砂の器 上

by Seichō Matsumoto, 松本清張

東京・蒲田駅の操車場で男の扼殺死体が発見された。被害者の東北訛りと“カメダ”という言葉を唯一つの手がかりとした必死の捜査も空しく捜査本部は解散するが、老練刑事の今西は他の事件の合間をぬって執拗に事件を追う。今西の寝食を忘れた捜査によって断片的だが貴重な事実が判明し始める。だが彼の努力を嘲笑するかのように第二、第三の殺人事件が発生する…。 映画でもドラマでも大ヒットした社会派ミステリー。

Genres: Japanese Literature, Mystery, Fiction

462 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 1973

About the author

Seicho Matsumoto (松本清張, Matsumoto Seichō), December 21, 1909 – August 4, 1992) was a Japanese writer.

Matsumoto's works created a new tradition of Japanese crime fiction. Dispensing with formulaic plot devices such as puzzles, Matsumoto incorporated elements of human psychology and ordinary life into his crime fiction. In particular, his works often reflect a wider social context and postwar nihilism that expanded the scope and further darkened the atmosphere of the genre. His exposé of corruption among police officials as well as criminals was a new addition to the field. The subject of investigation was not just the crime but also the society in which the crime was committed.

The self-educated Matsumoto did not see his first book in print until he was in his forties. He was a prolific author, he wrote until his death in 1992, producing in four decades more than 450 works. Matsumoto's mystery and detective fiction solidified his reputation as a writer at home and abroad. He wrote historical novels and nonfiction in addition to mystery/detective fiction.

He was awarded the Akutagawa Prize in 1952 and the Kikuchi Kan Prize in 1970, as well as the Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1957. He chaired the president of Mystery Writers of Japan from 1963 to 1971.

Credited with popularizing the genre among readers in his country, Matsumoto became his nation's best-selling and highest earning author in the 1960s. His most acclaimed detective novels, including Ten to sen (1958; Points and Lines, 1970); Suna no utsuwa (1961; Inspector Imanishi Investigates, 1989) and Kiri no hata (1961; Pro Bono, 2012), have been translated into a number of languages, including English.

He collaborated with film director Yoshitarō Nomura on adaptations of eight of his novels to film, including Castle of Sand.

Reviews

[Frederick Ayala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book, the story develops nicely and while its complex, it all makes sense in the end

[Angel 一匹狼 · Rating 1 out of 5]

As with Nishimura and his obsession with train time tables, Matsumoto is obsessed with deus ex machina random encounters. Just two examples of how little sense this makes:

A guy tells his friend the story of how he saw a pretty young woman throwing papers out of a train window on his trip home. This friend is a writer and publishes and article of the weird event which is read by the main character, Imanishi, who decides, of course, that it has to do with the case he is investigating, the death of an old man. He hunts for the author of the article, who sends him to his friend, and after talking with him decides that the papers are actually pieces of the shirt the killer was wearing, and then he goes searching for the pieces and, oh, la, la, find pieces. And of course, he is right, and they are pieces of clothing with drops of blood on. Not only so, that pretty young woman is actually his neighbor, and dies after committing suicide. This brings me to the second example:

This woman, who had a very quite life, was stalked on a random night by a guy wearing a cap, a guy that, of course, crosses paths with our main hero, who then, by his superpowers, decides that the guy had sushi on a sushi restaurant close to the place the woman lived the night he saw him. Again, he is right. And the sushi guy tells him he is an actor, an actor in a 'troupe' where the woman that committed suicide worked as a room clerk; actor that decides to do a: 'I will tell you everything tomorrow but I die before I can tell you the truth' trick. But oh, not only so, this actor is the random guy that was behaving suspiciously in a town named Kameda where our main hero went by mistake when he was searching for the killer of the old man (the place they were searching for was another). But, by the powers of all the gods, the actor was there, was behaving suspiciously because he knew the police would decide to go to that place even if they went by mistake...

and all is connected by strange and suspicious powers. It all makes sense if you believe in supernatural powers and our Imanishi having some kind of telepathy.

The best: it is easy to read; airport book

The worst: that things are related by deus ex machina, by randomness and by silliness; it is all so stupid that you won't be able to stop laughing at how things are discovered and by why what happens happens

Alternatives: Miyabi Miyuki, Nishimura (and his trains), other Matsumoto's novels are better... The list is long; I would recommend reading this just for the laughs, but...

3/10

(Japanese; original)

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part I of the classic mystery by Matsumoto Seicho. It is the first book I've read by this author, but I'm already looking for more to read. His attention to detail is amazing. It has been made into a movie which I'm interested in seeing to see if it lives up to the novel.

[Satota]

I read this because I saw a book review on Keigo Higashino's "Inorino makuga orirutoki" which says the Higashino's novel is reminiscent of "Sunano Utsuwa." This was true.