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Villain

Villain

by PhilipGabriel (Translator), ShuichiYoshida (Author)

  • Used

    Paperback 2010

    $3.30
Synopsis

A young woman is brutally murdered on a remote mountain road. A young construction worker, Yuichi, is on the run - but is he guilty? This is the dark heart of Japan; a world of seedy sex hotels and decaying seaside towns; a world of loneliness, violence and desperation. As the police close in on Yuichi and his new lover, the stories of the victim, the murderer and their families are uncovered. But these men and women are never what they appear to be...

$3.30

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More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 304
 Publisher: Harvill Secker
Published: 05 Aug 2010
ISBN 10: 1846552389
ISBN 13: 9781846552380
Book Overview: The first English-language publication of one of Japan's most exciting and bestselling novelists.

Media Reviews
Thrilling ... The sort of book that is difficult to put down ... [Villain] lays out a panorama of modern Japanese society, a patchwork composed of people of various classes and occupations ... A modern literary achievement the like of which is rarely seen Japan Book News Hypnotizing ... While the unfolding mystery holds our interest, Yoshida is really most concerned with exploring the alienation of his young characters and the lack of connective tissue between them. As the story takes a surprising turn toward the end, the author saves the biggest question for his readers: Who is the real villain: a killer who feels remorse, or a person who feels nothing at all? Booklist Yoshida examines the lives of a victim and a killer in this subtle but powerful novel about collective guilt and individual atonement, his first book to appear in English translation ... Multiple points of view reveal both slight and dramatic changes in a host of other people, including acquaintances and relatives, affected by the murder. Most impressively, Yoshida's complex portrait of Japanese society leaves no doubt as to his characters' actions, but tantalizing doubts about their meaning. Publishers Weekly
Author Bio
Shuichi Yoshida was born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1968. He is the author of numerous books and has won many Japanese literary awards, including the Akutayawa Prize for Park Life, and the prestigious Osaragi Jiro Prize and the Mainichi Publishing Culture Award, both of which he received for Villain. Several of his stories have been adapted for Japanese television, and a film based on Villain is due to be released in 2010 in Japan as Akunin. Yoshida lives in Tokyo.