In Search of a Distant Voice by Taichi Yamada
I liked it, then I didn’t like it, then I wasn’t sure, then I liked it.
Final verdict: worth reading.
After I read it, I looked up the author and wasn’t surprised to find that he’d written for TV and film. The book is quite visual, but unlike most books that read like this, it’s not a blatant screenplay-in-waiting.
Like most modern fiction, it is thin. The main premise of the book — the “ghost” story part — doesn’t really work. Everything else in the book is much more interesting. He would have been much better off just doing a straight character study.
Overall, it felt more like a young adult novel. Not just because of the simplicity, but because it had an adolescent mentality. I did like the main character, though, and his situation was interesting.
Modern angst in general is getting a little dull, however: I don’t know who I am and what I want, except it’s not what I’ve got. Plus I have no interests. Why am I so unhappy?? Come on folks, get a hobby, figure it out, peel your ass off the sofa, wake up, get therapy if you need it, change your life. It’s all too short.
Tags: Japanese literature