The Kingdom

by Fuminori Nakamura, Kalau Almony (Translator)

Zen-Noir master Nakamura returns to the Tokyo of The Thief , where a young grifter named Yurika finds herself in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with the shadowy crime lord Kizaki.

Yurika is a freelancer in the Tokyo underworld. She poses as a prostitute, carefully targeting potential johns, selecting powerful and high-profile men. When she is alone with them, she drugs them and takes incriminating photos to sell for blackmail purposes. She knows very little about the organization she’s working for, and is perfectly satisfied with the arrangement, as long as it means she doesn’t have to reveal anything about her identity, either. She operates alone and lives a private, solitary life, doing her best to lock away painful memories.

But when a figure from Yurika’s past resurfaces, she realizes there is someone out there who knows all her her losses, her motivations, her every move. There are whispers of a crime lord named Kizaki—“a monster,” she is told—and Yurika finds herself trapped in a game of cat and mouse. Is she wily enough to escape one of the most sadistic men in Tokyo?

Genres: Fiction, Japan, Mystery, Japanese Literature, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Noir

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

His debut novel Jū (The Gun) won the Shinchō New Author Prize in 2002. Also received the Noma Prize for New Writers in 2004 for Shakō [The Shade]. Winner of the Akutagawa Prize in 2005 for Tsuchi no naka no kodomo (Child in the Ground). Suri (Pickpocket) won the Ōe Kenzaburō Prize in 2010. His other works include Sekai no Hate (The Far End of the World), Ōkoku (Kingdom), and Meikyū (Labyrinth).

See also 中村 文則.

Reviews

[Supreeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nakamura's books works just fine with me, I always save them for the sundays, they're short enough to finish in a day.
Nakamura's a well known noir writer in Japan (not that I reside there or something). I've read four of his books so far and I can see how they can be best-selling books there, but when it comes to English version of the same books, they just seem so bland. All of his books has these lonely, nihilistic main characters. A prostitute, pick pocketer, a taxi driver, photographer, they're all alone, or obsessed with something abnormal.
Nakamura blends philosophy, mystery, noir, and satire together, but fails with the lack of details, it mostly has to do with short length of his books. He brings up authors from non Japanese literature in his books a lot, Dostoyevsky, De Sade, Truman Capote etc. While I always end up having mixed feelings about his books, I find myself picking his another book sooner.

[Helly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book but not at par with The Thief, or my favourite from Nakamura - THE GUN. I suggest you skip this.

[Devon H · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was really weird. Probably one of the weirdest books I’ve read. No, definitely one of the weirdest books I’ve read. Yurika takes us on a journey through her life where she works as a freelancer posing as a prostitute to blackmail important men. That isn’t even the strangest bit, because what’s truly strange is the descriptions of the enjoyment she gets out of having power over these powerful men. I feel no sympathy for Yurika because she has no sense of empathy whatsoever, except for perhaps one past relationship that’s a little unclear. She lives alone and has no friends, and eventually she ends up getting blackmailed by two powerful men on two sides of a war, and eventually finds herself trapped in a life or death situation. These two men also have no emotions or empathy. Finally, one of them cuts her a break for no known reason and her life spirals away. There is no real ending, just more psychological thriller and speculation.

Psychological thrillers, as I’ve mentioned before, walk a fine line between making you feel emotions, and making you concerned that another person or thing cares so little about emotions that everyone is in danger. This book didn’t create any emotional investment for me as the reader, nor did I feel like the characters displayed enough emotion to be twisted. They didn’t quite feel real. I think that’s where this book fell short in the end.

[Emmy Hermina Nathasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another thought provoking book by Nakamura.

[Mizuki · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The Kingdom, a 'sister novel' to Fuminori Nakamura's masterful crime novel The Thief, tells a story of shady underworld of gangsters, criminal activities, double crossing through the viewpoint of a lone freelancer prostitute, who helps her boss to blackmail wealthy and powerful men after she takes photos of those men in indecent poses and/or hanging out in love hotel with sex workers.

However, things take a downward spiral for the young woman as she find herself entangled with the power struggle between two crime bosses and a shady blackmail plot. Who can be trusted and who can't?

I think the opening part of the story is the best part of the book, it sets up the mood, the noir atmosphere, the dangerous criminal activities, the gloomy world the heroine is living in, etc.

Sadly, the ending doesn't live up to the strong opening and the atmosphere-setting, because how anticlimactic can it get when the crime boss just lets the heroine go with her life simply claiming it doesn't worth it to kill her!? I would rather have an 'underdog fights back' ending...so...*sighs*.

[Nicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m quite surprised by the low ratings and all the comments about the weirdness of this book. Maybe I’ve been reading too much Japanese fiction, because it didn’t seem odd to me at all. Yes, the storyline is original and unusual and Yurika is a hard character to understand, but it all makes sense and is fairly short and easy to follow. Some of the scenes are a little confronting and unsettling, but Yurika’s life doesn’t follow a normal pattern either!
I quite enjoyed the suspense and unpredictability of the novel. I will definitely read this author again.

[Thanawat · Rating 2 out of 5]

อึมครึมแบบ noir
คิดว่าไม่ได้ชอบบรยากาศแบบนี้เท่าไหร่
หนังสือนิยายเล่มนี้ เล่าเรื่องของหญิงสาว “นกต่อ” ผู้อยู่ในด้านมืดของสังคมญี่ปุ่น
แน่นอนว่า background ของเธอก็มาจากปัญหาสังคม และสิ่งที่เธอทำเป็นอาชีพ ก็เป็นปัญหาสีงคมเช่นกัน
จากการต้มตุ๋น blackmail จนไปเหยียบตาปลาสมาชิกองค์กรลับที่เครือข่ายใหญ่ยักษ์ (เข้าใจว่าเป็นยากูซ่านั่นแหละ) ทำให้เธอต้องเอาตัวรอดไปวันๆ ด้วยการเล่นสองหน้า

ผูเขียนสร้างบรรยากาศได้ noir มาก
ซึ่งไม่ถูกจริตจริงๆ
แถมเรื่อง sex ที่เอามาขยายในเรื่องนี้ก็บอกตามตรงว่าไม่เก็ตเท่าไหร่
กลายเป็นอ่านเอาจบ ส่วนประเด็นที่ผู้เขียนอยากจะนำเสนอนั้นก็เข้าไม่ถึงจริงๆ

คิดว่าถ้าพักไปซักระยะนึง แล้วได้อ่านซ้ำ น่าจะ ok ขึ้น

[Tiash . · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was just MEH. Nothing of it spoke to me. Cliche character, poor plot, poor translation. It just was not for me .

[Calzean · Rating 2 out of 5]

The narrator is an attractive, intelligent young woman who pretends to be a prostitute. She is sent to lure, drug and photograph men in lurid poses. She is sent by the mysterious Yata who uses the information for who knows what purpose. She is a woman who lives a lonely life with no family and seemingly no friends but earns plenty of money. A strange man appears in her life and events occur which become almost gothic horror like.
The book may have lost something in translation as the plot was strange, the tension was missing and the evil men were just too mysterious.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️



"Night makes people's desires take on physical form. Night forgives people for letting loose the desires they keep buried inside."

I just really love Nakamura's writing style. I love the depressing undertones and the way it tackles humanity & what it means to be alive. This was really great. I probably would have given it a five stars if it wasn't for chapter 16. That chapter skeeved me out, and I felt that it was unnecessary. I know it was trying to show a deeper darkness in Yurika, but it just didn't work for me. I also felt that the second to last chapter was a bit jumbled in terms of purpose.

Yurika is quite a complex character. She has a pessimistic outlook and also seems to be drifting along life, finding joy in what she does in moments of pain or humiliation. Yet, you see a tenderness about her and this unbending will to live and you feel almost connected to her in spirit. I enjoyed reading through her point of view even more than the POV from The Boy in the Earth.

I also really loved the reoccurring theme of the night and the moon. It made me want to go and take a midnight walk in a park. It reminds me how thoughts come undone in the night before bed. It was very surreal and I could really connect to the writing itself, which isn't a usual occurrence for me.



I really enjoyed Kizaki, he was my second favorite character from this. I especially liked when he talked philosophically. Here is an example:

"Why me? People have been asking that since long ago. The one who enjoyed this world the most is God. That is, if God exists. God writhes, feasting on the chains of good and evil that each human life creates unendingly."

Though his monologues were often long winded, I was enraptured by them.

I am looking forward to checking out the companion, The Thief. With such a low average rating this book serves as proof to read a book regardless of the rating because you still might like it!

[J. · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was dire.
A plausible idea and good, concisely-drawn atmosphere, but wasted on unruly, lazy plotting and generally timeworn outcomes. One thing that is always a very delicate area is a male author writing first-person scenes for a female character. And it becomes especially tricky in scenes that are intimate, or that have to cover sex or sexual violence. Suffice to say that those kinds of scenes are included here but go badly for all concerned. In this book we are often left with YA splashes of moody emo romanticism or melodrama, where a taut careful description would have worked wonders.

Nakamura is not an untalented writer, but nothing like that is in evidence here. This looks like it may have taken all of a few weekends on vacation and not a second longer.

If that’s not convincing enough, consider this equation: would-be psychological drama finds its best bet in large, gaudy Bond Villain antagonist. Who says things like, “You don’t know what’s happening? That’s fine. I like watching people die unsure of what’s happening. I’m in a good mood, so I’ll tell you some of it...”
Please oh please Mr Goldfinger, save yourself the effort and just kill us first.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nakamura knows how to keep you turning pages but the end result is just... thoroughly unimpressive.

[mary stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

What an interesting book. I've never read a book that was written by a Japanese author, so this was a new and refreshing experience. I loved the writing style, though the content was interesting. It was so different from anything that I've ever read, and while I can say that I enjoyed it, I'm not sure that enjoyment is the correct word to use. The book was filled with depravity and seeping with nihilism, and so to say I enjoyed it seems inaccurate. But it made me think. I wish that the main villain and even the protagonist had been developed more. I wanted to see how their views would match up in a true fight, so to speak. This book is very nihilistic though, and I can imagine that Nakamura's other books aren't much different. Very neo-noir, so to speak. I did like it though, but it is seeped in darkness and things people would rather dust under the rug and not think about.

[Susana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un concepto distinto de novela negra, que explora lo oscuro en los seres humanos, seres humanos desgraciados, olvidados de la vida.

[Fiona MacDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange and seedy, a journey into Japan’s criminal underworld where you cannot trust anyone and every job you do could be your last.

[Shane Douglas Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

When it comes to international crime writers there are certain names that spring to mind automatically. Jo Nesbo is one, as is Mo Hayder, and certainly Stieg Larsson. But if I had to name just one author whose name is absolutely iconic in the field of border and boundary crushing noir, it would be Fuminori Nakamura, the Japanese master who brought us the breakout novel, The Thief. That book received much attention and garnered high accolades from readers and critics alike, so I was delighted to receive a copy of his most recent novel, The Kingdom.

In his afterword to The Kingdom Nakamura says:

“When I was working on The Thief, I thought I wanted to write not a sequel but a sister novel.Two novels where you could read either one first, or even just enjoy one on its own.”

The Kingdom is that sister novel. Fuminori Nakamura tells the story of Yurika, a young woman who works for a Tokyo crime lord, helping him to set up blackmail scenarios in the guise of a prostitute. But she doesn’t have sex with her “Johns.” Instead she drugs them and then takes incriminating pictures that she gives to her boss. It turns out her boss has a powerful and sadistic rival, Kizaki, who engages her in a deadly game that seems like, no matter how she plays it, she loses, but she has no choice but to go along. As in The Thief, Nakamura wastes no time jumping into the heart of his story and we are quickly propelled into the life of Yurika, the crimes she commits, and the danger she tries desperately to extricate herself from.

Whenever I read a book for review, I spend a lot of time thinking about what I’ve read, soaking it up in an effort to determine what it is that makes or breaks a story, and in the case of The Kingdom, it is unquestionably character that gives this thing life and keeps you invested in it. Nakamura gets deep into the thoughts and feelings of his protagonist, building her up as a deeply flawed, three dimensional individual, helping his readers to know her and thus, to care about what happens to her.

Fuminori Nakamura’s prose is always sharp and concise and, while the book is somewhat short on action, the story is fast and exciting all the same, a study of Japan’s bleak and shady underbelly that keeps the reader engaged from page one. Yurika’s tale is an achingly human one of a young woman with a troubled past, a woman trying to find her way through the darkness of her memories and of her current deadly situation. Throughout the book she frequently refers to the moon, almost to the point of obsession:

“What was the moon then? Was it just my fantasy? An illusion that suddenly came to my scared, tired body? Or maybe that illusion tried to fool me, but I didn’t let it. I’m not sure if its light was good or evil. I thought it might not be either. The moon just shines with the light of chaos.”

Nakamura writes with the flare of the classic Japanese poets, never overly verbose or florid but always lyrical, and every word or sentence he writes seem to have multiple purposes or meanings. I think the moon in this case is possibly a metaphor for hope or desire as the story starts off with:

“When did I realize that I would never get what I wanted most?”

And then comes full circle in chapter sixteen with the following:

“When did I realize that I would never get what I want most?
Do I still want it? If I got it, what would I do?”

Which makes me think that the moon is likely representative of her desires, unattainable and something that she questions the morality of. Of course, everybody has a different experience when it comes to reading–or really any sort of entertainment–and you might read something else into the frequent references to the moon. Whatever you take away from it, it’s a safe bet that you’ll take enjoyment with it. Fuminori Nakamura is at the top of his game here and I have to give the translator some kudos too. Kalau Almony did an exceptional job capturing the dark, alluring voice of Yurika and, as unreliable narrators go, she’s never anything less than beguiling.

The Kingdom is my first foray into the works of Fuminori Nakamura and I think it’s a great place to start. The story is captivating, Yurika’s character is fascinating and extremely likeable in spite of her somewhat amoral tendencies. Her flaws create dimension and give the story the ingredients it needs to fit firmly and unquestionably in the realm of dark noir fiction. I enjoyed this book immensely and will seek out the rest of Nakamura’s work posthaste. If you like literary crime fiction with a strong human element, I highly recommend you read this book.

[St. Gerard Expectant Mothers · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really disappointed in this upcoming title by Fuminori Nakaura. I loved his previous The Gun and I had friends and peers recommend his backlist titles like The Thief. The Kingdom didn't have the same effect for me and here's why. It's pretty much a YA novel. From the simplistic writing and the flow, it felt too easy and immature to be considered an adult crime noir fiction. Maybe it's the translation or by the way it was written, it didn't measure up to his past work. Then there is the underlying meaning of this novel. Exactly, what it is? You have a sociopathic killer playing mind games with a pseudo-fake extortionist prostitute by examining the whole good versus evil thing combined with some character study of Cain and Abel which leads to one thing. Confusion. I mean I have no idea what the hell this book is really about and the sole purpose writing it. Throw in some Takashi Miike J-Horror shit (Google him) where some hooker dies from a sex toy and I was done with this book from the get-go. Look, I like bizarre fucked up novels but this one doesn't make any sense me. My advice is to skip this one. It's not his best work.

