個人所做的每一件事，都有「動機」。（書介）

這是橫山秀夫的短篇小說，這一本其實獨步出過，很多年前，圓神的是新譯版，但我對前一版的譯筆已經沒有印象啦（懶得重看來做比較了，不過沒印象就表示沒有負面印象吧XD）！反而是打開書來看了兩頁想起故事來了。

這一本收錄了四個短篇。

〈動機〉寫了正在推動警察手冊保管新制的警署一口氣丟失三十本警察手冊，強力推動這個新制度的警官在重重壓力下，試圖找出遺失真相的故事。
這一篇的結局不免稍微讓人聯想起《半自白》，那讓人哀嘆的部份或許是橫山秀夫對「父子」關係（與想像）的浪漫也不一定。

〈逆轉的夏天〉是一個說到頭來，或許「惡人」從不真正「邪惡」的故事。
一個原本是上班族，卻因為刺殺了高中女生入獄的男子，在獲釋之後好不容易找到能夠棲身的工作之處，卻在此時接到了匿名男子傳來的殺人委託。
這一篇的篇幅不長，卻極尖銳的書寫了角色們不同的深層心理，以及他們面對核心事件、對死去之人的心態轉變。這或許是我自己在本書最偏愛的一篇。

〈情報來源〉用其實真的很短（就說是短篇了XD）的篇幅去寫了一個地方記者為了拿到獨家新聞而奔波的一段過程……我覺得這是一個其實寫出了「記者」在良知和職業之間的（部份）矛盾，以及「女性」在陽剛工作環境中的難處的故事，……女性的部份稍微有點點到為止，我覺得最讓人讚嘆的可能是對「挖角」的尖銳敘述吧。

〈密室之人〉一開場就是個恐怖場景，法官在開庭時打了嗑睡，甚至喊出自己妻子的名字。
在橫山筆下，這是一個從醜聞以及難堪開場，然後幾乎毫不意外推進到職場以及官僚體系面對醜聞時的姿態，以及需要為此付出何等代價的故事。雖然這麼說，但我依然覺得官僚體系的部份雖然是故事所在，但在核心，這反而是個述說了「愛」的故事。
讀到最後真希望他們能有一個更好的未來啊。
（其實我覺得有，因為橫山先生畢竟是個溫柔的人嘛）

我很喜歡橫山秀夫不論寫著多麼痛苦、難受以及壓力重重的故事，其本質都帶著溫柔的人性，以及人的多面性。在人身上很難看見純粹的善，同樣的，也很少出現純然的惡，在更多時候，那都是並存的。
看著看著又有點想念橫山的長篇來惹……

是說……這個新版的封面啊……看著看著我總會想起的是島田莊司的折傘的女人啊（咳）也不能說這個封面不對題，但，真的就是會想起折傘的女人嘛總覺得哪邊好像微妙……XD

[Viet Phuong · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only problem with "Motive" is that after finishing this short story I can do nothing but craving for MORE Hideo Yokoyama's works, which sadly will not come out anytime soon given his lesser popularity in comparison to Keigo Higashino, who himself only gets at most two translated works (normally one in English, one in French) that I can read. "Motive" clearly is a premise for "Six Four" and a nice little piece on the inner working of the police force in Japan. Of course the "mystery" in this one is pretty simple, especially in comparison to the marvellous "Season of Shadows". Still, I love it for all of its simplicity and humanistic approach to character building, which Hideo Yokoyama always has his edge over Keigo Higashino.

[Percy Yue · Rating 3 out of 5]

只能說題材相當廣泛。第一個故事較沉悶，其他則很特別，尤其法官一章。

[Christopher Hood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the Audiobook of this book and so the review is shorter than most I do, partly as it is hard to highlight sentences or passages that could be used in a review.

Yokoyama is one of my favourite authors and, of course, I am most familiar with his novel “Kuraimazu Hai” (“Climber’s High”) (and have also met him). “Doki” is known in English as “Motive” and is another of his police stories (or, rather, it is a collection of short stories), unlike “Kuraimazu Hai“, and more like “Six Four” which is probably his best known book (at least outside Japan). I remember enjoying it, but as I didn’t take any notes, I don’t remember specifics now.

See also https://hoodcp.wordpress.com/2023/11/...