'십 년에 한 번 나올까 말까 한 작가' '인간의 마음을 해부하는 예리한 관찰력의 소유자' 등 화려한 찬사와 함께 데뷔와 동시에 스포트라이트를 받으며 일본 현대문학의 기수로 우뚝 선 미나토 가나에의 장편소설. 제목 그대로 편지 형식으로만 전개되는 연작 미스터리로, 손글씨로 주고받는 편지가 서간문 고유의 독특한 호흡과 아날로그적인 감성을 빚어내며 전작과는 또 다른 매력을 설파한다.
십 년 만에 만난 고교 동창생 사이에서 행방불명된 한 친구를 계기로 시작되는 편지 릴레이 '십 년 뒤의 졸업문집', 퇴직을 앞두고 오래전 한 사건을 겪은 여섯 제자의 안녕을 확인하고자 하는 선생님의 바람을 담은 '이십 년 뒤의 숙제', 지금은 오랜 연인이 된 중학교 동창 남녀의 왕복서간 '십오 년 뒤의 보충수업' 등 모든 에피소드는 과거의 한 사건으로 기억을 거슬러 올라가는 서신으로 이루어져 있다.
처음부터 끝까지 작가는 보내는 '편지'와 그에 대한 '답장'이라는 형식을 빌려 대화이면서 동시에 일방적인 서술로 이야기를 풀어나가는데, 편지에 적혀 있는 글이 100퍼센트 진실이라고 할 수 없다는 점이 결정적 미스리딩을 유발하며 작품의 묘미를 만든다. 또한 손글씨 편지가 빚어내는 향수, 이야기 상대와의 시간적.공간적 거리감 등의 요소가 다소 느릿한 호흡과 템포를 자아내며 빠르게빠르게만 전개되는 다른 작품들과 차별점을 가지며 새로운 미스터리의 세계로 독자들을 안내한다.
Kanae MINATO (湊 かなえ, born 1973) is a Japanese writer of crime fiction and thriller.
She started writing in her thirties. Her first novel Confessions (告白, Kokuhaku) became a bestseller and won the Japanese Booksellers Award. The movie Confession directed by Tetsuya Nakashima was nominated to 2011 Academy Award.
She has been described in Japan as "the queen of iyamisu"(eww mystery), a subgenre of mystery fiction which deals with grisly episodes and the dark side of human nature.
One of the most favourite books I have read so far in the current year. I always love the way how Minato told her stories. A simple, direct way of telling a super dark story that gives you the creeps which echoes with something emerged from your inside. I guess that is because every normal person has got an inner suppressed coward/villain deep down. In most days, we just do anything we can so as not to let this side of us come out. Yet, Minato's stories just remind us we have to make the right decision to keep the villain/coward inside. I enjoyed reading these three bunches of letter correspondence so so much. P.S. I am also currently watching a great Japanese TV series adapted from Minato's another great story反轉リバース. I really cannot wait to read the original book now.
ōfukushokan is an exploration of moral ambiguity and it's one of the standout aspects of this book. the characters’ actions are not easily classified as good or evil, which gives the story a more realistic and thought-provoking edge. this complexity forces readers to think deeply about the consequences of actions and the fine line between justice and revenge.
this book is great for a slow reader like me and may not appeal to those who prefer faster-paced thrillers.
Unlike other Kanae Minato's works, this three sets of short stories-all adopting the form of letter correspondence between two or more people- are rather hopeful, reconciling, and witty. But don't be hasty and expect a fairy tale from Kanae Minato. Just keep in mind that those impressions are from relative comparison. My favorite part was the second one, because I found two characters amiable, even if they were involved in awful incidents in the past. Unlike any other fictions in the past, this set of stories reflect slightly emotional touch of emotions. But like her previous works, readers are invited to solve mysteries as the story develops. Because the story is developed through letter correspondence, the story is told a bit one-sided. Pretty much like letter-writing. As a letter writer, you get to write a story all by yourself without interruption. Whether you see the matter objectively or not does not matter until the respondent refute to your writing afterwards. This effectively intrigues the reader to the end. I enjoyed it.
Learnt: There are three things I really like about her style. One is the intrinsicity eccentricity and complexity of human nature and two is her ability to narrate the same thing from different people's perspectives and it teaches me the fact that there's no truth from any innovation. Everyone is talking from their perspective. Whether it's subconsciously or consciously people just cannot replicate the truth of what has happened because of the limitation of our perspectives. 3) an event is always simplified and Not a real scene then. What has happened? A person is always more complicated than meets the eye. There's not a villain or a good person in any story. There's always a complication of human nature involved and different motivations and drives behind. It could be to protect someone else or protect themselves. You could be from a selfish reason manifested into a selfless reason or devising yourself. But anyway people have different flavors and layers of can judge them by one or two things that they did. They are like a rainbow. You can't say rainbow is a certain color.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.