[Makmild · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘ความขี้ขลาดมีความหมายเดียวกับเจตนารมณ์ที่จะมีชีวิตอยู่’
.
นกต่อเป็นเรื่องของหญิงสาวคนนึงที่ทำงานเหมือนชื่อเรื่องนั่นแหละค่ะ นกต่อคือหญิงสาวที่ใช้เสน่ห์ยั่วยวนเพื่อให้ได้ข้อมูลที่ตัวเองต้องการ

ภายในเนื้อเรื่องดำเนินแบบนัวร์ๆ เป็นครั้งแรกๆ ที่ได้อ่านนิยายแนวอาชญกรรมเหมือนฟิล์มนัวร์แบบนี้ค่ะ ให้ความรู้สึกแปลกใหม่และเข้าทางดี (ฮ่า) เหมือนดู mindhunter นิดๆ แต่เวอร์ชั่นฝั่งอาชญกรเอง ยูริกะ(นางเอก/นกต่อ) ได้ไปเกี่ยวพันกับคดีใหญ่คดีนึงที่ทำให้เธอเหมือนเหยียบเรือสองฝั่ง ที่ไม่ว่าจะไปเหยียบฝั่งไหนก็ไม่น่ารอดทั้งนั้น หญิงสาวจะใช้ความสวยและทักษะที่สะสมมาเอาตัวรอดได้ไปตลอดรอดฝั่งหรือไม่ น่าติดตามมากค่ะ แต่ไม่ใช่แบบแนวหนังแอคชั่นนะคะ เป็นแนวหนังปรัชญา+สายสับนิดๆ ค่ะ เพราะตัวผู้เขียนต้องอธิบายการกระทำของตัวละครใต้ดินที่โครตโรคจิตเอาไว้ด้วยว่าอะไรที่ทำให้คนๆ นึงถึงคิด/กระทำแบบนี้

แม้จะมีแนวทฤษฏีสมคบคิดอยู่ก็ตาม แต่การกระทำของตัวละครแต่ละตัวเราก็ซื้ออยู่นะคะ เพราะมีเหตุผลค่อนข้างดีและน่าเชื่อถือ โดยเฉพาะยูริกะที่ทำให้เราเหงาจริงๆ (จริงๆ แอบเอาใจช่วยให้ยูริกะเอาชนะใจคิซะกิ แต่ก็คิดว่าจะดีหรอวะ คิซะกินี่อย่างน่ากลัวเลยนะ)

#รีวิวหนังสือ

[Eduardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like Nakamura’s novels more for the thoughts they evoke than the stories they tell. The story is important in that it contextualizes the musings on good and evil, fate, the use of storytelling to create change by the ones in power, the disconnect between a just god and a creation of misery and pain, the betrayal of Christ, the power dynamics in masochism and sadism, the connections to the people on our lives, and ultimately the meaning and purpose of life.
Like Kizaki’s description of good and bad being two sides of the same coin and how “When those two opposing feelings mix together and finally become one, human emotion will surpass the human... What’s important is to leave nothing unappreciated”, my thoughts and feelings mix together with the story to become a literary experience uniquely its own with the power of the red moon that carried Yurika from “bookend to bookend” and beyond to her next life.

[VP · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars, because I finished it, and it was not the worst book I have read this year.

Girl lures men, incapacitates them and takes incriminating photos.
Man who hired her is enemy of other man doing the same thing.
Both men say she'll be killed if she does not do their bidding, and then claim she is not worth the effort, despite expending a lot of effort.
And oh yah, she tries to save unlikable orphan boy for some ill-defined reason.

Maybe more happened...I scanned a lot.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

"enjoy the emptiness". This is my first taste of the work of Mr Nakamura and i will be keen to read more. Nihilistic zen-noir full of philosophical gangsters and set in a bleak neon Japan. Bleak and relentless - it would make a great movie. A thriller you don't want to put down, full of characters with nothing to lose, who value their own lives as meaningless as the people they destroy, and full of a dark energy. Fantastic.

[DonutKnow · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8

Really intense. Happy ending, I guess, but I love the strength of Yuriko- I wish I had that.

[Agnetta · Rating 2 out of 5]

The beginning was good, interesting, suspenseful and the audiobook kept my mind busy while doing chores. I was looking forward to continuing to listen to this dark spy story.
After the first half, the character building, revelations of the past, emotional portraiting of the characters was over, and we went into action to unravel the puzzle and the problematic situation of our heroin.

I lost interest at that point and when finally I got to the end of the audiobook I was not too enthusiastic. Compared to The gun, this was light. I wonder if the purpose was to write a book that would be able to get transformed easily into a movie.

The conversations about evil, the power struggles in the world, and the questions raised about why humans are into masochisms, ... I found them rather boring.

It is still well written, but the storyline lacks interest for me personally. If a reader is just looking for entertainment, it can serve the purpose.

I would recommend The mask or The gun, as works of more depth, where the author shows his real skill and talent.

[Daphne Vogel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last line made the whole thing worth it. And pleased to have the world of The Thief expanded.

[Jason McCracken · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fucking Awful!

Prostitute with a heart of gold doesn't fuck anyone and donates all her money to dying orphans. And that's not even the dumbest part.

DNF. 67%.

[Julia]

I wouldn’t know how to rate this, but I enjoyed it.

[Wavieff · Rating 4 out of 5]

once again, the goodreads haters can KISS MY ASS!! YOU DIDN'T GET IT!

[Gabriela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everytime I read a Fuminori Nakamura book, I get the distinct sense that he has issues with women that I’m not professionally qualified to unpack. Interesting plot and some good sections though!

[Leah Bayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

When did I realize I would never get what I want most? Do I still want it? if I got it, what would I do?

I really love Asian crime fiction, so I was very disappointed to read 2 bland books in a row from the genre. I didn't love A Perfect Crime, and I actually had very similar issues with this novel. Which is funny, since I read them back-to-back.

The plot here is definitely very engaging. Our main character Yurika works as a fake prostitute: she picks specific Johns, then drugs them and takes incriminating photos/video for blackmail. Her boss never gives her any details, so she is completely in the dark about why these people are targeted... or what her employer is doing with the photos she produces. It's a pretty interesting twist on the traditional mystery genre: there's definitely a mystery, but the criminal activity itself is part of the mystery rather than the reason for it.

But like with A Perfect Crime, I found our narrator totally bland. Yurika is a criminal so she should be pretty interesting, but her personality is so very blah. I felt like I knew nothing about her after reading the entire book. Even when you find out about her past, she never seems like a fleshed-out character. She's just the vehicle for the story. And we don't even get any real answers! So basically it's an unsatisfying mystery with a boring main character. At one point, our villain says, "this was all meaningless" and I was like yeah dude, it totally was.

Why 3.5 stars then? Because the writing was very good. Especially the weird, almost nonsensical speeches our villain gives: they often revolve around obscure religious details, and they're kind of fascinating. I really wish we had been in his head the whole time! I think a book of him hunting & manipulating our heroine would have been way more interesting. While I found this book to be disappointing, I would definitely read another book by Nakamura (and indeed, I have another queued up on my Kindle!).

[Adam McPhee · Rating 1 out of 5]

How is it that for every great book Nakamura writes, he also comes up with one piece of incomprehensible garbage? I don't get it. For a long time I wanted to blame the translators, but it's the same people translating the books.

It's a very simplistic writing style, and while it comes off as almost Hemingwayesque in The Thief and The Gun, it's childish and ridiculous here. And the philosophizing is dumb (there's a part where someone talks about gnosticism in terms of gods having low level powers, like in video games).

The only reason I even finished the book is because I'd read that this was connected to his magnificent The Thief (without being a sequel or prequel) but it's not much of a connection at all, and even with the book being so short it was a complete waste of time.