Grotesque (Vintage International)
by Natsuo Kirino
List Price:
Our Price: $7.88
You Save: $6.12 (44%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.53 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Natsuo KirinoEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-02-12
ISBN: 1400096596
Number of pages: 544
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of Grotesque (Vintage International)
Book Review: Spoiled by last section
Summary: 3 Stars
A long book, written in several autobiographical sections narrating the action from contradictory points of view. It's an innovative and engaging structure.
For me, this novel had three distinct parts.
(1) commentary on Japanese treatment of women as students and professionals, with a focus on treatment of outcasts - articulate and plausible, very well-done,
(2) the story of a set of girls growing into woman and finding their profession - somewhat less plausible, as many of the characters are more extreme in one way or another than most people I know, but still engaging and full of surprises, and
(3) the decline and demise of two characters who lost their way - grotesque, implausible, and infused with a hopeless, violent, and self-destructive philosophy, which had no redeeming appeal to me.
I can't recommend this book due to the bizarre musings and surreal, degrading situations in its last 50 or so pages. I wonder just how beyond-the-pale was the section that other reviews here mention as being excised in translation must have been.
Summary of Grotesque (Vintage International)
Life at the prestigious Q High School for Girls in Tokyo exists on a precise social axis: a world of insiders and outsiders, of haves and have-nots. Beautiful Yuriko and her unpopular, unnamed sister exist in different spheres; the hopelessly awkward Kazue Sato floats around among them, trying to fit in.Years later, Yuriko and Kazue are dead - both have become prostitutes and both have been brutally murdered.Natsuo Kirino, celebrated author of Out, seamlessly weaves together the stories of these women's struggles within the conventions and restrictions of Japanese society. At once a psychological investigation of the pressures facing Japanese women and a classic work of noir fiction, Grotesque is a brilliantly twisted novel of ambition, desire, beauty, cruelty, and identity by one of our most electrifying writers.
Contemporary Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in My Favs: Contemporary Japanese Literature
Outby Natsuo Kirino
Kodansha International; Published: 2003-07-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.95
Price in other shops:
Real Worldby Natsuo Kirino
Knopf; Published: 2008-07-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops:
Grotesque (Vintage International)by Natsuo Kirino
Vintage; Published: 2008-02-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.91
Price in other shops:
The Woman in the Dunesby Kobo Abe
Vintage; Published: 1991-04-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (Vintage International)by Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 2007-10-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel (Vintage International)by Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 1993-03-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.43
Price in other shops:
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novelby Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 1998-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.97
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
The Hunterby Asa Nonami
Kodansha International; Published: 2006-12-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.47
Price in other shops:
The Devil's Whisperby Miyuki Miyabe
Kodansha International; Published: 2007-10-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.89
Price in other shops:
Shadow Familyby Miyuki Miyabe
Kodansha International; Published: 2006-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.74
Price in other shops:
Crossfireby Miyuki Miyabe
Kodansha International; Published: 2007-07-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.45
Price in other shops:
Bangkok Hauntsby John Burdett
Vintage Books; Published: 2008-06-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.36
Price in other shops:
The Tattoo Murder Case (Soho Crime)by Akimitsu Takagi
Soho Crime; Published: 2003-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
All She Was Worthby Miyuki Miyabe
Mariner Books; Published: 1999-05-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.16
Price in other shops:
After Dark (Vintage International)by Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 2008-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.89
Price in other shops:
Real Worldby Natsuo Kirino
Knopf; Published: 2008-07-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.95
Price in other shops:
Out: A Novelby Natsuo Kirino
Vintage; Published: 2005-01-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.85
Price in other shops: