Battle Royale 2nd edition

As you may already know, I bought a first edition copy of this novel a few years back at National Bookstore Cubao (the one that's beside Gateway Mall and a few steps away from Breadtalk) and was taken aback by how affordable it was. English translated works by contemporary Japanese authors would normally be more expensive and hard to find, so to say that I was ecstatic to get my hands on this Japanese bestseller at the cost of a John Grisham or Nicholas Sparks novel would be a fairly accurate description of how I looked at the time as I made a beeline for the cash register.

Of course, given its price, the book was not without its faults. For one, it was printed using machine-finished paper, the kind that people would call an improved newsprint, while the cover had a matte finish instead of being glossy. As for the contents, it was edited in a way that can be quite confusing. Without even going into my issues regarding syntax, I remember certain chapters wherein some of the characters' names were inadvertently mixed up and if you're the type who's not used to reading and hearing oriental names, the inconsistent reference to a character's first name or last name to signify his/her relationship or familiarity with another character can slow a reader down. It's a hefty book which consists of over 600 pages, so keeping track of 42 students engaged in a military program where their lives are at stake can be quite a challenge especially if you read this over an extended period of time. 

Roughly a year after buying the said book, a new paperback edition surfaced at Fully Booked. Like most books that line this elite bookstore's shelves, this edition was far more eye-catching than the first. It had whiter pages and the publisher obviously bumped up the standard paper grade. It would also cost you a bit more at Php680 to get the new and improved version. 

 

Given my obsessive/compulsive need to see whether or not this edition was indeed better than the one already in my possession, I eventually bought a second copy, but not until the price spiked up to Php899 (oh wow, lucky me). Apparently, there was enough reason to jack up the price due to recent comparisons made between this Takami Koushun novel and crossover hit, The Hunger Games which would in turn explain that yellow, round sticker on the cover that advertised this novel as "the original survival game".

Fortunately though, all the positive buzz about this edition turned out to be true. It's still a hefty book but at least it is better edited and the overall presentation thereof, including the use of a larger font for the text, makes reading it an easy if not enjoyable experience. As an added bonus, the second edition includes translated interviews with not only the author, Takami Koushun, but also the director of the film adaptation, Fukasaku Kinji and a foreword from Road to Perdition writer, Max Allan Collins. The section on Fukasaku is relatively shorter than that of Takami's, being an old movie promo interview, but it still makes for an interesting read since the additional material touches on the creative process, the inspiration and the intent behind the written and cinematic versions of Battle Royale.

So is it worth to cough up the extra cash to get this edition?

I guess that all depends on how much you value reading a well-edited text. If you're unfazed by a few typographical errors and have a good mind to read and understand the words in the context that they're meant to be understood, then the first edition would do the same trick, especially if you're budget conscious.   

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The Maid

Those who've seen a television or movie adaptation of  "Nanase Futatabi"" or perhaps read the manga "Telepathic Wanderers" would no doubt remember its heroine being hunted down by a secret organization intent on eliminating those with paranormal abilities. This book features the same Nanase Hiita only earlier in the timeline, prior to the events narrated in the second installment of the series. What's interesting though is that while the second novel has been the subject of numerous television and movie adaptations, the first book alone had an English translation.  

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She didn't know when it started but for as long as she could remember, Nanase Hiita always had the ability to read people's minds. Knowing that her telepathic powers would earn the ire and revulsion of the people around her if discovered, she decided to work as a maid to remain transient and inconspicuous, moving from one family to another, going wherever her line of work would take her.

Through the years, she's trained herself to control her powers, ever careful not to let it slip that she knew more than what she was told. However with her extraordinary ability to peer into people's thoughts and hidden desires, it was inevitable for her not to be drawn into the drama---nay, the farce that made up her employers' lives. Each household carried its own tale and each member had his own secret, but Nanase could see through the lies; for she knew better, she knew what was going on.

 Described as a picaresque journey into the inner sanctum of the lives and psyches of ordinary Japanese people, Yasutaka Tsutsui's The Maid is a deceptively simple piece of literature that harps on the age old adage not to judge a book by its cover made possible by a touch of the paranormal. Divided into eight chapters, representing eight households that Nanase Hiita has come to serve, Yasutaka Tsutsui cleverly presents a somewhat dismal portrait of the modern family steeped in intrigue and personal turmoil as observed by a cynical, unsympathetic outsider.

Written in 1972, The Maid  isn't so much a paranormal thriller like its sequel but plays out more as an anthology that makes use of old-fashioned storytelling techniques in tackling a central theme. On the surface, it's about the lies that people tell to each other and the things that they can't say; to a certain extent, it also explores man's base desires, the ones that are kept hidden and suppressed under the social order. As a satire, it can be considered as an unflinching critique of a society where the appearance of propriety and the observance of niceties transcend any act of impropriety or moral transgression.  It can also be argued as a harbinger of the slow but steady disintegration of the family unit that plagues today's society as inter-generational ties get broken and people increasingly fail to commit and communicate with each other on a personal level.

Everyone in the family knew their roles. They'd roam through the house with malice in their hearts, avoiding physical contact at any cost, and adopting poses they had mastered from soap operas.

The book is essentially a bundle of contradictions---on one hand, there are aspects of it that remain oddly relevant and haunting despite some notably archaic touches to certain chapters, on the other, it merely rehashes familiar storylines with very little regard for style or exposition. All the characters featured in it are generally vile and atrocious, in the midst of a breakdown or in denial of the truth, making them easily recognizable as common domestic tropes. There's the philandering husband, the suspicious trophy wife, the restless elderly and resentful children just to name a few, and these assortment of characters serve not only to tell minute stories but also to highlight culture-bound concerns framed in such a way as to produce both tragic and hilarious results. The issues confronted by the characters in the novel are familiar, even a tad universal; where a woman's frantic quest to remain youthful, a married couple's longing for greener pasture leads them to contemplate starting an affair with their neighbors, and an painter's narcissistic attitude spills onto his artwork reflect the worse of man's fears, selfishness and ambition. And yet despite this tired scheme, this collection of stories is undeniably Japanese and firmly rooted in modern culture. The context in which these stories are told bravely whittles through traditional preconceptions, going as far as to call attention to the duplicity in the observance of time-honored values in Japanese society such as modesty, discipline and hierarchy.  

It's hard to judge The Maid based on character and plot development because the novel in itself is episodic and choppy. Furthermore, very little is known of its heroine by the end of the story. In this regard, Nanase serves as nothing more than a conduit, a means by which the writer can cross the private and public divide and intrude upon his characters' thoughts and convey their feelings. There is an economy of words used, none of which would hit hard like a sledgehammer, but if there's one thing that can be said about this book is that the language used matched its indeterminate tone. Things are not always what they seem as every chapter often demonstrates the opposite of that which Nanase has come to expect would occur.

Writer Yasutaka Tsutsui utilizes an interesting technique to lull the reader into a false sense of reality, peppering the book with simple, seemingly inconsequential sentences that would eventually be discarded or negated, drawing attention to something and then dismissing it altogether, thus:

Red flowers were blooming in the front yard, but Nanase had no idea what they were; the names of the flowers did not interest her. 

Here's another example from the second chapter wherein the first sentence is dismissed by the one succeeding it, throwing the reader for a loop:

Every household has its own smell. Sometimes only the people who live there can perceive it; in other cases the reverse is true. Often the smell does not really exist but is only a psychologically induced association.

The language used is far from being descriptive yet there's a good amount of negation and misdirection involved if one were to pay close attention to the tight, conventional prose. Each chapter offers a premise that would eventually be shattered, as if to remind the reader that his telepathic guide is far from infallible and often guilty of misjudging people. Perhaps what's most interesting of all is that despite having some insight as to what motivates the characters to act the way they do, they can hardly be considered as predictable or manageable as Nanase can attest to---there's more to the floating landscape that makes up the consciousness of a simple housewife; an unspeakable fury locked within the saintly appearance of a neglected spouse; and a predatory instinct that burns inside a bored, seemingly harmless senior. The stories may appear drab and familiar but there's always that element of surprise, the possibility of discovering something new, for ultimately, human beings are complex creatures. 

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A Foreign Perspective

An offshoot of watching Japanese dramas and movies is an increased awareness and/or curiosity over things that are Japanese. I suppose it's the same for anyone who's been exposed to a segment of Japanese culture or have fallen in love with an aspect thereof---be it art, literature, fashion, or  music; whether you're a manga or anime fan, or even a gaming enthusiast, it's not unusual to develop an interest in the country and the people from which your favorite pastime originated and flourished.  A good number of books have already been written about Japan, covering everything from the nation's history, the state of its economy, even going as far as to discuss pop cultural trends and social problems as identified by social scientists and journalists but out of everything that's available out there, I find reading blogs and informal works by those who've stayed in the country itself to be equally informative and entertaining. There's a lot that can be derived from reading personal accounts and observations unhampered by a need to prove a thesis or maintain a stance that isn't ethnocentric. They impart information that might not be readily available to those who are merely on the outside looking in. 

Of Rice and Yen is an ebook that I came upon last year after reading an article in Things Asian by a journalist who wrote about the Japanese herd mentality and how the same can be seen in their obsession over things like branded goods, pachinko and vending machines. It was a short and trite article, limited in scope and arguably faulty for making a sweeping generalization, but the things discussed and cited therein does not necessarily mean that they're wholly untrue or baseless. Keeping that in mind, I started reading up on gaijin accounts of their stay in Japan, no matter how subjective it may be, which led me to this compilation of notes by David Mosley.

Containing loads of trivia and anecdotes detailing his over a decade-long stay, I found this e-book an easy read, perfect for those averse to material that are too technical or scholarly. Best of all it's free. The author himself even encourages you to share it to others and welcomes any feedback on it.

Download Link [MF] :

Of Rice and Yen 

 An Englishman's look at the best and worst of Japan: the pleasures and pains, the gems and the jaw-droppers by David Mosley 

Copyright © 2009

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Now You're One of Us

Finding a good book these days, it seems, is also a matter of destiny... sometimes, you buy a book on impulse only to find out later on that they cut the price in half and there's still a whole shelf of it available at the store. Other times, you ignore that one book that turns out to be the last remaining copy and by the time you decide to go back for it, it's gone and already on the special order list, or worse, it may even be out of print. I was on the hunt for such a book thinking, "I should have bought it then", when the cover art for this paperback caught my attention. I couldn't, for the life of me, tie it in with the book title, so I picked it up so as not to go home empty-handed, all the while eager to discover how that bar of soap figured into this story about a girl and the family she married into. And  after reading the novel, let me just say, "oh boy, what a connection." 

They say all families have their own rituals, secrets and credos, like a miniature religious cult; these quirks may elicit the mirth or mild alarm of guests, but the matter is rather more serious if you're marrying into a household,[1] particularly one with a history like the Shito family, as newlywed Noriko would come to discover ...

Twenty-six year old Noriko was, by all accounts, nothing but lucky---not only did she marry a man whom she fell in love with at first sight after an arranged meeting, but she also managed to become the bride of a wealthy and respected family. And though she initially had reservations marrying into such a close-knit family (the Shito household was composed of eight people that included the elderly), all her doubts soon disappeared after meeting them for they all seemed like good-natured people, so she didn't think twice about living with them under one roof.

For the first two months following her marriage, Noriko was in a state of marital bliss. Her in-laws treated her well and spoke of her highly, while her husband doted on her and loved her in a way that can only be likened to devotional worship. As far as everyone was concerned, Noriko married well and above her social status; she thought so as well, and could not have been more content to belong to such an illustrious family, until one of their tenants, an ice vendor, winds up dead under suspicious circumstances, shortly after trying to warn her about the Shitos...

It was all a matter of family. It was all a matter of people who shared the same blood.

Now You're One of Us offers a chilling tale of marital compromise and conformity set in the quiet suburbs of Tokyo, wherein Noriko's picturesque little world is shattered and carefully reconstructed to accommodate an understanding of what it truly means to become a Shito. This 239-paged paperback is a shocking immersion to an abnormal family culture, it forces you to continuously guess and speculate upon the secret harbored by the said family, and leaves you curious about the fate of the book's mentally overwrought protagonist, who, by the way, could end up as either the story's harried champion or heedless victim.

Writer Asa Nonami does quite well in setting up this macabre thriller by essentially keeping readers in the dark and systematically revealing only what is necessary. She leaves out the truth till the last few chapters of the book to  momentarily unveil and forever seal in the unspeakable. In doing so, the sinister dealings of the family and the reason behind their behavior are largely insinuated rather than spelled out which in turn cultivates a sense of dread and foreboding on the reader. Noriko's fear and confusion permeates through, as the story is told from the point of view of a young bride who's convinced that something evil and horrific is lurking behind the scenes, even when there's evidence to the contrary. Paranoia sets in. And readers can only take in what Noriko sees, hears, and feels, such that the narrative  turns into a mental battlefield. Her mindset constantly shifts; her emotional state, highly volatile.

A huge section of the book is devoted to recording Noriko's thought process, beginning with her rude awakening to the less than desirable attributes of the people she call her family. There's a series of events that would generally arouse suspicion and cement her fear---from waking up in the middle of the night to find the whole clan secretly convened to wondering why people from the neighborhood would drop by at all hours to pay respects to the old matriarch of the family. Make no mistake about it, Now You're One of Us certainly comes with a number of story elements typical of gothic novels to make it sufficiently eerie and disturbing. The only downside to this book is that since it follows Noriko's experience, readers are likewise a slave to the main character's vacillating attitude and emotions which readily translate to bouts of hysterical pondering and dissociative mood swings.

Besieged by fear, Noriko undergoes a form of mental  and physical conditioning, traversing doubt, shame and guilt. She's isolated and forcefully made to accept her husband's value system, and Asa Nonami painstakingly recounts the whole process by describing everything that's going on in Noriko's head. The whole ordeal is as grueling and tedious to a seasoned reader, however, the good news is that this so-called "process of indoctrination" lasts for a relatively short and manageable term. What remains thereafter is the revelation  of what lies beneath the amiable exterior of the Shito family and in the tradition of Rosemary's Baby, the source of all the suspense and horror in this quaint story itself is a kind of evil that's so taboo and primitive, it'll surely leave you reeling. 

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[1] Lifted from the synopsis of the book published by Vertical, Inc.

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