Nathan Collins

There's a difference between an author who's consistently good and one who has moments of brilliance. Perhaps because I'm not a writer myself, I'm partial to the moment of brilliance people; they're more accessible, easier to imagine knowing or seeing or being. While Takami hasn't written another novel after BR, he really doesn't need to. This is fantastic on its own and helps create a bit of a legend around him.

All the summaries are accurate: This is Hunger Games before Hunger Games existed, this is what violence looks like when it's not a commonplace part of someone's culture and isn't romanticized or sexualized. The plot was solid and engaging, though I'd recommend careful reading. I ended up taking notes and keeping track of characters, which helped tremendously. I didn't do that as well the first time around and ended up setting it aside unfinished. If you stick with it, you'll likely be rewarded.

What I loved most, though, was the afterword to the remastered edition. Takami talks about his appreciation for Stephen King and lets us know that Shiroiwa is a translation of Castle Rock, that one of the characters' last words are a translation of those spoken by Red in Shawshank. (And as a side note, it's interesting how things get translated back and forth.) This was his moment of brilliance, his nod to authors who had inspired him, and now it's a part of his life he'd like to set aside. I'm glad he shared it with us first.… (mer)