قصة الكتاب :
Chūōkōron Shinsha (Chūkō Bunko), 2008. 850 pp. ¥1,143. ISBN
978-4-12-204969-7.
Machida Kō
Born in Osaka Prefecture in 1962. Author and musician. Began playing
music in a band under the name Machida Machizō. His debut
novel Kussun Daikoku won him the 1997 Noma Literary Prize for
New Writers and the Bunkamura Deux Magots Literary Prize. His
2000 “Kire-gire” [In Shreds] won the Akutagawa Prize. He also won
the 2005 Tanizaki Jun’ichirō Prize for Kokuhaku. His many other
works include Meoto-jawan [The Couple’s Teacups] and Tōkyō
hyōzen [Wandering in Tokyo].

Machida Kō is an author with a unique résumé, having taken up writing after a
period as a punk-rock singer. With his ability to open up new areas of potential
for contemporary Japanese fiction, today he is seen as one of the countryʼs most
vital writers. Kokuhaku is a noteworthy work putting his full talent as a novelist
on display.
The protagonist of the novel is a real figure from history, Kumatarō, a notorious
killer who carried out the “10 Kawachi
murders” in 1893 in what is today part
of Osaka Prefecture. The book traces his interior landscape and actions from his
early years to the tragic conclusion of his life. It draws on historical
fact to describe
the time in which the story is set, but this is no ordinary work of historical fiction.
The entire novel is infused with the theme of the gaps between what people think
and what they express in words. Kumatarō is a deeply contemplative character,
despite being born into the poverty of a farming household, and throughout his
life he is tormented
by the inability to find the words he needs to express the ideas
in his mind.
The novelist makes talented use of Kawachi-accented Japanese as he depicts
the words and psychology of the protagonist
throughout this lengthy work. Machida
makes use of unusual rhythms in his writing, which features a delicate balance
between the Kawachi dialect and standard Japanese, dialogue that can be as amusing
as a comedy sketch, and piercingly accurate observations
of human beings. All
these factors make his text one that keeps a firm grip on the readerʼs attention
until the bookʼs very end. (NM)