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コンジュジ (集英社文芸単行本)
二度も手首を切った父、我が子の誕生日に家を出て行った母。小学生のせれなは、独り、あまりに過酷な現実を生きている。寄る辺ない絶望のなか、忘れもしない1993年９月２日未明、彼女の人生に舞い降りたのは、伝説のロックスター・リアン。その美しい人は、せれなの生きる理由のすべてとなって……。一人の少女による自らの救済を描く、圧巻のデビュー作。第44回すばる文学賞受賞作にして第164回芥川賞候補作。
135 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 20, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 23, 2021
Kizaki Mizuko. "Conjuge". January 2021 Akutagawa Prize finalist.
Elementary school student Serena lives in a solitary, cruel existence in Kobe, Japan. Her father became unemployed, attempted suicide twice, and her selfish mother left the house on her daughter’s birthday. The father briefly finds some happiness with a new South American wife, but after that relationship ends he turns on his now middle school aged daughter and rapes her, a practice that continues for several years. In the middle of this hopelessness, in 1993, she becomes infatuated with the rock star Liane Norton, the lead singer of the British rock band The Cups, despite the fact that he had just died. She eventually creates a fantasy world of their life together, and he becomes Serena’s reason for living (the title is the Portuguese word for “spouse”).
Another sad story, by a debut author. Like 推し、燃ゆ, the protagonist is cut off from the world, and turns to a celebrity. Like 母影, she is in an abusive situation, and has no one to turn to. It is a very emotional and painful to read, but it drew me in. I felt very sorry for and close to the protagonist.
It is strange at first how the author spends so much time telling the individual stories of the different band members. But it became important in the second half, as she learns more unsavory details about Laine, and her fantasy becomes more complicated. I wish Serena had someone real to talk to about her life! The one aunt who finds out about the father's abuse after it ends tells her to just forget about it. Not a great novel, but very good for a debut.
Elementary school student Serena lives in a solitary, cruel existence in Kobe, Japan. Her father became unemployed, attempted suicide twice, and her selfish mother left the house on her daughter’s birthday. The father briefly finds some happiness with a new South American wife, but after that relationship ends he turns on his now middle school aged daughter and rapes her, a practice that continues for several years. In the middle of this hopelessness, in 1993, she becomes infatuated with the rock star Liane Norton, the lead singer of the British rock band The Cups, despite the fact that he had just died. She eventually creates a fantasy world of their life together, and he becomes Serena’s reason for living (the title is the Portuguese word for “spouse”).
Another sad story, by a debut author. Like 推し、燃ゆ, the protagonist is cut off from the world, and turns to a celebrity. Like 母影, she is in an abusive situation, and has no one to turn to. It is a very emotional and painful to read, but it drew me in. I felt very sorry for and close to the protagonist.
It is strange at first how the author spends so much time telling the individual stories of the different band members. But it became important in the second half, as she learns more unsavory details about Laine, and her fantasy becomes more complicated. I wish Serena had someone real to talk to about her life! The one aunt who finds out about the father's abuse after it ends tells her to just forget about it. Not a great novel, but very good for a debut.
April 20, 2022
I guess some people might find this book boring. It doesn't talk about anything "grand" and there's no "adventure". It talks about an elementary school girl, Serena, that was abandoned by her mother and abused by her father. She doesn't get any help and is dismissed by the only person she confines in. She copes with the whole situation by getting obsessed with recently deceased Liane Norton, who was the lead singer of a British band called The Cups. She imagines her life with him and basically lives with an imaginary boyfriend.
His is a book about abuse and not properly coping with it. About a person that never got any help from people around her. It's not very hopeful and to be honest I found it rather depressing but I guess this is what the author was going for. And like, it is a debut novel, so kudos to the author and I hope that her future works will get better! For now, 3/5
His is a book about abuse and not properly coping with it. About a person that never got any help from people around her. It's not very hopeful and to be honest I found it rather depressing but I guess this is what the author was going for. And like, it is a debut novel, so kudos to the author and I hope that her future works will get better! For now, 3/5
June 11, 2021
これは、つらすぎる。。。
普段本を読む時は登場人物に同調したり追体験することが多いんだけど、この本に関しては入り込まずに俯瞰している自分がいて、客観的に見てただひたすら痛々しくて哀しかった。
だからなのか苦しくなるぐらい心が掻き乱されたり感情をひきずることはないんだけど、読後もいろいろな思いが頭の中をぐるぐるしてる。
普段本を読む時は登場人物に同調したり追体験することが多いんだけど、この本に関しては入り込まずに俯瞰している自分がいて、客観的に見てただひたすら痛々しくて哀しかった。
だからなのか苦しくなるぐらい心が掻き乱されたり感情をひきずることはないんだけど、読後もいろいろな思いが頭の中をぐるぐるしてる。
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews