Author Natsuo Kirino won Japan's top mystery award for this novel, which smashes the perception of Japan as a society of either anal, work-focused drones or trendy Ginza teens. These women live surprisingly close to the underworld, and they find that violence and seedy glamour are closer than they think. "Out" is dark, violent, and psychologically astute--the very definition of noir. This is Kirino's first book to appear in English, and apparently her other award-winner will be published in English soon. This novel is highly recommended for readers who like to explore the dark side of a different culture.


The translation is way too interpretive   September 22, 2005
 20 out of 22 found this review helpful

having read this book in the original Japanese, i was curious about the translation. some called it bland while others said it was "excellent" and even Amazon's own reviewer calls it "unobtrusive". well, it does not appear that any of these opinions were rendered by people who could compare it to the original so perhaps my two cents here will not be a total waste.
in my opinion, the English translation of "Out" is a work unto itself. i wouldn't even call it a translation; more like an "interpretation". many things which are stated in Japanese are not stated in English. i mean things like, you know, nouns, verbs, adjectives, perhaps entire sentences... it's not like these are subtle nuances.
i think this was deliberate on the part of the translator, whose obvious aim was to create a very smooth, readable product in English. i think he has succeeded in that respect. i think the publisher's marketing arm should be quite happy with its unobtrusiveness.

however, i'm not so sure that i agree with that approach to translation. maybe if you're translating poetry or something whacked out like Finnegan's Wake, you have no choice but to take some serious poetic license. but geez, this is a novel. there is a lot of descriptive language--Kirino's Japanese is much more challenging than, say, Murakami Haruki (himself a translator) or Suzuki Koji (he of The Ring fame). so, i agree that it would not be easy to do a straight-up translation and make it seem like it was originally written in English. but to me, that's half the fun. why do we need to pretend it needs to sound like it was written in English to begin with? if there are subtleties (grammatical, cultural, etc.) which are too convoluted to convey in a normal English sentence, would it really hurt the book's sales figures that much to throw in a footnote or two? perhaps endnotes if that is asking too much?

in recent years works by the likes of Dostoevsky, Kafka and Natsume Soseki have been retranslated because the old standbys were overly interpretive and people reading the translations actually wanted to know what these guys were saying. obviously something is always lost in the translation; i just don't think it has to be this much.


A Riveting Look at the Japanese Dark Side   December 30, 2004
 14 out of 15 found this review helpful

As Edgar Allen Poe and Rod Serling both demonstrated, the best horror stories take place in the most mundane settings, involving the most ordinary people. Natsuo Kirino's OUT brilliantly follows this dictum, presenting a chilling tale of murder and dismemberment under the most ordinary of circumstances. The result is a gripping page-turner that turns victimizers into victims and ultimately probes the darkest corners of the Japanese psyche.

OUT begins with four typical Japanese women who work the night shift together at a box lunch factory. Masako Katori is a middle-aged, former office worker locked into a loveless marriage to a self-isolating husband and an intentionally mute teenage son. Yoshie Azuma is a widow in her late fifties, burdened with the care of an incontinent mother-in-law and two self-centered daughters. Kuniko Jonouchi is an overweight and materialistic young woman whose live-in "husband" has just abandoned her and her small mountain of credit debt. Yayoi Yamamoto is a pretty young mother of two children and wife to a gambling, skirt-chasing husband who has blown their life savings at the baccarat tables of a club owned by Mitsuyoushi Satake, a small-time hood with a horrifying secret past.

It is Yayoi who triggers events by strangling her husband in a fit of rage. Realizing what she has done, she calls Masako for help, and they jointly decide to hide the murder and get rid of the body. Their solution eventually sucks Yoshie and Kuniko into their plot, and Satake is fingered by the police as the most likely killer of Yayoi's husband. Satake loses both of his clubs as a consequence and sets out on a course of revenge. The four women's lives head into a free falling death spiral as they are unwittingly drawn into one another's lives and into the yakuza underworld. Desperation leads them to more and more shocking actions, resulting in two of their deaths and a chilling battle of wits, culminating in a sado-masochistic climax.

Kirino's writing is serviceable for this type of book, not rich in imagery or description but well-paced, focusing on actions and character motivations. She maintains her characters' sense of desperation and builds her story to a suspenseful climax, leaving the reader guessing how her main characters will respond to events. Kirino is most successful in tracing Masako's discovery of hidden strengths as well as her descent into horrifying depravity. We identify with Masako, leaving us wondering just how dark might be the deepest corners of our own souls.

OUT struck me as a particularly Japanese novel, following that culture's peculiar fascination with ritualistic murder and masochistic infliction of pain evidenced by writers like Mishima, movies like IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES, and even the recent spate of pop horror movies like THE RING. America's dark side tends toward mass murderers and serial killers, most of whom are regarded as social misfits or freaks (such as Jeffrey Dahmer, or Hannibal Lechter). The power of Kirino's OUT lies in the very ordinariness of its four female protagonists.

I bought OUT as an airplane read before an 18-hour flight; it proved to be an excellent choice for some badly needed escapism. I am hardly an expert on crime novels, but I recommend this book highly as a good read and a bleak look at the underside of modern Japanese life and culture.




Exceptionally Good Picture of the Underside of Japan   September 20, 2004
 12 out of 12 found this review helpful

I approached this book with reservations. I had read very good reviews about it but I also read that much of its impact was from the atmosphere it creates and not simply from the plot. Usually this would not be a concern but as I have read some Japanese novels that were unbelievably esoteric, it raised a red flag. Also, I heard that there were heavy themes of women's "second class" status and "women's empowerment" throughout the book, which are usually code phrases for women who may be in tough spots, but often no worse than many men, and who respond by being as nasty as possible to men and are thereafter applauded for behavior for which a man would be trashed. I decided to buy the book with a gift certificate figuring I had nothing to lose and that the book would be either very bad or very good. It was very good.

The book is actually not a mystery but rather a crime novel. I dislike reviews that reveal significant plot twists, so let me assure any reader that I am not revealing anything noteworthy when I say the murder occurs early, we know it is the wife who did it, we know why and we know her friends on the night shift help dispose of the body. The mystery is whether they will be caught and how the crime affects the women, all of whom are indeed in tough personal spots. The murder acts as a catalyst for drawing their individual personal difficulties into the foreground and creating the types of conflict and tension that genuinely makes readers wonder what they would do in such situations.

Kirino does an excellent job of developing the plot. Loose ends are not only resolved but often the reader does not know something is a loose end until it arises a second time at the worst possible moment to push a character even further into a corner. The characters are well drawn and the reader can relate to them easily. Though, on one of the few drawbacks of the book, the actual language employed by the author is often a bit too clinical for a book of this type. Such language, almost technical in nature, is not so overpowering as to detract from the plot, the characters or the gloomy atmosphere created, but it was noticeable, especially in a novel with so many strengths going for it.

I find it difficult to say which was most powerful - the solid plot, the strong character development or the dark atmosphere about a side of Japan not seen in the travel brochures. What I can say is that the combination made for an excellent book that is well worth recommending.


Riveting & Relevant Fiction That Surpasses Genre. Highly Recommended!   November 16, 2005
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

Four women, co-workers on the night shift at a box lunch factory on the outskirts of Tokyo, form an unlikely friendship based on their mutual desperation -a dissatisfaction with their inattentive, unresponsive husbands and disaffected children, strained economic situations and emotional isolation. When Yayoi Yamamoto, a young wife and mother kills her abusive, philandering spouse, the four come together voluntarily to perform a most grisly act. They dismember the body to facilitate disposal. Although of disparate ages and characters, the women become quite bound to one another through an increasing web of conspiracy, self-interest and suspicion. A series of indiscretions and careless mistakes expose them all to unforeseeable dangers.

"Out" is so much more than a psychological thriller or a formulaic crime novel. This is fiction that surpasses genre. Although plot driven, much of the story is dependent on character development and change. The characters are portrayed so vividly, even the minor ones, that the reader cannot help but form a strong attachment to them. It really does not matter, ultimately, if the connection is positive or not - one still looks forward to following the various personages forward to their individual destinies. Masako Katori, shrewd and extremely intelligent, is the definite leader among the women and an absolutely fascinating figure. Although she has perfected a cold, detached veneer with which she presents herself to the world, inside she is despondent and in turmoil. Increasingly alone and alienated from her husband and teenage son, she longs for "freedom." "It had started with something in her. Her hopelessness and a longing for freedom had brought her to this point." Masako is looking for a way "out" of her claustrophobic life.

This is definitely a novel noir, with a substantial dose of S&M thrown into the mix. obviously not for the faint of heart. I became absorbed in the story almost instantly, only to have my interest wane after the murder is committed. My attention span was at fault here, not the author's writing. Fortunately I stayed with it because the second half of the novel is even better than the first, I think - really riveting! This is some of the best and most unusual writing I have encountered in some time. It is also very disturbing. Since I do not speak Japanese I can only judge by the translation, and for me the stark, gritty prose really accentuates the building tension in the narrative and the oppressiveness of the environment. I found myself thinking about "Out" long after I had turned the last page.

Ms. Natsuo provides a rare glimpse into the bleak subculture of many lower middle class Japanese workers who live on the margins of society, worlds away from the lights and glitter of Tokyo's Ginza district. Readers also gain access to the grim Japanese underworld. I should note that there is wonderful dark humor throughout to alleviate the oppressive quality of the storyline.

Although Natsuo Kirino is considered one of the best mystery writers in Japan, multiple award-winning novel "Out" is Ms. Kirino's first book to be published in English. It has also been made into a Japanese motion picture.
JANA