A Quiet Place:
Seicho Matsumoto
(Trans Louise Heal Kawai)
Enjoyable and worth a read!
Asai, a middling government bureaucrat with a younger second wife and a sexless marriage, is surprised in the midst of a business trip with the news that his lovely wife has passed away. Her weak heart gave way on a random Tokyo street and the doctors couldn't give her the help she needed.
This leads us into a mission of discovery for Asai, who more than anything is searching for meaning in a world where everyone seems to willingly put on any face necessary at any moment.
How did his wife really die? What was the truth of her life anyhow?
A few nice twists, but I think an opportunity was missed, as this would have been an even better read if the twist was a complete erasure of twists, if the mystery was that the mystery was just nothing at all.
What is Asai is just a nothing of a human chasing some meaning to explain why his existence holds any value.
The book never gets quite that deep in its thinking, but it is still a rather good mystery, with a bit of cultural insight, and recommended.
Comments
Post a Comment