Evil and the Mask
A Novel
(Sprache: Englisch)
The second book by prize-winning Japanese novelist Fuminori Nakamura to be available in English translation, a follow-up to 2012's critically acclaimed The Thief another fantastically creepy, electric literary thriller that explores the limits of...
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The second book by prize-winning Japanese novelist Fuminori Nakamura to be available in English translation, a follow-up to 2012's critically acclaimed The Thief another fantastically creepy, electric literary thriller that explores the limits of human depravity and the powerful human instinct to resist evil.When Fumihiro Kuki is eleven years old, his elderly, enigmatic father calls him into his study for a meeting. "I created you to be a cancer on the world," his father tells him. It is a tradition in their wealthy family: a patriarch, when reaching the end of his life, will beget one last child to cause misery in a world that cannot be controlled or saved. From this point on, Fumihiro will be specially educated to learn to create as much destruction and unhappiness in the world around him as a single person can. Between his education in hedonism and his family's resources, Fumihiro's life is one without repercussions. Every door is open to him, for he need obey no laws and may live out any fantasy he might have, no matter how many people are hurt in the process. But as his education progresses, Fumihiro begins to question his father's mandate, and starts to resist.
Lese-Probe zu „Evil and the Mask “
Part 1: PastChapter 1
Now I m going to tell you some important facts about your life.
I was eleven, and my father had called me to his study. In his black suit he leaned back heavily on the leather sofa, perhaps because he was already an old man and standing tired him. A ray of the setting sun peeped through a crack in the curtains. With the orange light behind him, his face was in shadow. Clutching a red, radio-controlled car, still with dirt on its tires, I was aware of how small I was in the center of the large, cold room. Father s breath smelled faintly of alcohol.
About your education. This does not mean, though, that I hold any great hopes for you. It s just that I intend to leave a cancer in this world. Under my guidance, you will become a cancer. A personification of evil, you could say.
I couldn t see my father clearly, but it was hard to imagine that he was smiling. No doubt his face was as immobile and expressionless as ever.
My other children are already adults, occupying important positions in society. That is because they came into the world uninvited, and were free to choose their own paths. Your life, on the other hand, I created on purpose, when I was already past sixty. This is something of a practice in my no, our family.
I still couldn t see his face.
By cancer I mean a being that will make this world miserable. That will make everyone wish that they had never been born, or at least make everyone think that the light of
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virtue does not shine in this world.
There was a knock at the door, and at his signal a young servant girl entered. Her lips and nose were narrow, her eyes large and clear. I thought she was probably my father s type. On our estate there were at least seven domestic servants. When she whispered something to him he nodded, Send her in, he muttered, then turned back to me. The most recent recorded example was in the Taisho era, almost eighty years ago.
The servant left the room silently.
Our ancestor revived the custom when he was over sixty years old the custom of delivering a cancer into the world. He seems to have realized that his own life was nearing its end, and that even though he would die, the world would carry on. That was something he was unable to forgive. In his life he had obtained everything he wanted and he was arrogant, as I am. If his life was going to end, then everything must perish. So on June 18, 1915, a young woman gave birth to his child. To bring this world to an end no, to be precise, to be a negative force, to make the world as unhappy as possible. He raised that child to be a cancer on society, and the boy was excellent. He turned into a creature who was destined to make many peoples lives hell, who was destined to increase the number of people who believed that life wasn t worth living. They say that when the old man was on his deathbed, he was no longer afraid. He thought the unhappy people created by that cancer would create more unhappiness, and cancer would spread like gushing foam. If that continued, the world wo
There was a knock at the door, and at his signal a young servant girl entered. Her lips and nose were narrow, her eyes large and clear. I thought she was probably my father s type. On our estate there were at least seven domestic servants. When she whispered something to him he nodded, Send her in, he muttered, then turned back to me. The most recent recorded example was in the Taisho era, almost eighty years ago.
The servant left the room silently.
Our ancestor revived the custom when he was over sixty years old the custom of delivering a cancer into the world. He seems to have realized that his own life was nearing its end, and that even though he would die, the world would carry on. That was something he was unable to forgive. In his life he had obtained everything he wanted and he was arrogant, as I am. If his life was going to end, then everything must perish. So on June 18, 1915, a young woman gave birth to his child. To bring this world to an end no, to be precise, to be a negative force, to make the world as unhappy as possible. He raised that child to be a cancer on society, and the boy was excellent. He turned into a creature who was destined to make many peoples lives hell, who was destined to increase the number of people who believed that life wasn t worth living. They say that when the old man was on his deathbed, he was no longer afraid. He thought the unhappy people created by that cancer would create more unhappiness, and cancer would spread like gushing foam. If that continued, the world wo
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Autoren-Porträt von Fuminori Nakamura
Fuminori Nakamura was born in 1977 and graduated from Fukushima University in 2000. He has won numerous prizes for his writing, including the Oe Prize, Japan s largest literary award, and the prestigious Akutagawa Prize. The Thief, his first novel to be translated into English, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He is the recipient of the David L. Goodis Award for Noir Fiction. He lives in Tokyo with his wife.Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Fuminori Nakamura
- 2014, 384 Seiten, Maße: 12,6 x 18,9 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: Penguin Random House
- ISBN-10: 1616953705
- ISBN-13: 9781616953706
- Erscheinungsdatum: 18.08.2015
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
Praise for Evil and the MaskKarma runs thicker than blood in Evil and the Mask, the thought-provoking and unpredictable new novel by the Japanese zen-noir master Fuminori Nakamura.
Wall Street Journal
Evil and the Mask is a brilliant novel from one of Japan s most current authors . . . If you love Patricia Highsmith, you ll love Nakamura.
Globe and Mail
Evil and the Mask is a hard-to-put-down novel of ideas and a savage comment on nihilism, both Japanese and global . . . Shouldn't be missed.
Booklist, Starred Review
A twisted tale of revenge . . . mixing noir and the existential question of free will.
The Japan Times
Deliciously twisted . . . Nakamura bend[s] the line between what is good and what is evil until it nearly breaks. It s impressive how a book so dark can be so much fun.
Grantland
[Evil and the Mask is] full of themes that everyone can appreciate . . . Nakamura blurs the line between light and dark, good and evil. He illustrates that nothing in life is completely black and white.
Tulsa Books Examiner
Evil and the Mask is concerned with a twisty sense of morality: is Fumihiro born evil, and can he escape the cruelty associated with his surname?
Omnivoracious
Deals with basic questions of good and evil, guilt and remorse. Cryptic detectives, smoky nightclubs, and murky streets in Japanese suburbs add to the noir sensibility. At times bizarre, at times hallucinatory, the story is always provocative.
Publishers Weekly
This literary thriller steeps the reader in humanity s dark nature and the struggle of those who try to resist their own moral corruption.
Library Journal
Evil and the Mask is an engrossing account . . . The story is violent, revengeful, and often disagreeable but it still contains that hypnotic voice that makes you want to
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read more.
Midwest Book Review
Evil and the Mask, the second book of his to be available in English, is undoubtedly the narrative that will help cement him as the new master of Japanese noir . . . an absolute must-read.
Out of the Gutter Magazine
Midwest Book Review
Evil and the Mask, the second book of his to be available in English, is undoubtedly the narrative that will help cement him as the new master of Japanese noir . . . an absolute must-read.
Out of the Gutter Magazine
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