再見的儀式

by Miyuki Miyabe, 宮部美幸, 李彥樺 (Translator)

會走路的監視器、穿越時空與自己相會、和親近的機器人告別、被奴役的活屍、拯救受虐孩童的奇蹟法律、專殺家暴父母的網路救世主、藏著奇特真相的無差別殺人事件──她精采地採集各種經典科幻元素、援引科技和社會議題當主菜、用對少年少女的深切關懷調味，再灑上撕裂表象的辛辣香料，烹調出八道口感豐富的異色料理。

少子化和高齡化社會，防止孩子與父母互殺成了重要議題。｜〈母親的法律〉
隱形的監視器一旦動了起來，才發現到處都是它們。｜〈戰鬥員〉
滿懷未來憧憬的高中生，怎麼看待滿足單身宅女生活的我呢？｜〈我與「我」〉
女孩將冷冰冰的機器人當成「人」卻將我視作「機器人」。｜〈再見的儀式〉
一對彼此憐愛的姊妹，目睹人心深淵中不一樣的怪物。｜〈向星星許願〉
虐待孩子的父母、利用孩子做壞事的罪人，都會受到黑色救世主的制裁。｜〈聖痕〉
他是屍身快腐爛的士兵，「死」前有一個遠離戰火的寧靜願望。｜〈海神之裔〉
日復一日、毫無意義的循環人生中，「解脫」何時降臨？｜〈保安官的明天〉

八則短篇，全是宮部創作至今前所未見的嶄新物語。
時而揪心，時而殘酷，時而諷刺，既可說是一記驚世重槌，
又是洞悉人性的警世物語，亦是震撼靈魂的美麗故事。

Genres: Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

See also 宮部 みゆき (Japanese language profile) and 宮部美幸 (Chinese language profile).

Miyuki Miyabe (宮部みゆき Miyabe Miyuki) is a popular contemporary Japanese author active in a number of genres including science fiction, mystery fiction, historical fiction, social commentary, and juvenile fiction.
Miyabe started writing novels at the age of 23. She has been a prolific writer, publishing dozens of novels and winning many major literary prizes, including the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize in 1993 for Kasha and the Naoki Prize in 1998 for Riyū [The Reason] (理由). A Japanese film adaptation of Riyû, directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi, was released in 2004.

Reviews

[Tiffany Zhao · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would read Miyabe Miyuki write a day in her life doing nothing. Her mind is incredible, and she has an incredibly warm heart and positivity towards life, even when dealing with hard topics like child abuse, violence, etc.

You end up empathising with the spirits of vengeance, monsters and demons in her horror stories, her stories have soul to them.

But this series of sci fi stories I simply couldn't get into. And reading the analysis from another writer, I understood why. The stories have a cruelty and hard edge to them that's quite a departure from her usual style. The twists are more stark and with a hint of mockery. Some of the stories are open ended on purpose.

Overall, I didn't enjoy this, was nice, but I wouldn't read it again, and I've read some of her books 3 to 4 times, discovering nuances and delights each time

[Stiltzkin Vanserine · Rating 4 out of 5]

宮部美幸是以推理小說成名的小說家，這點在《再見的儀式》當中顯而易見：雖然寫的是科幻題材，每個短篇都散發濃厚的懸疑氣氛，從平凡的日常景象出發，一步步將讀者拉近更深的謎團。她寫的是軟科幻，不詳加描述科技細節與科學原理，反而用科幻故事當作寓言，去探討如少子化、單親家庭、侵犯隱私、科技冷漠等社會議題。就這點來說，她的作品比較貼近娥蘇拉·勒瑰恩（Ursula K. Le Guin）或是雷·布萊伯利（Ray Bradbury）。

這八篇故事各有特色，主題不盡相同，有如《西方極樂園》（Westworld）的人造人故事，也有以伊藤計劃的遺作《屍者的帝國》發想的殭屍題材，還有像是《摺紙動物園》（The Paper Menagerie）一般緊扣親情的小品。受限於短篇的緣故，不少故事都採取了開放式結尾，是稍微可惜之處。聽說長篇小說才是宮部美幸最拿手的絕活，或許《再見的儀式》還遠遠無法展現她真正的實力，只能當作入門。

我忽然又覺得宮部美幸跟最近出版新作的石黑一雄寫作風格有點相似，兩人都是日本血統，都偶爾寫些科幻故事，也都注重描述細膩的情感、歷史記憶、人性的矛盾。

誰說寫科幻小說不能拿諾貝爾獎？

[Jessica.M · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last story is the best one among all seven stories imho.