Dismemberment 101

In a fit of rage and passion a woman murders her husband.  Three of her friends help dispose of the body.  Yes, you guessed it, they chop him up into little pieces (much like the food they prepare in the box lunch factory where they work).  Have I already given too much away?  Out by Natsuo Kirino is one of the two books chosen over at Reading Matters as the first online book club reading selection.  I love mysteries, but this one is about as noir as they come!  Would it be really creepy if I said that I am "enjoying" this book?  No need to worry, it is not for the violence that I am so curious about this book.  This is such a completely different view of what I imagine Japan to be like.  It reminds me a little of The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (I have read the book and seen the movie).  You find yourself hoping the murderer gets away with it.  Granted the motivation of these women is probably somewhat different.  I am a little less than halfway finished with this book, but Kirino is a really excellent author.  The story is very gritty, and you just (well I just) want to keep reading more to find out what happens.  I want to see how everything ties together, and will they murder again...

Comments

[Ash]

I'm reading 'Out' at the moment, but as a fan of Japanese cinema the plot is not as shocking to me as I thought it would be.

I'm a little disappointed in the style of writing. I was expecting that sort of spare, guarded prose that is the hallmark of oriental writers, so I was disappointed to find that it was pretty verbose! Plus, I know it was translated for a mainly American market, but the americanisation of some of the phrases is weird - I thought it would feel more foreign.

I'm about half way through now, but I skipped to the end (dreadful I know!) I wonder how long before this becomes a movie.

[Danielle]

I was curious so I read some different reviews of the book. As might be imagined they were all over the spectrum--some were quite favorable and some not, I think one even panned it. One reviewer was critical of some of the scenes which should have been very shocking, but didn't come off that way--he put it down to the translation--culturally and linguistically it was just very hard to do and reflect how it would really be like in Japanese. I have little familiarity with Japanese movies or literature. I think I have only read Banana Yoshimoto, but I can't think of another author I have read in translation. I am sure I have read books by British and American authors with a Japanese setting, but I think that would also be somewhat different. I think you are right it doesn't "sound" very foreign if that makes sense. Despite this I am still finding it to be a page-turner for me. This has already been made into a movie in Japan and yes, they are making an American(?) version of it as well. And not too dreadful to skip to the end--I have set plenty of books down in my day without even giving the ending a chance!

[Gina]

YUK!!!! (to the lines about the body pieces being like lunch box food packs...)

[Danielle]

Sorry Gina-didn't mean to be so graphic! The author made reference to this in the book, so I carried over the idea. Kirino does create some shocking imagery!

[Ash]

There were also lots of inconsistencies with the dismemberment descriptions - like that it would only take 3 hours to dismember a body into that many small pieces. Not without a power saw! (Not that I'm in the habit of dismembering bodies or anything ;)