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奈津川サーガ #1
煙か土か食い物
腕利きの救命外科医・奈津川四郎に凶報が届く。連続主婦殴打生き埋め事件の被害者におふくろが？ ヘイヘイヘイ、復讐は俺に任せろマザファッカー！ 故郷に戻った四郎を待つ血と暴力に彩られた凄絶なドラマ。破格の物語世界とスピード感あふれる文体で著者が衝撃デビューを飾った第１９回メフィスト賞受賞作。（講談社文庫）
365 pages, Paperback Shinsho
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 18, 2026
A really strange little book, but one I thoroughly enjoyed.
The narration is absolutely spectacular. Maijo's writing is extremely fun to read and feels very fresh. You really feel like you're in the head of an over-caffeinated, hyperactive, greatly americanized Japanese San Diego surgeon who hasn't slept in weeks. I don't think an English translation could ever fully communicate the hilarity of seeing someone get described as a シックマザファッカー in the midst of normal Japanese text.
Apparently this book won the Mephisto mystery award which is a bit baffling to me: it uses the form of the mystery novel, but nothing about it is particularly fair play or solvable at all. The culprit reveal is underwhelming, the deductions are basically comparable to the logic flat earthers use to prove their beliefs, a lot of the book straight up isn't even formally interested in discussing the mystery. However, Smoke, Soil or Sacrifices excels in another field: the family drama. The members of the Natsukawa family are written in a way that's simultaneously exaggerated and deeply human and I very much enjoyed taking a look at their messed up history and seeing where it led them. Also, the exact mystery which gets resolved in the end of the book is positively deranged. Syou'll snever sknow swhat hit syou.
Even with the mystery thing aside, though, there's certain things about the book I found somewhat strange. My biggest complaint is the cast: Maijo throws so many characters and names at you and most of them are genuinely completely irrelevant outside of the sole scene where they make an appearance. It's confusing and weird. It feels like the book's scope was more ambitious in some way but was trimmed down (or just never got expanded into what Maijo wanted to write initially).
All in all, Smoke, Soil or Sacrifices is absolutely a gem in the rough. It's not a favorite of mine per se, but the sheer quality of its writing, in spite of all of its failings, has done wonders for my impression of Maijo as an author. I'm deeply curious about his output now and am very excited to pick up something else by him. Maybe whatever I read by him next will become a genuine favorite.
The narration is absolutely spectacular. Maijo's writing is extremely fun to read and feels very fresh. You really feel like you're in the head of an over-caffeinated, hyperactive, greatly americanized Japanese San Diego surgeon who hasn't slept in weeks. I don't think an English translation could ever fully communicate the hilarity of seeing someone get described as a シックマザファッカー in the midst of normal Japanese text.
Apparently this book won the Mephisto mystery award which is a bit baffling to me: it uses the form of the mystery novel, but nothing about it is particularly fair play or solvable at all. The culprit reveal is underwhelming, the deductions are basically comparable to the logic flat earthers use to prove their beliefs, a lot of the book straight up isn't even formally interested in discussing the mystery. However, Smoke, Soil or Sacrifices excels in another field: the family drama. The members of the Natsukawa family are written in a way that's simultaneously exaggerated and deeply human and I very much enjoyed taking a look at their messed up history and seeing where it led them. Also, the exact mystery which gets resolved in the end of the book is positively deranged. Syou'll snever sknow swhat hit syou.
Even with the mystery thing aside, though, there's certain things about the book I found somewhat strange. My biggest complaint is the cast: Maijo throws so many characters and names at you and most of them are genuinely completely irrelevant outside of the sole scene where they make an appearance. It's confusing and weird. It feels like the book's scope was more ambitious in some way but was trimmed down (or just never got expanded into what Maijo wanted to write initially).
All in all, Smoke, Soil or Sacrifices is absolutely a gem in the rough. It's not a favorite of mine per se, but the sheer quality of its writing, in spite of all of its failings, has done wonders for my impression of Maijo as an author. I'm deeply curious about his output now and am very excited to pick up something else by him. Maybe whatever I read by him next will become a genuine favorite.
March 24, 2026
謎解きは面白いけど、それ以外はどうにも合わない。ナードがアメリカの雰囲気を作ろうと頑張ってるけど、ギャグとかが致命的に決まってないって感じ。作風が日本のオタクっぽいのが合わないんだろうな
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews