흑사관 살인사건

by Mushitarō Oguri, 김선영 (Translator)

관련 문화가 전무하던 1930년대 일본에서 본격적인 오컬티즘 소설을 발표, 그야말로 공중누각 건설에 비견할 만한 초인적인 역작이라 평가받고 있는 오구리 무시타로의 장편소설. 작품에 나오는 어휘를 따로 정리한 사이트가 만들어질 정도로 현학주의적 성향이 강하며, 그 방대한 지식량에서 '탐정소설의 대신전'이라 불리는 작품이다.

독특한 작풍 탓에 유메노 큐사쿠의 <도구라 마구라>, 나카이 히데오의 <허무에의 공물>과 함께 일본 탐정소설사상 3대 기서 중 하나로 손꼽힌다. 일본 미스터리를 대표하는 작가들의 작품을 우리말로 매끄럽게 옮겨 많은 독자로부터 사랑받아온 김선영 번역가가 원작의 맛을 제대로 살리기 위해 1년여에 걸쳐 세심하게 번역하고 역자 주를 통해 세부 배경 지식을 추가하였다.

카테리나 데 메디치의 사생아라는 비앙카 카펠로로부터 시작하는 저주받은 혈통, 후리야기 가문. 당주 산테쓰가 기괴한 모습으로 자살한 지 어언 1년이 다 되어가는 어느 날, '보스포루스 해협 동쪽, 즉 아시아에서는 독보적이라는 후리야기 가문의 건물' 흑사관을 무대로 기괴한 연쇄살인극이 벌어지고, 명탐정 노리미즈 린타로가 의욕적으로 사건 해결에 나선다.

522 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1935

Reviews

[Mizuki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Murder At the Mansion of Black Death by Mushitarō Oguri, is widely considered one of 'The Four Books of Wonder' in the realm of Japanese detective/murder mystery novels. So I dutifully read this book for not once, but twice; but in the end I'm disappointed.

Let's talk about the strong points of this novel first: Baroque setting of a serial murder which took place inside an isolated European-style mansion, twisted family secrets, schemes and cursed bloodline, chilling death threats, preposterous murder cases. The story is very complicated in an all-out mind-fucking way, so if mind-fuck is your thing, then you might enjoy this book. Plus the author really did demonstrate his wide knowledge on history, religions, occultism, architecture etc. (the author was known for being REALLY into occultism and he had spent fortunes on collecting rare books on occultism and other rare knowledge, despite not being very well off)

However, the characters are mere pawns to move the plots onward, I never feel sorry for any of the murdered victims because they are so paper-thinned as characters; the same goes for the Great Detective and his companies, it feels like they are mere thinking machines to solve the murder cases than real people.

Furthermore, the author had spent too much screen time on stuffing his story with knowledge of occultism etc, just for the sake of he could do it and for the sake of showing off. In the end, I got bored. I mean, Mr. Oguri I know you liked occultism, a lot; I get it, can we move on to another subject already?

The other novels among the 'Four Books of Wonder' in the History of Japanese Detective Novels:

Dogra Magra, by Kyūsaku Yumeno, (Translation: Encephalon Hell or Pericardium Hell, or Braincell Hell): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Review for 'Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken' (Translation: Murder At the Mansion of Black Death): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
匣の中の失楽, by 竹本健治, (Translation: The Lost Music in the Box): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
虚無への供物 by 中井英夫, (Translation: The Offerings to the Void): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

My review for Bungo Stray Dogs vol. 14, in which 'Mushitaro Oguri' shows up in the manga as a fictional character, and his special power is 'Perfect Crime' *smirks*: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[F Gato · Rating 1 out of 5]

What the #*€%¥?

It is as if I accidentally opened a door and piles and piles of old European junk (which the writer held as treasure) fell on me. What kind of god is this guy who keeps talking nonsense but sounds mysterious and smart, knows everything and is never wrong. Also he is as arrogant as a fart.

The case and reasons and the resolutions aren’t related at all.

I hope Mushitarō Oguri would meet the author of Name of The Rose in heaven (or actually hell?) and exchange some tips on writting. Or perhaps they’d contempt each other?

[emil · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was horrendous. the murders hardly got solved, and the focus was more on pedantics and occultism than the actual mystery. the so-called master detective was completely useless and pretentious. and guess what?

I FREAKING LOVED IT. Oguri’s writing style is simply gorgeous, despite being so unnatural and jagged. maybe that’s what makes it so awesome. it’s lyrical and ornate. and the murders had so much depth to them, and despite not being the absolute main focus of the book, they were interesting and i was always so ready to hear about them.

bless Mushitarō Oguri. bless.

[DongJae Ryoo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried my best to understand the murder story in the black house.
I'm usually okay with criminal fictions and any other genre that requires thinking while reading it. However, this time, I couldn't figure out what the author was trying to say. Perhaps, I need to read this novel again in a few years ... I guess I need to brainstorm this fiction on a A2 paper to get a sense of what was going on in the black house.

[Life · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah, who knows what the fuck was going on here.

[Twig · Rating 3 out of 5]

很難讀且讓我一直晃神的一本推理。內容的設計頗刻意且複雜，引經據典了很多玄學與古書來營造文字的華麗感，但其實讀起來滿不自然，編造的詭計都是一些離奇罕見的醫學和科學理論，完全不會有推理的驚喜感受，只會很無奈地覺得「這樣也可以⋯？」。本書的優點就是可以從中學到奇怪的知識，還有認識一堆玄學、魔幻文學、古歐文學的書單。

[Nightkid · Rating 2 out of 5]

號稱是炫學始祖的推理小說，作者在書中一直拋書包，拉拉雜雜寫了很多玄學、神學的奇怪知識，犯罪原因略嫌牽強，個人認為是偏離了推理小說的宗旨。

[冷面 · Rating 1 out of 5]

许多杂乱的信息堆砌在一起，本来推理就难读，作者华丽的词藻更是增加难度，读起来一头雾水，止步于11%。

[Liying He · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 允许你炫允许你装b但是能不能先把推理写好再炫？

[James Woo · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5