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限りなく透明に近いブルー
発行部数350万部を超える、村上龍、衝撃のデビュー作
1976年、24歳にして芥川賞、群像新人賞を受賞した村上龍のデビュー作『限りなく透明に近いブルー』。基地の街、福生（ふっさ）で暮らす若い男女の荒廃した日々を描いた本作品は、その衝撃的な内容と斬新な表現方法で、当時の文芸界に大きな衝撃を与えた。発売から40年以上経った今でも色褪せることなく、幅広い世代に支持を得ている、村上龍の代表作。
- GenresJapanese Literature
126 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 1, 2009
11 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Ryū Murakami
255 books3,703 followersRyū Murakami (村上 龍) is a Japanese novelist and filmmaker. He is not related to Haruki Murakami or Takashi Murakami.
Murakami's first work, the short novel Almost Transparent Blue, written while he was still a student, deals with promiscuity and drug use among disaffected Japanese youth. Critically acclaimed as a new style of literature, it won the newcomer's literature prize in 1976 despite some observers decrying it as decadent. Later the same year, Blue won the Akutagawa Prize, going on to become a best seller. In 1980, Murakami published the much longer novel Coin Locker Babies, again to critical acclaim.
Takashi Miike's feature film Audition (1999) was based on one of his novels. Murakami reportedly liked it so much he gave Miike his blessing to adapt Coin Locker Babies. The screen play was worked on by director Jordan Galland. However, Miike could not raise funding for the project. An adaptation directed by Michele Civetta is currently in production.
Murakami has played drums for a rock group called Coelacanth and hosted a TV talk show.
Murakami's first work, the short novel Almost Transparent Blue, written while he was still a student, deals with promiscuity and drug use among disaffected Japanese youth. Critically acclaimed as a new style of literature, it won the newcomer's literature prize in 1976 despite some observers decrying it as decadent. Later the same year, Blue won the Akutagawa Prize, going on to become a best seller. In 1980, Murakami published the much longer novel Coin Locker Babies, again to critical acclaim.
Takashi Miike's feature film Audition (1999) was based on one of his novels. Murakami reportedly liked it so much he gave Miike his blessing to adapt Coin Locker Babies. The screen play was worked on by director Jordan Galland. However, Miike could not raise funding for the project. An adaptation directed by Michele Civetta is currently in production.
Murakami has played drums for a rock group called Coelacanth and hosted a TV talk show.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 16, 2024
Honestly? I couldn’t put it down. In a word: raw.
I found it to be an incredible depiction of 70s junkie culture in Japan (a subculture I had no reference point for) and furthermore a complete sucker-punch of gorgeously detailed depravity. It’s elevated above mere shock material by both its prose, believable characters, and clever overarching themes/motifs.
It’s, uh, not for everyone. The work is certainly graphic, contains racism and physical and sexual violence but IMO manages to avoid feeling merely exploitative due to its semi-autobiographical nature and how unapologetically human it portrays its characters. It documents the behavior but I think is far from glorifying it.
I read in Japanese, but the English translation seems solid, expecting the god-awful (and woefully common) localization of Osaka-ben as an extremely over-exaggerated Southern accent.
This was a really interesting book to read after 透明だった最後の日々へ (which unfortunately has no English translation and is woefully overlooked) as it clearly seems to have influenced that novel, given the similar ages of the somewhat unsympathetic protagonists, graphic nature, and beautiful descriptive prose. If you can read Japanese and enjoyed this book you should check that one out as well.
I found it to be an incredible depiction of 70s junkie culture in Japan (a subculture I had no reference point for) and furthermore a complete sucker-punch of gorgeously detailed depravity. It’s elevated above mere shock material by both its prose, believable characters, and clever overarching themes/motifs.
It’s, uh, not for everyone. The work is certainly graphic, contains racism and physical and sexual violence but IMO manages to avoid feeling merely exploitative due to its semi-autobiographical nature and how unapologetically human it portrays its characters. It documents the behavior but I think is far from glorifying it.
I read in Japanese, but the English translation seems solid, expecting the god-awful (and woefully common) localization of Osaka-ben as an extremely over-exaggerated Southern accent.
This was a really interesting book to read after 透明だった最後の日々へ (which unfortunately has no English translation and is woefully overlooked) as it clearly seems to have influenced that novel, given the similar ages of the somewhat unsympathetic protagonists, graphic nature, and beautiful descriptive prose. If you can read Japanese and enjoyed this book you should check that one out as well.
March 12, 2025
[read in Japanese]
4.0
The excesses of the first 1/3rd of the book made me somewhat skeptical, then 2/3rds in I felt more engaged by the drugged up psychodrama of the messed up young characters, then finally in the last leg I was super impressed by the first-person portrayal of Ryu's insanity.
4.0
The excesses of the first 1/3rd of the book made me somewhat skeptical, then 2/3rds in I felt more engaged by the drugged up psychodrama of the messed up young characters, then finally in the last leg I was super impressed by the first-person portrayal of Ryu's insanity.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews