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Book Review: The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
Summary:
In classic noir style, Higashino tells the tale of a mathematician, Ishigami, and a physicist, Yukawa, facing off utilizing only their brilliant minds in a quest to save someone they each love from a life of tragedy. Simultaneously a story of love and betrayal amped up with academia and set against the quintessential backdrop of gritty Japanese city streets–not to mention a lunch box restaurant.
Review:
I fully admit that I put myself in to win this book purely because it’s Japanese literature, and I’m trying to expand my reading horizons to include more non-western lit. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to see so many classic noir elements present in this modern day detective mystery. Noir is one of my favorite genres and adding in the touches of Japan gave it a really fun twist.
It takes a bit for the story to get going and to get into Higashino’s writing style. The sentences lean toward shorter in length than I’m used to. Once I became used to the length difference though I really got into the different type of flow shorter sentences give to a piece of writing. Naturally, this could partly be due to it being a work in translation, but good translators try to give foreign language readers a sense of the original author’s style. I hope the translator succeeded in this regard, because this different style helped give this noir story an extra push in uniqueness.
The mystery itself is nearly impossible to completely solve before the final solution is revealed. The final solution also contains some serious betrayal and an emotional scene that reminded me a bit of some Japanese cinema I’ve seen. So intensely shocking and gritty and occurring in the very last few moments of the story. It moves the story up from a fun way to pass the time to a memorable tale.
The pacing is a bit off, however. Intensity speeds up and slows down repeatedly making it difficult to be totally sucked into the story. A few edits would probably solve this problem leaving the same basic tale but without any unnecessary diatribes. Some may not find the pacing variety as distracting as I did, however.
This Japanese noir piece is artfully pulled off and leaves the reader guessing to the very end. I recommend it to noir and Japanese literature fans alike.
4 out of 5 stars
Source: Won from EarlyReviewers via LibraryThing
Book Review: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Summary:
Patrick Bateman is a 1980s yuppie working a Wall Street job with a dark secret. He doesn’t connect to other people except in the moments he’s torturing and killing them. But is he really a psychopathic murderer or is it all in his head?
Review:
I have a high tolerance for and even a tendency toward graphic violence and sex in novels, so I feel the need to warn my readers that this book was shockingly graphic even to me, and I was unphased by Battle Royale. So take that warning as you will. If you can’t handle graphic violence and sex, this book is definitely not for you. That said, this book pushes those with a high tolerance for such things in their reading out of their comfort zone, which is always an interesting experience.
The book is told from the first person perspective of Patrick Bateman. This is essential for us to see and feel what it is to struggle as him. This, of course, is painfully uncomfortable because we are put in the head of a madman while he violently dismembers and eventually kills multiple people, mainly women. Some people don’t ever want to be in that person’s head. Personally, I feel it is essential to understand what drives some people to be psychopaths and Breat Easton Ellis has a frightening ability to get inside that head. It is chilling to feel that Patrick gets the same sense of release from killing someone as I get from having a glass of wine at the end of the day. Simultaneously, I don’t doubt this at all, because that is what it is to be a psychopath.
Bret Easton Ellis also does an excellent job of depicting Antisocial Personality Disorder. Essentially, people suffering from this disorder are incapable of connecting emotionally or empathizing at all with other human beings. Patrick recognizes this disconnect when he is talking with various people in his life. He suffers significantly from this inability to find any connection with anything but violence.
My pain is constant and sharp and I do not hope for a better world for anyone. In fact I want my pain to be inflicted on others. I want no one to escape. (Location 8020-8023)
Beyond this, Patrick is completely confused about his world, and he knows it. He is unsure what is reality and what is not. This was one of the first aspects of mental illness to be recognized and seeing it all from the perspective of someone who is suffering from it is eloquent.
My mask of sanity was a victim of impending slippage. (Location 5975-5978)
Of course, beyond the uncomfortable identification with and depiction of someone suffering from one of the most difficult to understand mental illnesses is the depiction of the yuppie environment of the 1980s. What a vain, vapid existence these people lead. Extensive passages feature Patrick delineating every single designer name everyone in the room is wearing. One of the main issues in the week for all of the yuppie characters is getting into what is considered to be the best restaurant that week. Only the “best” alcohol is ordered. Only the “best” food is served, and it is served in such tiny portions that the yuppies are still hungry, yet this is considered to be better than being satiated. Frankly, I found these passages annoying to read, but they are necessary to the book. They show what a shallow, vapid world Patrick is in; one that he feels he cannot escape. These people are so selfish and lacking in empathy in that there is no way in hell they will ever notice anything is wrong with Patrick. It’s a scathing commentary on the yuppie culture.
The only negative from a writing aspect I can say about the book is the random chapters in which Patrick educates us on various musical groups. I honestly have no idea what the point of those are, and I skimmed over them. I definitely think Bret Easton Ellis should have cut them.
Overall, this is definitely a difficult book to read. It’s not comfortable or easy to alternate between identifying with a possible killer and being disgusted by his actions. Feeling sympathy for a killer is not something our society encourages, yet this book makes you feel it. Additionally, the passages depicting the yuppie world are vapid and annoying if for no other reason than because yuppies are vapid and annoying. Those difficulties though are what makes the book work. It takes the reader out of their comfort zone and forces them to confront things that they may not want to confront. Killers are not simply inhuman. They may do inhuman acts, but there are still elements of them that we may identify with. That is the truly scary part of American Psycho.
I highly recommend this book to everyone who thinks they can handle the graphic sex and violence. It will push your boundaries and force you to sympathize with those society depicts to us as the least sympathetic.
4 out of 5 stars
Source: Amazon
Counts For:
Movie Review: Seven (1995)
Summary:
Detective Sommerset is almost ready to retire. He just has to introduce the new detective, Mills, to the inner-city beat, but two grisly murders mark the appearance of a serial killer. His murders are each a punishment for one of the seven deadly sins, and Mills will need all the help from Sommerset he can get to solve the crimes.
Review:
For those of us who grew up on CSI, grisly crime scenes are nothing new. What makes them work in this film is their subtle and not so subtle associations with each of the seven deadly sins. The English major in me gloried at the detectives’ research into Dante’s works. The crimes are not just well thought-out; they are literary.
Beyond the crimes though is the story of the two detectives ever resonating just beneath the surface. With a job this grisly in such a bad part of town, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. You can’t have a family and live here, and you can’t do this job anywhere else. Sommerset chose the job, but he clearly wonders if that will be the best choice for Mills.
Pitt, Freeman, and Spacey are all great actors, and they do not disappoint here. I do think they miscast Paltrow as Mills’ wife, however. She doesn’t read as blue collar whatsoever, whereas Mills does. There seems to be little chemistry between the two, and I am certain that is due to Paltrow’s acting. Her doe eyes do not suit the character.
Although the story can move a bit slowly at times, it is an enjoyable watch for anyone with a literary slant and a taste for the grisly.
4 out of 5 stars
Source: Netflix
Movie Review: Fargo (1996)
Summary:
A car dealer is in deep debt, and his wealthy father-in-law refuses to help him out. Since his father-in-law’s one caveat regarding money is that he will never leave his daughter or grandson in trouble, the car dealer decides to get some men to kidnap his wife, and they will then split the ransom. The plan, naturally, goes horribly awry.
Review:
I think this may be one of the more stupid critically acclaimed movies I’ve ever seen.
Let’s start with the plot. Why is this man in massive debt? Neither myself nor the person I was watching the movie with could quite figure that out. It’s key to me as far as relating to the character to know how exactly he got into this debt to start with. Similarly, why doesn’t the father-in-law consider getting his son-in-law out of debt taking care of the family? It appears that the car dealer is in trouble, and you would think that the father-in-law would want to keep the man his daughter loves safe if for no other reason than to protect her heart. Then there’s the fact that this is quite possibly the most predictable plot I’ve ever seen. One of the kidnappers is crazy? Who’da thunk it?! *rolls eyes*
Moving on to the acting, it was terrible. I’ve seen more facial expression and body language from stone statues than I saw on William H. Macy, who plays the car dealer. The only way I can possibly comprehend Frances McDormand winning an Oscar for her performance is if she naturally has a bubbly, interesting personality, because it can’t be that challenging to play a character as boring as the pregnant police chief. Then there’s the universally horrible midwest accents. I’m friends with a woman who was born and raised in Michigan, and she does not sound like that. She has a slight lilt to her o’s and a’s that is actually cute and attractive, not horribly mangled words such as what these actors purport midwesterners sound like.
It wasn’t until I looked up Fargo to find a movie poster that I discovered it’s supposed to be a “dark comedy.” Oh, I laughed at parts of it alright, but not due to any comedic value. You just have to laugh at a movie that’s this bad.
I don’t recommend anyone to see this movie, but it’s not excruciatingly painful to watch if you find yourself stuck in a room with it, which is the only thing saving it from a one star rating.
2 out of 5 stars
Source: Netflix
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