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Peklo
Poslední, na co si sedmapadesátiletý Takeši vzpomíná, je, že tuhle nehodu vážně nezavinil on. Když se probral, seděl v zaprášeném baru, najednou už nebyl mrzák na jednu nohu, mohl chodit bez námahy a bez kulhání. Je to příjemné místo, jsou tu lidé, které zná, třeba Izumi, jeho podřízený z práce, který před pěti lety… Před pěti lety? Ano, před pěti lety zahynul při leteckém neštěstí. A u tamtoho stolu je jeho kamarád z dětství Júzó, o němž se říkalo, že se přidal k jakuze a byl zabit při pouličním incidentu. A támhle sedí Sasaki, který společně se svou ženou umrzl ve stanu v parku. Podle autora je peklo místo, kde tři dny trvají déle než deset let, kde si lidé dokážou číst myšlenky navzájem, zkoumat potlačené vzpomínky a závislosti a pohybovat se v čase do minulosti i budoucnosti. Život po životě v tomto románu zahrnuje prvky hororu, sci-fi, psychologického románu, surrealistické prózy, cokoli budete chtít. S kým byste se po smrti chtěli setkat? A komu byste se chtěli určitě vyhnout?
Jasutaka Cucui je mistr vyprávění: jednoduchého, průzračného jako voda, ale takového, při kterém vám bude přebíhat mráz po zádech. V románu Peklo nalezneme vše, co tohoto spisovatele proslavilo – prolínání snu a reality, bizarní postavy, nemilosrdnou společenskou satiru a drsný černý humor.
Doslov „Budete jako bohové“ napsala Anna Křivánková.
Obálku s použitím obrazu Václava Jírovce navrhl Pavel Hrach.
Jasutaka Cucui je mistr vyprávění: jednoduchého, průzračného jako voda, ale takového, při kterém vám bude přebíhat mráz po zádech. V románu Peklo nalezneme vše, co tohoto spisovatele proslavilo – prolínání snu a reality, bizarní postavy, nemilosrdnou společenskou satiru a drsný černý humor.
Doslov „Budete jako bohové“ napsala Anna Křivánková.
Obálku s použitím obrazu Václava Jírovce navrhl Pavel Hrach.
107 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
22 people are currently reading
1377 people want to read
About the author
Yasutaka Tsutsui
267 books362 followersYasutaka Tsutsui (筒井康隆) is a Japanese novelist, science fiction author, and actor. Along with Shinichi Hoshi and Sakyo Komatsu, he is one of the most famous science fiction writers in Japan. His Yume no Kizaka Bunkiten won the Tanizaki Prize in 1987. He has also won the 1981 Izumi Kyoka award, the 1989 Kawabata Yasunari award, and the 1992 Nihon SF Taisho Award. In 1997, he was decorated as a Chevalier Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
His work is known for its dark humour and satirical content. He has often satirized Japanese taboos such as disabilities and the Tenno system, and has been victim to much criticism as a result. From 1993 to 1996, he went on a writing-strike to protest the excessive, self-imposed restraint of Japanese publishers.
One of his first novels, Toki o Kakeru Shōjo (1967), has been adapted into numerous media including film, television and manga. Another novel, Paprika (1993), was adapted into an animated film by the director Satoshi Kon in 2006.
His work is known for its dark humour and satirical content. He has often satirized Japanese taboos such as disabilities and the Tenno system, and has been victim to much criticism as a result. From 1993 to 1996, he went on a writing-strike to protest the excessive, self-imposed restraint of Japanese publishers.
One of his first novels, Toki o Kakeru Shōjo (1967), has been adapted into numerous media including film, television and manga. Another novel, Paprika (1993), was adapted into an animated film by the director Satoshi Kon in 2006.
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February 16, 2022
Videorecensione: https://youtu.be/dcMabOBAArA
March 9, 2009
"The false death of dreams. The real death of the afterlife. Hell and the world of the living. They're all connected."
Yasutaka Tsutsui has taken an eraser and rubbed out that line that separates life and death; the two become intertwined flowing seamlessly through dreams and wakefulness. In death there is Hell. In life there is Hell. And after recently finishing Ubik this was one helluva book to start.
"You know what Hell is? It's just a place without God. The Japanese don't believe in God to begin with, so what's the difference between this world and the world of the living?"
One difference... in Hell you're stripped of the emotions of desire, revenge, and hatred which is a good thing because you also have the ability to read each other's minds. You can come face to face with your murderer and feel no need for revenge. Or you can see your best friend or boss screwing your wife and look on with indifference.
The book has no chapters but many small breaks. Yasutaka floats us from character to character, revealing small tensions and conflicts that eventually become intertwined. Hell and earth, death and life, merge. Death is not an end but a continuation.
At one party a man just collapsed and died. A crowd of greying heads peered down at the pale man lying on the floor. It was clear from the looks on their faces that they were all imagining themselves in his position.
The book, Hell, is not a horror; it's a surreal slice of life and death, or just a window into 'being'. It's poetic, funny, and surreal. The author's shifting focus from one character to another and from life to Hell gives the book a dreamlike quality. A funny and tragic and intense moment in the book is a 7 page narrative of passengers on a plane about to crash. Here's a sample:
A passenger who understood English jumped up and shouted, "They're saying they can't fly the plane!" The cabin filled with panic, people screaming and wailing.
"We're going to crash!"
"We're going down!"
"No!"
"This can't be happening! We're going to die!"
"You've got to be kidding!"
The middle-aged man sitting next to Izumi suddenly clasped his hands together and began to mumble a stream of words: "Kuchichuchipa, kuchuchipa, kuchuchikuchikuchichuchipa, kuchukuchuchipakuchikuchikuchikuchi..." Izumi supposed that the man was speaking in tongues. How had he ended up sitting next to someone like this? How could he come to terms with his own death with that going on next to him?
A stewardess, her hair dishevelled, ran towards the rear of the plane crying, "Mother! Mother!" This, more than anything else, made the hopelessness of the situation clear. People became hysterical.
A company president, realizing this was his last chance to reveal his true feelings, turned to his vice-president and embraced him. "I love you. I want you!"
"Sir! I'm sorry! I just can't!" cried the vice-president. "Please just let me die with dignity!"
"Am I that repulsive?" yelled the president, starting to choke the other man.
A stewardess, naked from the waist down, stumbled down the aisle in a frenzy of lust. She clung to the chest of a muscular man and pleaded sultrily, "Let's do it! Please, fuck me!"
"You idiot! You think I can get it up at a time like this?" said the man, pushing the stewardess away.
And it goes on and on... until they all just land in Hell. There is no death. There is no life. There is just Hell.
Yasutaka Tsutsui has taken an eraser and rubbed out that line that separates life and death; the two become intertwined flowing seamlessly through dreams and wakefulness. In death there is Hell. In life there is Hell. And after recently finishing Ubik this was one helluva book to start.
"You know what Hell is? It's just a place without God. The Japanese don't believe in God to begin with, so what's the difference between this world and the world of the living?"
One difference... in Hell you're stripped of the emotions of desire, revenge, and hatred which is a good thing because you also have the ability to read each other's minds. You can come face to face with your murderer and feel no need for revenge. Or you can see your best friend or boss screwing your wife and look on with indifference.
The book has no chapters but many small breaks. Yasutaka floats us from character to character, revealing small tensions and conflicts that eventually become intertwined. Hell and earth, death and life, merge. Death is not an end but a continuation.
At one party a man just collapsed and died. A crowd of greying heads peered down at the pale man lying on the floor. It was clear from the looks on their faces that they were all imagining themselves in his position.
The book, Hell, is not a horror; it's a surreal slice of life and death, or just a window into 'being'. It's poetic, funny, and surreal. The author's shifting focus from one character to another and from life to Hell gives the book a dreamlike quality. A funny and tragic and intense moment in the book is a 7 page narrative of passengers on a plane about to crash. Here's a sample:
A passenger who understood English jumped up and shouted, "They're saying they can't fly the plane!" The cabin filled with panic, people screaming and wailing.
"We're going to crash!"
"We're going down!"
"No!"
"This can't be happening! We're going to die!"
"You've got to be kidding!"
The middle-aged man sitting next to Izumi suddenly clasped his hands together and began to mumble a stream of words: "Kuchichuchipa, kuchuchipa, kuchuchikuchikuchichuchipa, kuchukuchuchipakuchikuchikuchikuchi..." Izumi supposed that the man was speaking in tongues. How had he ended up sitting next to someone like this? How could he come to terms with his own death with that going on next to him?
A stewardess, her hair dishevelled, ran towards the rear of the plane crying, "Mother! Mother!" This, more than anything else, made the hopelessness of the situation clear. People became hysterical.
A company president, realizing this was his last chance to reveal his true feelings, turned to his vice-president and embraced him. "I love you. I want you!"
"Sir! I'm sorry! I just can't!" cried the vice-president. "Please just let me die with dignity!"
"Am I that repulsive?" yelled the president, starting to choke the other man.
A stewardess, naked from the waist down, stumbled down the aisle in a frenzy of lust. She clung to the chest of a muscular man and pleaded sultrily, "Let's do it! Please, fuck me!"
"You idiot! You think I can get it up at a time like this?" said the man, pushing the stewardess away.
And it goes on and on... until they all just land in Hell. There is no death. There is no life. There is just Hell.
March 11, 2013
The yakuza were fun and the plane crash was a scream.
"'You know what Hell is? It's just a place without God. The Japanese don't believe in God to begin with, so what's the difference between this world and the world of living?'"
"'You know what Hell is? It's just a place without God. The Japanese don't believe in God to begin with, so what's the difference between this world and the world of living?'"
April 1, 2016
There's not really much to tell about the plot of this book. Basically, there's none - you read about people who died and went to (Japanese version... I guess) of Hell. You read about how they died and about people they left behind. It's not really possible to describe this any further so I'll just write what I liked about this book.
The chaos. That sums it up pretty good.
I generally like fragmentary prose, where you collect bits of information and it slowly starts to make sense towards the end of the book. There are loads of characters here and each of them becomes the main character at some point. You never know the character's entire story right away because there's a lot of focus shifting so one character's (let's call this character Takeshi) story has to wait while the others tell their story. Even when it's finally Takeshi's turn, you don't get his story in a chronological order. So, again, it's up to you to make sense of it.
The chaos goes further than storytelling. It's something immanent in the language. Like this:
"Torokko torokko somebody save us torokko torokko somebody stop this thing torokko torokko I can't look torokko torokko we hit a tree torokko torokko but we're still going torokko torokko we just tore through some grass torokko torokko it's like a storm of grass around us torokko torokko there's a cliff up ahead torokko torokko oh no oh no torokko torokko we're gonna fall torokko torokko we're gonna die torokko torokko we fall of the cliff torokko torokko the valley floor is below us torokko torokko we're upside down torokko torokko we're falling into a river torokko torokko we're in the river torokko torokko but it still won't stop torokko torokko what happened? torokko torokko we're dead torokko torokko and now we're in Hell."
See how it repeats torokko torokko all the time? I think this part is significant on more than one level. It keeps the image of the unstoppable torokko (that's a handcar that moves by pumping the handle up and down) constantly vivid in reader's mind and it can also be connected to one of the book's premises: everything stops when you're in Hell. There's no more love, no hatred, no regret, nothing you thought of as important in life matters anymore. There's only this: "now we're in Hell". How? Nobody knows. Why? Nobody knows. Can you get out of it? Well, the ending of the book does hint towards the possibility of getting out of Hell, but again - it's not clear how, when or even what's beyond the state of Hell.
The chaotic language reaches it's peak when the characters are about to die and just before they realize that they're dead. I found those passages... well, awesome. You can really feel the panic and the madness one must feel when faced with sudden death, like when one is in a plane that's about to crash. Awesomely done, Tsutsui-san :D
Finally, there's this subtle motive gradation. In the beginning, the world of the dead and the world of the living is clearly separated. Then, the dead start entering the dreams of the living and they use those dreams as a way of communication. A living human being can also enter Hell in a dream. In the end, everything is so mixed up that you have no idea whether it's someone's dream or it's really happening or everybody somehow died and ended up in Hell.
That's about it. I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it to anyone who likes surrealist prose.
The chaos. That sums it up pretty good.
I generally like fragmentary prose, where you collect bits of information and it slowly starts to make sense towards the end of the book. There are loads of characters here and each of them becomes the main character at some point. You never know the character's entire story right away because there's a lot of focus shifting so one character's (let's call this character Takeshi) story has to wait while the others tell their story. Even when it's finally Takeshi's turn, you don't get his story in a chronological order. So, again, it's up to you to make sense of it.
The chaos goes further than storytelling. It's something immanent in the language. Like this:
"Torokko torokko somebody save us torokko torokko somebody stop this thing torokko torokko I can't look torokko torokko we hit a tree torokko torokko but we're still going torokko torokko we just tore through some grass torokko torokko it's like a storm of grass around us torokko torokko there's a cliff up ahead torokko torokko oh no oh no torokko torokko we're gonna fall torokko torokko we're gonna die torokko torokko we fall of the cliff torokko torokko the valley floor is below us torokko torokko we're upside down torokko torokko we're falling into a river torokko torokko we're in the river torokko torokko but it still won't stop torokko torokko what happened? torokko torokko we're dead torokko torokko and now we're in Hell."
See how it repeats torokko torokko all the time? I think this part is significant on more than one level. It keeps the image of the unstoppable torokko (that's a handcar that moves by pumping the handle up and down) constantly vivid in reader's mind and it can also be connected to one of the book's premises: everything stops when you're in Hell. There's no more love, no hatred, no regret, nothing you thought of as important in life matters anymore. There's only this: "now we're in Hell". How? Nobody knows. Why? Nobody knows. Can you get out of it? Well, the ending of the book does hint towards the possibility of getting out of Hell, but again - it's not clear how, when or even what's beyond the state of Hell.
The chaotic language reaches it's peak when the characters are about to die and just before they realize that they're dead. I found those passages... well, awesome. You can really feel the panic and the madness one must feel when faced with sudden death, like when one is in a plane that's about to crash. Awesomely done, Tsutsui-san :D
Finally, there's this subtle motive gradation. In the beginning, the world of the dead and the world of the living is clearly separated. Then, the dead start entering the dreams of the living and they use those dreams as a way of communication. A living human being can also enter Hell in a dream. In the end, everything is so mixed up that you have no idea whether it's someone's dream or it's really happening or everybody somehow died and ended up in Hell.
That's about it. I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it to anyone who likes surrealist prose.
December 26, 2018
Если верить интернету, Цуцуи - один из трех столпов японской фантастики. На обложке русского издания «Преисподней» написано еще краше: Цуцуи - японский Филип Дик и духовный отец Харуки Мураками. Если это правда (пусть даже на 10 процентов), то почему из 38 романов писателя для перевода на русский выбрали именно этот. Сначала перевели «Паприку» (не спорю, это логично), а потом - заплесневелый и бесформенный шмат «азиатского экстрима», который смотрелся бы вторичным даже 15 лет назад, во времена «оранжевой» серии издательства АСТ.
Ответ у меня, к сожалению, есть. Потому что за два года до этого роман выпустили на английском. На русский перевели якобы все же с японского, но как обычно - с оглядкой на западные тренды.
Роман - бесформенный набор избитых клише из японского шок-кино начала нулевых: якудза-садисты, фригидные женщины, ебливые калеки, террористы, Хиросима, кабуки, айдору, лав-мать-его-хотэл. Три школьных приятеля встречаются на том свете. Первый был бандитом и погиб молодым, получив заточку в печень. Второго размазал грузовик, когда ему было хорошо за 50. За рулем грузовика был муж женщины, которую он трахал. Третий - неудачно подавился мацой в преклонном возрасте. И вот встретились бывшие друзья на том свете, а поговорить не о чем. Скучно здесь, серо, неинтересно, но зато кормят хорошо.
Ответ у меня, к сожалению, есть. Потому что за два года до этого роман выпустили на английском. На русский перевели якобы все же с японского, но как обычно - с оглядкой на западные тренды.
Роман - бесформенный набор избитых клише из японского шок-кино начала нулевых: якудза-садисты, фригидные женщины, ебливые калеки, террористы, Хиросима, кабуки, айдору, лав-мать-его-хотэл. Три школьных приятеля встречаются на том свете. Первый был бандитом и погиб молодым, получив заточку в печень. Второго размазал грузовик, когда ему было хорошо за 50. За рулем грузовика был муж женщины, которую он трахал. Третий - неудачно подавился мацой в преклонном возрасте. И вот встретились бывшие друзья на том свете, а поговорить не о чем. Скучно здесь, серо, неинтересно, но зато кормят хорошо.
January 3, 2020
Celkom zaujímavá predstava pekla. Kniha pripomína surealistické texty, v ktorých nie je ľahké sa orientovať, zvlášť, ak je na tak krátkej ploche toľko postáv.
Pre čitateľa, ktorý má rád japonské reálie, určite stojí za to.
Pre čitateľa, ktorý má rád japonské reálie, určite stojí za to.
November 15, 2021
Лихорадочные приключения кучки неприятных людей в потустороннем мире, который совершенно неотличим от нашего, потому что по Цуцуи жизнь на Земле — это и есть ад. Новелла хоть и вышла в 2016-м, была написана ещё в 2003-м, и я словно телепортировался в мир оранжевых книжек if you know what i mean: арабские террористы, поплавленные отаку, якудза-садисты и извращенцы всех сортов и мастей цинично тычут своими девиациями прямо нам в лицо. Иногда случаются проблески фирменного абсурда Цуцуи (эпизод с актёром театра кабуки, который заблудился в декорациях под сценой — топ), но они обрамлены настолько мерзостной кашей из воспаленной бредятины, что хочется помыться. Плохо, в общем. Избегайте.
May 13, 2019
I expected more. I was confused all the time and I didn't have time to make some opinion to any character.
May 31, 2024
O inferno são os outros, diz-se que Sartre teria dito, e este livro expressa bem isso. Neste Hell, o inferno é uma espécie de continuação banal da vida, onde os falecidos revivem, curados de sentimentos e emoções, o dia a dia, revendo momentos chave como espetadores dos seus próprios filmes. Ou talvez este inferno seja uma antecâmara para algo inesperado, uma espécie de purgatório que insensibiliza a alma e a prepara para o desconhecido. É assim que o livro termina, com um nada expectável salto para o desconhecido.
Apesar desta premissa intrigante, o romance não me cativou. Achei a sucessão de vinhetas, com persoangens que se relacionavam entre si, confusa, não apreendi um fio condutor. Talvez seja falha minha enquanto leitor, talvez da tradução, mas o livro pareceu-me demasiado fragmentado e desconexo.
Apesar desta premissa intrigante, o romance não me cativou. Achei a sucessão de vinhetas, com persoangens que se relacionavam entre si, confusa, não apreendi um fio condutor. Talvez seja falha minha enquanto leitor, talvez da tradução, mas o livro pareceu-me demasiado fragmentado e desconexo.
November 25, 2024
I found this in the stacks of the IU Bloomington library while visiting my kids, and I knew I'd like it from the first page. It rambled nowhere to no end, befitting the titular setting, with the most memorable scene being one of torture and some amazing stream of consciousness howling and begging. More of a purgatory than a hell.
July 9, 2019
Nadsázka, snovost, ironie a humor. Konečně vím, co se děje v kokpitu před pádem letadla a vlastně i pak...
Pro nejaponské čtenáře možná očistec v chaosu japonských jmen, ale zas o to pekelnější počtení.
Pro nejaponské čtenáře možná očistec v chaosu japonských jmen, ale zas o to pekelnější počtení.
October 28, 2018
Něco tak divného jsem dlouho nečetla. :D :D
December 12, 2022
Everyone has their own concept of what Hell would (or does) consist of, from the Catholic church’s eternal suffering to an evangelistic fire and brimstones to Greek mythology’s stories, from Sisyphus pushing a rock up a hill for eternity to Prometheus chained to a rock and having his liver torn out by an eagle. (I read those in grammar school, like most of you; it makes you wonder what critics are complaining about when they say kids today are exposed to needless violence.) There are also more comic versions usually based on being forced to hear some song or group on repeat through eternity.
Tsutsui’s version is both more innocuous and far less so. Each of the characters finds himself in the next world, in Hell, and decides that all those horror stories are greatly overrated because they are enjoying some of the best moments of their lives, over and over, until it dawns on them that these moments had consequences that they’d rather forget; indeed, that’s just what they had done in life, ignoring the consequences of their rash or insensible actions. The torture isn’t physical or mental, like when someone reminds of some fun moment in your past but as the person repeats it, or the memory comes back, you realize your “fun” may have been less so for someone else and now your conscience won’t let you forget it. It all ended in tears and now it’s your turn to suffer. (An example that wasn’t in the book: the kid that you and your classmates laughed at; now that we’re older, we realize how hurtful that might have been but we’d rather not dwell on it. However since this is a website of bookworms, there’a fair chance that many of us weren’t with the “cool” kids.)
This is my second Tsutsui book, after “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”, which was more YA than a book with adult themes, and which explains why I didn’t like it all that much. “Hell” was much subtler, more engaging, as I identified with the characters wondering what the big deal about the place was. This version of Hell is strictly personal and based on the idea that we’d just as soon forget things we’re not particularly proud of, and Hell means you can’t. Ever. For eternity.
Tsutsui’s version is both more innocuous and far less so. Each of the characters finds himself in the next world, in Hell, and decides that all those horror stories are greatly overrated because they are enjoying some of the best moments of their lives, over and over, until it dawns on them that these moments had consequences that they’d rather forget; indeed, that’s just what they had done in life, ignoring the consequences of their rash or insensible actions. The torture isn’t physical or mental, like when someone reminds of some fun moment in your past but as the person repeats it, or the memory comes back, you realize your “fun” may have been less so for someone else and now your conscience won’t let you forget it. It all ended in tears and now it’s your turn to suffer. (An example that wasn’t in the book: the kid that you and your classmates laughed at; now that we’re older, we realize how hurtful that might have been but we’d rather not dwell on it. However since this is a website of bookworms, there’a fair chance that many of us weren’t with the “cool” kids.)
This is my second Tsutsui book, after “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”, which was more YA than a book with adult themes, and which explains why I didn’t like it all that much. “Hell” was much subtler, more engaging, as I identified with the characters wondering what the big deal about the place was. This version of Hell is strictly personal and based on the idea that we’d just as soon forget things we’re not particularly proud of, and Hell means you can’t. Ever. For eternity.
March 6, 2012
Borrowed from Stanton library. This looks like a easy book to read from the author of PAPRIKA.
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Finished the book but didn't like it. The plot is minimal, the characters undeveloped and I could not see the point of the book. Characters are described briefly and the nature of their death then their new existence in Hell, except the difference between Reality and Hell is blurred. I just didn't get this book.
From the back cover:
Hell is a place where three days can last as long as ten years on earth, and people are able to read each other's minds and revisit the darker details of their former lives. Yuzo can now look his murdered in the face. The actress Mayumi and the writer Torigai are chased by the paparazzi into a lift that drops to floor 666 beneath ground level.
The vivid description of the afterlife in Hell includes the traditional horrows, but subuects them to Tsutsui's unique powers of enchantment. Witty, amusing, unparalleled for its poetic style and the wizard-like light touch of the author's shifting focus, Hell is a masterpiece of surrealist literature.
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Finished the book but didn't like it. The plot is minimal, the characters undeveloped and I could not see the point of the book. Characters are described briefly and the nature of their death then their new existence in Hell, except the difference between Reality and Hell is blurred. I just didn't get this book.
From the back cover:
Hell is a place where three days can last as long as ten years on earth, and people are able to read each other's minds and revisit the darker details of their former lives. Yuzo can now look his murdered in the face. The actress Mayumi and the writer Torigai are chased by the paparazzi into a lift that drops to floor 666 beneath ground level.
The vivid description of the afterlife in Hell includes the traditional horrows, but subuects them to Tsutsui's unique powers of enchantment. Witty, amusing, unparalleled for its poetic style and the wizard-like light touch of the author's shifting focus, Hell is a masterpiece of surrealist literature.
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May 3, 2013
I have to say it's been a while since I read a book this quickly and with so much enthusiasm. I can't pinpoint what made me so fascinated but I just kept on turning a page after a page.
Tsutsui paints a unique vision of hell, free from the usual gore. In the novel the line between the world we live in and hell is blurred. The more we get to know the numerous characters that appear in it, the more the two worlds merge together. It goes to such an extent that at the end of the book, one may feel that hell is really just something we create on our own. There's no need for burning infernos and endless suffering after death since we can experience all of it while we're still alive.
I really enjoyed the surreal feeling of this novel. It was well-written and even if the narration kept jumping from character to character, I think it wasn't hard to keep up. However, some of the characters weren't fleshed out enough. We only got a glimpse of who they were and I wish I had learned more about them as some really made me curious. Still, it's the biggest complain I have about this novel.
All in all, even if not perfect, I think this book is worth reading. It's definitely quite enjoyable.
Tsutsui paints a unique vision of hell, free from the usual gore. In the novel the line between the world we live in and hell is blurred. The more we get to know the numerous characters that appear in it, the more the two worlds merge together. It goes to such an extent that at the end of the book, one may feel that hell is really just something we create on our own. There's no need for burning infernos and endless suffering after death since we can experience all of it while we're still alive.
I really enjoyed the surreal feeling of this novel. It was well-written and even if the narration kept jumping from character to character, I think it wasn't hard to keep up. However, some of the characters weren't fleshed out enough. We only got a glimpse of who they were and I wish I had learned more about them as some really made me curious. Still, it's the biggest complain I have about this novel.
All in all, even if not perfect, I think this book is worth reading. It's definitely quite enjoyable.
December 19, 2016
Ever since I discovered Yukio Mishima in my early 20s I've had a thing for modern Japanese literature, and I have a membership to the Japanese library in town that I visit as often as I can, where I usually pick up something I've never heard of before and give it a whirl. That's how I came across this book, and I lucked out.
I suppose it's a little more psychedelic an disjointed than I like my books to be, but there was still enough cohesion in the various story lines that I was able to stay with it. It follows the lives (and after lives) of several people who were loosely connected in life and are so again in Hell, which is basically the same as regular life, haha. There was a great line in there that summed that up perfectly, but since the book is now sitting on a library shelf and not on my Kindle I can't look that shit up right now.
Very cool, strange book, some violent scenes, some comedy, mostly suffused with a detached kind of cynicism though.
I suppose it's a little more psychedelic an disjointed than I like my books to be, but there was still enough cohesion in the various story lines that I was able to stay with it. It follows the lives (and after lives) of several people who were loosely connected in life and are so again in Hell, which is basically the same as regular life, haha. There was a great line in there that summed that up perfectly, but since the book is now sitting on a library shelf and not on my Kindle I can't look that shit up right now.
Very cool, strange book, some violent scenes, some comedy, mostly suffused with a detached kind of cynicism though.
January 19, 2012
"Hell" was not what I expected and I was pleasantly surprised.
Tsutsui questioned on what we perceived to be Hell, commenting on various traditional beliefs of Hell. It definitely made me question about what I thought was Hell. I quite like like Tsutsui's style. It's different to what I'm used to reading. It almost has a dream-like quality assigned to it, as seen in "Paprika".
Some of the scenes may be a bit too sexual for some readers, but it all contributes to the theme of 'what is keeping us from dying' and 'is what we do really that significant?'
I'm still confused about some things that remained unanswered, but then the book reminds me: 'in the end it really doesn't matter'.
Enjoyed it! A fascinating read!
Tsutsui questioned on what we perceived to be Hell, commenting on various traditional beliefs of Hell. It definitely made me question about what I thought was Hell. I quite like like Tsutsui's style. It's different to what I'm used to reading. It almost has a dream-like quality assigned to it, as seen in "Paprika".
Some of the scenes may be a bit too sexual for some readers, but it all contributes to the theme of 'what is keeping us from dying' and 'is what we do really that significant?'
I'm still confused about some things that remained unanswered, but then the book reminds me: 'in the end it really doesn't matter'.
Enjoyed it! A fascinating read!
February 21, 2016
"You know what Hell is? It's just a place without God. The Japanese don't believe in God to begin with, so what's the difference between this world and the world of the living?"
"I suppose you're right" said Takeshi, without giving the matter much thought.
And so begins Yasutaka Tsutsui's surreal ride into the afterlife. The narrative is often disjointed giving a dream like atmosphere to the book and blurring the lines between the world of the living and "Hell" where our unfortunate characters find themselves. This novella mixes dark humour, tragedy and violence (sensitive readers beware!) with some rare glimpses of light and leaves us wondering on the biggest question of all, the meaning of life and death.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
"I suppose you're right" said Takeshi, without giving the matter much thought.
And so begins Yasutaka Tsutsui's surreal ride into the afterlife. The narrative is often disjointed giving a dream like atmosphere to the book and blurring the lines between the world of the living and "Hell" where our unfortunate characters find themselves. This novella mixes dark humour, tragedy and violence (sensitive readers beware!) with some rare glimpses of light and leaves us wondering on the biggest question of all, the meaning of life and death.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
Read
March 22, 2022Normally, I like books that are random and confusing and all over the place so I should have liked this one but instead I just... didn't care. It wasn't boring or anything. But it wasn't interesting either. The literary equivalent of a boiled potato.
I truly have no idea what to rate this. What rating does a book get for existing?
I truly have no idea what to rate this. What rating does a book get for existing?
August 25, 2014
A great book which explores the realm of "hell" and the dead.
June 2, 2017
The humorous sadism that it had was a dark sight for sore eyes. Making one question the existence of God or how the function of hell really is.
October 11, 2025
Rychlá oddechovka o smrti, životu a peklu. Dala bych 3,5. Ale konec mě trochu zklamal, proto jsem se přiklonila ke třem.
March 1, 2022
Inferno è ciò che è reale e irreale.
Inferno è dove si svegliano vivi e morti.
Inferno è quel luogo dove scompare la differenza tra ricordo e immaginazione, e dove psiche e coscienza assumono forme concrete.
La persona non sempre sa come ci finisce in questo posto e non sa se mai se ne andrà.
Yasutaka racconta di protagonisti concreti e realistici che si svegliano in questo mondo surreale che apparentemente sembra il mondo di tutti i giorni. Pochi di loro hanno la coscienza di essere morti, altri raggiungono questo luogo per altre vie.
Con uno stile diretto e scorrevole, il lettore scopre le vite di alcuni personaggi, fa un viaggio nella loro psiche e nei loro peccati. Alcuni di essi sono stati influenzati dagli eventi della vita come Yuzo, un orfano di guerra che, rimasto senza genitori, intraprende il cammino della criminalit��. Oltre a lui si snodano le vite dei suoi due amici di infanzia: Takeshi che sfrutta il suo problema fisico per portarsi a letto donne impegnate per poi mollarle e Nobuteru che con il tempo si è dedicato agli affari loschi. Questi sono solo alcuni dei personaggi che il lettore conoscerà.
La lettura salta tra presente e passato, coscienza e vita reale, in un percorso di emozioni, di rammarichi e di violenza. Se siete deboli di stomaco vi avviso che ci sono alcune scene particolarmente forti, ma il tutto è contestualizzato in relazione all’ambientazione.
Ho apprezzato molto la narrazione, i tempi e soprattutto l’intreccio con i vari personaggi che ha chiuso il cerchio della storia. Il finale potrebbe lasciare un po’ perplessi, ma visto com’è il libro mi aspettavo una conclusione del genere.
Una lettura “fuori di testa” che vi terrà incollati alle pagine per scoprire le vite tormentate dei personaggi.
Inferno è dove si svegliano vivi e morti.
Inferno è quel luogo dove scompare la differenza tra ricordo e immaginazione, e dove psiche e coscienza assumono forme concrete.
La persona non sempre sa come ci finisce in questo posto e non sa se mai se ne andrà.
Yasutaka racconta di protagonisti concreti e realistici che si svegliano in questo mondo surreale che apparentemente sembra il mondo di tutti i giorni. Pochi di loro hanno la coscienza di essere morti, altri raggiungono questo luogo per altre vie.
Con uno stile diretto e scorrevole, il lettore scopre le vite di alcuni personaggi, fa un viaggio nella loro psiche e nei loro peccati. Alcuni di essi sono stati influenzati dagli eventi della vita come Yuzo, un orfano di guerra che, rimasto senza genitori, intraprende il cammino della criminalit��. Oltre a lui si snodano le vite dei suoi due amici di infanzia: Takeshi che sfrutta il suo problema fisico per portarsi a letto donne impegnate per poi mollarle e Nobuteru che con il tempo si è dedicato agli affari loschi. Questi sono solo alcuni dei personaggi che il lettore conoscerà.
La lettura salta tra presente e passato, coscienza e vita reale, in un percorso di emozioni, di rammarichi e di violenza. Se siete deboli di stomaco vi avviso che ci sono alcune scene particolarmente forti, ma il tutto è contestualizzato in relazione all’ambientazione.
Ho apprezzato molto la narrazione, i tempi e soprattutto l’intreccio con i vari personaggi che ha chiuso il cerchio della storia. Il finale potrebbe lasciare un po’ perplessi, ma visto com’è il libro mi aspettavo una conclusione del genere.
Una lettura “fuori di testa” che vi terrà incollati alle pagine per scoprire le vite tormentate dei personaggi.
December 27, 2024
Less a coherent novel than a series of related sketches, Hell follows a handful of deceased characters as they wander through Hell. There's no suffering in Hell, which is much like the living world (one character theorizes: “You know what Hell is? It’s just a place without God. The Japanese don’t believe in God to begin with, so what’s the difference between this world and the world of the living?”), except that everyone's emotions are more muted, and time is more malleable. They interact with each other, and with the world of the living (through dreams, except that sometimes it also appears to be happening in reality? Trying to come up with the “rules” of this novel is pointless), and reflect on their pasts. The result is all kind of dream-like, but I like that, and the individual narratives are compelling.
The only things that let this novel down for me are a graphic torture sequence that I could have done without, and the incredibly goofy deaths of one group of people, which occurred in the real world, but makes no real-world sense—
The only things that let this novel down for me are a graphic torture sequence that I could have done without, and the incredibly goofy deaths of one group of people, which occurred in the real world, but makes no real-world sense—
February 7, 2024
A fun and freaky ensemble piece examining different people's ideas of hell. For some it's a sweltering desert where the oasis only serves warm beer. For other's it's the endless repitition of a special memory. But for most of them it's simple a land of ghosts.
The story follows three childhood friends who veered off from each other later in life. One became a yakuza, another a respected businessman, and the last was something inbetween. But though the story is about these three, every paragraph or so the book will switch to the perspectives of the people they knew. To the yakuza's underlings running for their life or being tortured in a dingy basement. To the women they cheated with or the men they wronged. In a very Japanese way it creates a holistic sense of not just them, but their lives and the communities around them.
Because of all that it was a treat to read on my plane ride back from Japan. It was also a little eerie reading about a devastating plane crash while I was reclining in a airline seat but that only enhanced the experience.
The story follows three childhood friends who veered off from each other later in life. One became a yakuza, another a respected businessman, and the last was something inbetween. But though the story is about these three, every paragraph or so the book will switch to the perspectives of the people they knew. To the yakuza's underlings running for their life or being tortured in a dingy basement. To the women they cheated with or the men they wronged. In a very Japanese way it creates a holistic sense of not just them, but their lives and the communities around them.
Because of all that it was a treat to read on my plane ride back from Japan. It was also a little eerie reading about a devastating plane crash while I was reclining in a airline seat but that only enhanced the experience.
May 2, 2024
Check my blog for review - https://kalaikoodam.blogspot.com/2024...
The book started off well but at last ended up an average read. As I said, it reflects the lives of people and in Hell, they can read each other. The fact that Hell was actually depicted as a place for redemption was something I appreciated. As the characters in the book, we also ponder who determines the criteria for a person to be put in Hell. There are no chapters in the book. This makes the non-linear narration confusing. Characters suddenly change in between paragraphs making me go back and refer to who they actually are. This was very frustrating for me. Nevertheless, the reading was very fast and I could finish it within a day. The translation was pretty decent enough but marred with a couple of spelling mistakes.
To sum up, a great concept marred by an average read. A lot of the story takes up with us visiting Hell with almost all the characters. Again, Hell being seen as a place of redemption was a very impressive idea. Those who are looking for a quick sci-fi kind of read can go for a one-time read.
The book started off well but at last ended up an average read. As I said, it reflects the lives of people and in Hell, they can read each other. The fact that Hell was actually depicted as a place for redemption was something I appreciated. As the characters in the book, we also ponder who determines the criteria for a person to be put in Hell. There are no chapters in the book. This makes the non-linear narration confusing. Characters suddenly change in between paragraphs making me go back and refer to who they actually are. This was very frustrating for me. Nevertheless, the reading was very fast and I could finish it within a day. The translation was pretty decent enough but marred with a couple of spelling mistakes.
To sum up, a great concept marred by an average read. A lot of the story takes up with us visiting Hell with almost all the characters. Again, Hell being seen as a place of redemption was a very impressive idea. Those who are looking for a quick sci-fi kind of read can go for a one-time read.
June 4, 2019
First, this is more of an experience than a linear story. There isn't any notable horror, it's more of a slow meander through one interpretation of hell while briefly meeting a few characters within it. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, it's just not the impression I got from the blurb. On the topic of the misleading blurb, I didn't find it 'witty' or 'amusing', but it did have a dream-like quality. It is also quite short, so if this sounds vaguely interesting I would recommend giving it a go.
I would also recommend anyone with a poor short term memory grab a bit of paper and write down the names and key details of characters otherwise the seamlessly shifting perspective can get quite disorientating!
I would also recommend anyone with a poor short term memory grab a bit of paper and write down the names and key details of characters otherwise the seamlessly shifting perspective can get quite disorientating!
February 9, 2023
“This world and the next are bound together like strands of braided cord”
I'm not sure if it was meant to be more like purgatory than hell.
A surrealistic narrative leads all of these characters to the same conclusion: being completely devoid of your worldly desires. However, none of them succeeded.
What exactly is hell? Is it affected by our assumptions? Or is it formed in some way by the collective consciousness that we insisted on creating?
Tustsui's point was obvious, but it became a little mystical as each character presented themselves.
Highly recommended.
I'm not sure if it was meant to be more like purgatory than hell.
A surrealistic narrative leads all of these characters to the same conclusion: being completely devoid of your worldly desires. However, none of them succeeded.
What exactly is hell? Is it affected by our assumptions? Or is it formed in some way by the collective consciousness that we insisted on creating?
Tustsui's point was obvious, but it became a little mystical as each character presented themselves.
Highly recommended.
December 10, 2025
Was confusing at first when expecting a novel. But can definitely be appreciated for the small somewhat connected short stories. The torture and plane scenes stand out, as well as some incredibly poetic moments and lines within the book. Ultimatwly though i finished longing for more and somewhat unsatiated. But maybe that's the point of the book, leaving the reader in the inbetween state it's characters habituate.
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