Presa elettrica

by Randy Taguchi

Dopo una notte di sesso con il suo collega Rimura (una notte tanto intensa da farla sentire come rinata), la giovane broker Yuki tornando a casa scorge in lontananza suo fratello Taka con il loro cane Shiro. Eppure questo dovrebbe essere impossibile visto che il cane dovrebbe essere morto da parecchi anni. Poco dopo Yuki riceve una telefonata dei suoi genitori che le annuncia la scomparsa di Taka, apparentemente lasciatosi morire di inedia nel proprio appartamento e ritrovato praticamente decomposto circondato solo da prese di corrente nella casa vuota. Per Yuki è l'inizio di un viaggio alla scoperta del mistero dietro la morte del fratello che la porterà a conoscere anche il proprio straordinario potere di sciamana sessuale.

Genres: Japan, Japanese Literature, Magical Realism, Fiction, Mystery, Asia, Noir

303 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

About the author

田口 ランディ

Reviews

[John Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reads like genre fiction – basically a suspense story tinged with horror, supernatural and sex – and is easy to imagine as a low budget movie. But I sensed that the author wanted to more than simply craft a story, that she had a vision that she wanted to share. For all the “extremity” of the content, the writing is pretty flat. This may be partly a matter of the translation, but it may also reflect the writing style of the author. (I was curious about this so I read Mount Fuji, a collection of four short stories by the same author but translated by someone else, and had the same reaction. Taguchi has maybe not been as well served as she could be by her translators, but her own writing style does not rise above the ordinary.) There are three kinds of readers I would not recommend this book to: (1) readers who judge works by quality of writing; (2) readers who are repulsed by graphic sex; and (3) readers who are put off by “New Age” ideas of spiritual power and particularly spiritual power of women. If you’re not one of them, I say, read the blurbs and, if they pique your interest, give the book a try.

[Madhu · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give fewer than one star, I would. This book, billed as an "exciting mystery" that walks on the dark side, was one of the most vulgar, repellent, and truly disgusting things I have ever read. The sex scenes would make even, say, Tiger Woods swear to celibacy, and the bits involving incest and a decomposing corpse that left a liquid stain on tatami mats were perhaps the foulest things committed to print.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the chance to translate this book in my own language. This is not an easy piece of writing. These are not words for everybody. It takes lots of faith and openness to enjoy it.
Now... the first time I read it, I felt immediately the English text had lost something in translation. Somthing that is really specific to Japanese style and thinking.
Therefore for my translation I used several versions as a back up, including the Italian one. Point is I analyzed every sentence so intimately and so profound that I completely fell in love with the atmosphere and the weird subject.
Reading it, acknowledging it, translating it into my own language was almost a psychedelic experience.
Try it.

[Miri Castor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was...um...how do I say? Really thought this book would be something more, but it's just odd. Probably wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

[giulia · Rating 4 out of 5]

FOLLE

amato le premesse dell’inizio, la storia mi ha tenuta INCOLLATA !! il finale non mi ha convinto molto però ..
bonus non ho capito tutto l’odio per la psicologia 😭 avrei preferito un punto d’incontro fra sciamanesimo e psicologia rispetto a voler sottolineare a tutti i costi il distacco, soprattutto perché molte idee sulla disciplina riportate nel libro sono false e piene di pregiudizi, il che me lo ha fatto scendere molto (es. eclatante la rappresentazione dello psicologo come deviato che non dovrebbe esistere). tutta la critica non regge e risulta too much

[A ☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

huh. okay so, i actually kinda liked the book up until the middle part. but then as i got closer to the end, i just find myself disliking the book more and more. i thought the writing was getting flatter and flatter. and the ending… this book left a sour taste in my mouth. it’s odd, and not in a good way.

[Mike Reiff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love this prose style, and the concepts - cyber shamans at the turn of the century - are interesting, interesting enough to almost nudge this to three stars. But the plot of largely wandering and at times lost, and there is such an obsession with sex, with shallow quasi- spiritualism around it, this book ends up being more irritating than anything.

[Rachele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libro appassionante. Ti travolge. saprei descriverlo solo come fuori dalle righe. Il finale è inatteso e anche strano. Mi ha un po' fatto storcere il naso. Mi aspettavo che si rivelasse lei pazza e si svegliasse in un ospedale o si ammazzasse. Ogni momento , come alla fine quando rivede il fratello al treno avevo il fiato al collo certa che morisse. Il finale è stato una delusione. O forse è prorpio perché è un po' "scialbo" e da non aspettarsi che mi è piaciuto ancora di più. In questo libro non avrei razionalità a capire cosa mi ha fatto provare. So solo che lo consiglieri.

[Zehavit · Rating 4 out of 5]

A psychological novel about sex, death and madness. The thin line between mental breakdown and spiritual experiences. A modern journey into shamanism. It was not what I expected and I was pleasantly surprised and drank it in one sitting.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

vi prego ristampatelo la gente deve leggerlo

[Nina Sakura · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Jasmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half was p good, but it got weird and i hated the ending :-(

[cassidy · Rating 3 out of 5]

CRAZZYYY book to send to the daughter of your old work friend who you met once as an adult also insane climax bc I did not expect this to really go there 3.5

[Kimmyh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yuki is happily living her life, despite a troubled childhood and not being able to make any type of meaningfull connections with other people: She has no female
friends, and, the only time she feels able to understand men is during sex.

Arriving home from one of her, many, one-night stands she receives a call from her father telling her that her older brother, who has been missing for months, has died.

No one knows what happened, other than he rented an apartment, bought cleaning supplies and then seemed to just lay down one day and give up on life until he, eventually, starved to
death;his body not found until it had started to rot in the Summer heat.

Yuki soon begins to see her brother's ghost everywhere and is able to detect the smell of death on people, which actually ends up saving a friend's life when she suggests he visit a Doctor soon.

As she attempts to discover what is going on,with her heightened sense of smell,the mystery behind her bother's death and the reason she is now suddenly obsessed with electrical outlets, Yuki seeks the help of her one-time college professor and lover and, in doing so, is also brought back into contact with two other people from her past.

As she begins therapy, the more she delves into her Psyche, she can't tell if something
mystical is responsible for these changes within herself, or, if she's mentally ill.

The story was unusual enough to keep me reading, but, the supposedly 'Shocking' ending I didn't find all that surprising considering what had been happening throughout the story.

[Amy Y. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Outlet is about Yaki, a twenty eight year old secretary, who finds out that her close brother had mysteriously died in his apartment. Police and detectives made a conclusion that Yaki's brother had died of starvation and malnutrition. However, Yaki thinks that it isn't the case. Yaki soon undergoes her brother's unbearable past and finds a stunning secret that would change her life and her future for her family.

"Wow!" was my first reaction after reading this book! I had no idea that it was going to be this good! At first, I had no idea what this book was about because of it's cover, but I realized that it was one of the most recommended books at Barnes and Nobles. So then, why not try it out? In addition, Randy's writing is so beautiful and it flows well with the story. However, I didn't really like how there was so many provocative details of Yaki having sexual intercourse with several men. I thought that was irreverent to the entire story. Overall, if I would've rate this on a scale between 1-10, I would give this book an 8.5 because of its plot, originality and style of writing!

[Il Limo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Impossibile, per un lettore occidentale di questi anni che della narrativa giapponese conosce quasi nulla, non associare questo romanzo al concetto di "realismo magico" di cui sono impregnati i romanzi di Murakami.

Non conoscendo che superficialmente il mondo da cui proviene, ci aggancio anche il diverso sapore che del soprannaturale hanno in comune i due autori, così diverso da quello cristiano. Gli spiriti non fanno quasi mai paura. Sono amici e familiari che restano vicini a noi dopo la morte (e che poi se ne vanno) per compiere una missione. Guidano l'inconscio dei protagonisti durante la vita quotidiana - invariabilmente problematica - di famiglie polverizzate dalle psicosi più diverse.

Oltre a questo aspetto interessante, davvero poco altro. Troppo sesso gratuito, che attraversa con insistenza tutti i personaggi fino a un finale in parte inaspettato e in parte insoddisfacente. Una scrittura che ritorna ancora e ancora e ancora sugli stessi tasti, con il rapporto sorella-fratello esplorato in maniera stancante o eccessiva, scegliete voi. Visioni oniriche esagerate nella loro accuratezza e insistenza.

Trascurabile.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Non vedo l'ora di leggere altro di Randy Taguchi. Presa elettrica è stato una vera rivelazione.
L'ho iniziato con spirito curioso da "autrice che non avevo mai sentito", anche se all'inizio mi sembrava qualcosa di "già visto".
Dopotutto si apre con la morte tragica del fratello della protagonista, e l'esistenza di Yuki sembra fin da subito legata a doppio filo con il sesso in modo misterioso... Insomma, tematiche che ho già incontrato spesso nella letteratura giapponese.
Basta poco però perché stupisca, virando in una direzione che non mi aspettavo. Si sprofonda in temi complessi, particolari.
La ricerca di verità di Yuki la porta a fondere psicologia, psichiatria, antropologia, sciamanesimo.
Taguchi sa tenere incollati alle pagine del libro, specialmente dalla seconda metà del romanzo in poi: non riuscivo a smettere di leggere, dovevo capire cosa le stesse succedendo, perché sentisse l'odore di morte in ogni cosa...

[Sae-chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A testimony is only as good as the faith the one who listens.

If you don't have a space for metaphysics in your heart, better stay away. And for people who have training in psychology, maybe this book won't sit well in your stomach. I have some sort of faith in the metaphysics and I don't have any training in psychology. That's why this is quite intriguing.

I only wish that doctors open their hearts a little bit more to things that are not yet written in the texbooks. And shamans open their hearts a little bit more to what science has achieved so far.

But I have to admit, I don't quite get the last chapter.

[Vlady · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a spiritual journey than what i thought it would be. Yuki, the hero, is deeply characterized by her family and past events. It builds up her past and her unusual present experiences for the end of the book where she undergoes a dramatic transformation that she was unknowingly expecting her whole life. Some interesting concepts about shamanism, vibrations, psychology, and the nature of our world. Although, there is a very mature core to this book with scenes of death as well as sex. The ending was really unexpected but i personally really liked it.

[Louis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Woeful, self-centred book. It's like early x-files in its desire to include everything remotely weird no matter how tenuously related to the plot, and have the main character repeatedly insist it's all related. To them. God, it even bought Freud in on the party. Unlike other reviewers who seem to think that the sex scenes are the worst part of the book, I would argue that they were perhaps its one redeeming feature.

[Avian Jun · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm truly not sure what to think of this book. Vaguely oversexed yet trying to make it all seem like there's some deeper meaning behind it all. I was not impressed with "her road to discovery", which at times made leaps and bounds that wasn't smooth or even satisfactorily acceptable. It felt a little too planned. At times self-indulgent. Only very moderately interesting.

[Giovanni Botta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finito nel 01/gen/1970 00:00:00

[Pam]

rec 09/04 via pbs