Ryo Asai (朝井リョウ ) began creating picture books at the age of six and writing stories while still in grade school; soon he was submitting manuscripts to new-writer contests as he dreamed of publishing a book of his own. He made his literary debut as a student at Waseda University, when his novel Kirishima, bukatsu yamerutte yo (Kirishima Says He's Quitting the Team) took the 2009 Shosetsu Subaru New Writers' Award. He has kept up a constant stream of publications since his debut. When his novel Nanimono (Somebody) was awarded the Naoki Prize for the second half of 2012, he was only 23, making him the youngest male author to have ever won the award. His other works include Chia danshi!! (Guy Cheerleaders!!), Mo ichido umareru (To Be Born Over), and Shojo wa sotsugyo shinai (Girls Don't Graduate).
อีกตัวละครที่อ่านแล้วไม่ไหวคือ นางเอก Asexual คือนางมีพฤติกรรมแบบ Stalker ตื๊อหนักมาก ทั้งๆที่ผู้ชายปฏิเสธไปแล้วก็ทำตัวเหมือนเข้าใจเขา จะให้เขาสนใจให้ได้ ฟีลแบบ “he’s the one because I can make eyes contact with him and not with other men” คือ… 🤯 แรกๆนางมาโอเครนะ เรื่องสาเหตุเอยอะไรเอยที่ทำให้นางไม่สามารถมีปฏิสัมพันธ์กับผู้ชาย แต่แอบหวังให้อธิบายความเป็น asexuality กว่านี้ เอาจริงนี่งงว่านางเป็นอะไร แต่หลังปกบอกเป็น asexual ก็เลยว่าตามนั้น
What I thought was going to be an insightful discussion on LGBTQ and being accepted in society turned out to be a long-winded slog about how people with fetishes are minorities too and we should accept them in society. Which honestly just came off as an excuse for why it's okay to be inappropriate with children.
an interesting conversation about what is normal and a fear of standing out in a society that shuns the unusual, let down by somewhat flat and indistinguishable characters and excessive repetition
Listened to the audiobook on audible. Great performance and great story. It makes you think what it means to be normal.
I personally hated Yaeko. Like REALLY RRALLY hated her. I don’t think she’s in any way minority. Plenty of us have trauma like that and move on or manage. But she thinks she’s so different and hurting and acts like she understands other minorities. I can’t stand people like her. What a creep.
interessante e polêmico Quando procurei por essa obra, vinha as palavras "Diversidade" "LGBT" como tema, tem uma personagem que fala disso, mas o tema principal é Fetiche, como um fetiche pode ser bem mais exclusivo dentro da sociedade. Sinopse: pessoas com um fetiche muito diferente do convencional, não conseguem se envolverem com outras pessoas e serem felizes, por conta do julgamento. Para isso, usam uma forma (questionável) para se satisfazerem. Também mostra a vulnerabilidade de crianças na internet.
It’s the first book I’ve ever wanted to tear apart because I don’t want anyone to read it. It feels like a mirror of a narcissistic psychopath who gaslights everyone with excuses that make no sense.
*Spoiler* If Lolita and The Catcher in the Rye show how frightening pedophiles are through their manipulation and confusion of victims, this book is the opposite. The “god” in this story keeps defending himself with small tricks and awkward excuses, almost as if Humbert Humbert or Mr. Antolini were treated like gods.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The book is a good reading. As any book, this one covers a number of different topics. For me it was particularly interesting how Ryo Asai addressed the question of trust and connection between people in families in the last chapters of the book. In general, it discusses a lot the relation between the needs of individuals and the acceptance of those needs by the society.
It is difficult to review this book: the story never grabbed me to a level where I could give 5 stars without even thinking. However, the concept was quite interesting - I mean there are people in this world who have sexual tastes beyond our imagination. I get that, but why “water”???? Are you serious?
The book is filled with a lot of interesting ideas, and I appreciate its effort to raise the questions it raises. But a lot of the characters are pretty one-dimensional and seem to exist solely to make a point about an idea/concept. It may have improved with cutting out some of the characters and humanizing them a bit more.