I like things that make me think...
Dec. 11th, 2003 11:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akujunkan...and the book I just finished reading has certainly done just that. In fact, I wish I knew someone who has already read it so I could bounce opinions off of her. It's rare that I find myself so confused about my own reactions.
The book in question is called ブルーもしくはブルー Blue or the Other Blue. It's by Yamamoto Fumio, and although I doubt it has been (or will be) translated into English, my vaguely spoilerish musings are behind the
Two and a half days ago, I bought a Japanese book titled ブルーもしくはブルー Blue or the Other Blue because the cover caught my eye.
According to the copy, the book recounted the story of Souko Sasagi, who created a doppleganger of herself when she couldn't chose between her two suitors. Both Souko A and Souko B (the doppleganger) think they got the short end of the stick in their respective husbands, and so they decide to trade places for a month.
The writing is extremely catchy. I read the book in about four 75-page sittings. The first half of the book is rather poignant, and the second half terrifying. But in the end, Blue left me with a strangely dissatisfied feeling, as if there should have been more to the narrative than what I was finally presented with.
First of all, I think I may have liked Blue a lot less had it been written in English. I can read most novels in Japanese, but am not at a stage where I can separate excellent writing from very good writing. Even so, Blue seems more like two separate stories tacked together in the middle than one seamless narrative. The first half of the story made it appear that Blue would be a bonding tale about two lonely, isolated women (or more accurately two of the same woman) finding one another, building a friendship, and using the strenght of that friendship to overcome their own less-than-ideal situations (or at the very least understand that no one's situation is perfect).
The second half of the story is a Twilight Zone-esque identity theft suspense thriller pitting the Soukos against one another in a battle for the more desirable Souko identity. And therein lies the problem - the switch is too abrupt. It really seems as though the author decided midway through the narrative that she would rather be writing another book altogether, and switched directions mid-novel instead of rewriting from the beginning. It isn't handled well and the book suffers for it. No real hints were given as to Souko B's true intentions (or rather, what the latter quarter of the story maintains her intentions were); indeed, when one compares the "real" Souko B of Blue's conclusion with the Souko B one sees in the first 3/4 of the book, it seems as if they were two different characters entirely. The insights given into B's psyche in the first three quarters just do not mesh with the person Yamamoto needs her to be in the latter quarter.
Yamamoto is excellent at evoking emotional response from her readers. I truly pitied the Soukos in the first half of the book, and really wanted to see a happily ever after ending for both of them. Likewise, I was terrified for Souko A in the second half, and truly sympathised with the plight in which she found herself. Perhaps it's due to the fact that Yamamoto's writing evokes this response that the story falters - I found it hard to switch from desiring a happy ending for both Soukos to rooting for Souko A to outwit Souko B.
Yamamoto does spin a good yarn. Blue is great mind candy - a truly entertaining book if what one wants is mind candy entertainment. But I find Blue disappointing because it could have been so much more than that - the narrative flirts with issues about the nature of the self, identity, interpersonal interaction, free will and individuality, but never really commits to exploring them. Likewise, the possibility of a sympathetic, supportive friendship between the two Soukos is discarded for the more traditional good woman/shadow woman dichotomy. One gets the feeling that Hitchcock would have pursued options on the script were he still around; the story as it stands at the end of the book is right up his alley.
The ending also leaves something to be desired. After 280-odd pages,the story deposits the main characters back right where they started, but it doesn't feel as if either Souko has in any way matured or reached a new level of self-awareness. Although I was entertained by the novel's suspenseful passages, I have to wonder, what was the point? What did either Souko learn from her experience? Nothing; in fact, they're both more isolated at the book's end than they were at its beginning, having lost the possibility of creating or sustaining friendships with their husbands, lovers, and each other. Neither Souko has grown better at creating and maintaining meaningful relationships with other humans; if anything the Soukos' experiences will alienate them further. It feels as though the book cheats its readers at the end, especially after the adrenalin rush of the last seventy pages. Blue takes its readers on a roller coaster ride and never pays them back for their time and involvement.
Again, the book was entertaining despite its faults, and that makes me wonder how much of my dissatisfaction springs from the fact that I was reading it in a second language. It's quite possible that I missed cultural references or nuances on which the plot swings. On the other hand, I only had to look up about ten kanji when reading the entire book - this leads me to believe that it isn't much in the narrative to miss.
It may also have to do with the fact that I read a lot of Japanese psychological realism during college. Its influence is clearly present in Yamamoto's book. It's possible that this lead me to expect psychological realism when all Yamamoto did was use it as a source of inspiration. In other words, my dissatisfaction may stem from the fact that I was expecting the book to be one thing when it was something else entirely.
The end verdict being that I'll probably wait a few months and see how it holds up to repeat reading.
That will be all.
The book in question is called ブルーもしくはブルー Blue or the Other Blue. It's by Yamamoto Fumio, and although I doubt it has been (or will be) translated into English, my vaguely spoilerish musings are behind the
Two and a half days ago, I bought a Japanese book titled ブルーもしくはブルー Blue or the Other Blue because the cover caught my eye.
According to the copy, the book recounted the story of Souko Sasagi, who created a doppleganger of herself when she couldn't chose between her two suitors. Both Souko A and Souko B (the doppleganger) think they got the short end of the stick in their respective husbands, and so they decide to trade places for a month.
The writing is extremely catchy. I read the book in about four 75-page sittings. The first half of the book is rather poignant, and the second half terrifying. But in the end, Blue left me with a strangely dissatisfied feeling, as if there should have been more to the narrative than what I was finally presented with.
First of all, I think I may have liked Blue a lot less had it been written in English. I can read most novels in Japanese, but am not at a stage where I can separate excellent writing from very good writing. Even so, Blue seems more like two separate stories tacked together in the middle than one seamless narrative. The first half of the story made it appear that Blue would be a bonding tale about two lonely, isolated women (or more accurately two of the same woman) finding one another, building a friendship, and using the strenght of that friendship to overcome their own less-than-ideal situations (or at the very least understand that no one's situation is perfect).
The second half of the story is a Twilight Zone-esque identity theft suspense thriller pitting the Soukos against one another in a battle for the more desirable Souko identity. And therein lies the problem - the switch is too abrupt. It really seems as though the author decided midway through the narrative that she would rather be writing another book altogether, and switched directions mid-novel instead of rewriting from the beginning. It isn't handled well and the book suffers for it. No real hints were given as to Souko B's true intentions (or rather, what the latter quarter of the story maintains her intentions were); indeed, when one compares the "real" Souko B of Blue's conclusion with the Souko B one sees in the first 3/4 of the book, it seems as if they were two different characters entirely. The insights given into B's psyche in the first three quarters just do not mesh with the person Yamamoto needs her to be in the latter quarter.
Yamamoto is excellent at evoking emotional response from her readers. I truly pitied the Soukos in the first half of the book, and really wanted to see a happily ever after ending for both of them. Likewise, I was terrified for Souko A in the second half, and truly sympathised with the plight in which she found herself. Perhaps it's due to the fact that Yamamoto's writing evokes this response that the story falters - I found it hard to switch from desiring a happy ending for both Soukos to rooting for Souko A to outwit Souko B.
Yamamoto does spin a good yarn. Blue is great mind candy - a truly entertaining book if what one wants is mind candy entertainment. But I find Blue disappointing because it could have been so much more than that - the narrative flirts with issues about the nature of the self, identity, interpersonal interaction, free will and individuality, but never really commits to exploring them. Likewise, the possibility of a sympathetic, supportive friendship between the two Soukos is discarded for the more traditional good woman/shadow woman dichotomy. One gets the feeling that Hitchcock would have pursued options on the script were he still around; the story as it stands at the end of the book is right up his alley.
The ending also leaves something to be desired. After 280-odd pages,the story deposits the main characters back right where they started, but it doesn't feel as if either Souko has in any way matured or reached a new level of self-awareness. Although I was entertained by the novel's suspenseful passages, I have to wonder, what was the point? What did either Souko learn from her experience? Nothing; in fact, they're both more isolated at the book's end than they were at its beginning, having lost the possibility of creating or sustaining friendships with their husbands, lovers, and each other. Neither Souko has grown better at creating and maintaining meaningful relationships with other humans; if anything the Soukos' experiences will alienate them further. It feels as though the book cheats its readers at the end, especially after the adrenalin rush of the last seventy pages. Blue takes its readers on a roller coaster ride and never pays them back for their time and involvement.
Again, the book was entertaining despite its faults, and that makes me wonder how much of my dissatisfaction springs from the fact that I was reading it in a second language. It's quite possible that I missed cultural references or nuances on which the plot swings. On the other hand, I only had to look up about ten kanji when reading the entire book - this leads me to believe that it isn't much in the narrative to miss.
It may also have to do with the fact that I read a lot of Japanese psychological realism during college. Its influence is clearly present in Yamamoto's book. It's possible that this lead me to expect psychological realism when all Yamamoto did was use it as a source of inspiration. In other words, my dissatisfaction may stem from the fact that I was expecting the book to be one thing when it was something else entirely.
The end verdict being that I'll probably wait a few months and see how it holds up to repeat reading.
That will be all.
