光之國度

Tokono Monogatari

by Riku Onda, 恩田陸, 高詹燦 (Translator)

班上有同學能背誦日本古典和歌，大家都讚歎不已，光紀卻備感委屈，因為小學四年級的他早已能輕易將好幾本古典小說從頭到尾一字不漏背誦，父母卻從不讓他對別人透露。

能背誦龐大的書籍內容、能得知遠方發生的事、能長壽幾百年、能一天跑過幾百公里──這群來自「常野」的人們，各自擁有不可思議的能力。他們一如「常野」其名，經常在野，沉穩、充滿知性、對權力不抱憧憬，藏身於二十世紀的平凡生活當中。他們究竟是為了什麼而存在，想回歸何處？

「──我們是光之子，陽光普照大地……我們既非刻意降生在這世上，也非因錯誤而誤走這一遭。恰似陽光普照大地……是許久許久以前便已訂好的規則。」

孩子們微微低著頭，老師們也個個一臉認真的神情。鶴老師感覺猶如頭部遭到一記重擊。沒錯，在這裡的孩子們，身處嚴苛的環境中，一直面對著自己以及常野一族的力量，不斷與其對抗。有時會詛咒自己的命運，詛咒自己擁有的力量。

「我們的臉頰摩娑著青草……做著星辰和黎明的美夢，一同生活在這世上。總有一天，讓我們一起手牽著手，回歸那耀眼光輝的誕生處吧。」

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

Riku Onda (Japanese name: 恩田 陸), born in 1964, is the professional name of Nanae Kumagai. She has been writing fiction since 1991 and has won the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers, the Japan Booksellers' Award, the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Best Novel for The Aosawa Murders, the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize, and the Naoki Prize. Her work has been adapted for film and television. The Aosawa Murders was her first crime novel and the first time she was translated into English. It was selected by The New York Times as a Notable Book of 2020.

Reviews

[Mizuki · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at around page 50. This book bores me to tear and you would have thought a story about people with superhuman power must be exciting.

Not gonna touch any more book from the same series.