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Natsuo Kirino
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Pages: 388 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0099472287
Pub: Vintage
Pub date: 2004-09-02
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 190
Reader Reviews:
disappointing (0/0 people found this helpful)
I didnt share the general opinion for this novel by any stretch of the imagination. I gave up on it after failing to be gripped, not through lack of peserverance I might add. The characters failed as did the plot in my opinion!
Scary-good (1/1 people found this helpful)
...I put this book down out of necessity -- e.g., getting off the train at my station, remembering that I needed sleep -- but could have gone on reading it all night if I could. The characters were eerily alienated in their individual circumstances and yet I found myself understanding and even sympathizing with how they could do what they did. It's a little scary when a book is so good that it's a little like looking in a dark mirror, thinking, who is that person? Then realizing, hey, it could be me. And it's talking about soulmates and murder.
Unusual and intriguing. (1/1 people found this helpful)
I wasn't at all sure this would be my kind of book. I thought it might be too gruesome. I also wondered if I'd be able to identify at all with the Japanese characters, but I was wrong. I was hooked from the start and had to read on. It's unusual. It's very well written and it makes you think. There is a thin line of behaviour that, once passed, can alter your whole life and outlook . I really enjoyed it and hope the writer can produce more great stories.
A FANTASTIC piece of writing! (9/10 people found this helpful)
This is a truly remarkable read. I had eyed this book for weeks in bookshops and when I bought it over Christmas, the cover kept tempting me to read it. I succumbed this morning and by 10pm I have finished it having found it impossible to put down. It has gone with me to give blood, get my hair cut, have a coffee and wait for my Chinese takeaway and I read it while waking to and from the town centre, something I have not done for years! It is an intensely gripping tale of a group of co-workers who, by a twist of circumstances such as frequently crop in Ian Rankin's Rebus books, end up covering up a murder in a very pro-active way. The last group of women I encountered working like this was in ITV's series 'Band of Gold'!The book is written in style that is easy to read - credit must go to the translator for that - and as a result draws you quickly into the murky world of the protagonists!!! I would also like to recommend reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates--if you haven't yet...that is!
This is scary reading! (26/29 people found this helpful)
An amazing read. I'm not usually keen on award winners, approaching them with trepidation as I usually find them stilted and well basically, boring. I will defintely be looking out for more by this author!
Set in the suberbs of Tokyo there are four women who work the night shifts at a boxed-lunch factory. All four have different reasons for needing to be there - money, only job available, to be alone; although the one thing they have in common is a need to escape (primarily from their own lives). This is the first meaning of the title 'Out'.
One of the women kills her husband, for a variety of reasons and amazingly Masako offers to help her. There is no reason for her to help, but she does. They actually dismember and dispose of him. Meanwhile we are introduced to a nightclub owner (Satake) who the police believe has committed the murder.
The story centres eventually around these two characters, who for me are the two appearing on the dust jacket. We follow their lives - every part of it, from their dreams, fears to their daily routines and more especially their enemies.
If you felt disturbed by reading 'American Psycho' then this may carry the same or worse feelings. It's cold from the outset. Initially this took me by surprise but then I realised it could be to reflect the genre or be traditional of this writing style. The characters are so convincingly described and the narrative is so powerful. It really is a chilling read. It is violent, disturbing and will seep into you when you least expect it.
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Crime, Thrillers & Mystery -> Thrillers
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> General
Books -> Special Features -> Bargain Books
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback