A review by pekochan
教団X by 中村文則, Fuminori Nakamura

Mainly kept on with this book because I hadn't read a book in Japanese in a long time and the lack of literary flourishes in its writing style made it a straightforward read in that sense. In short, unsure as to how I feel about the more disturbing parts as well as the way everything was wrapped up, the narrative felt overcrowded and the book was more times than not a slog to get through. However, have to shout out the fact that points were made, particularly in the last third of this book—the comments on revisionist history, the military-industrial complex, nationalism, Yasukuni shrine, etc. are unfortunate realities and it was honestly a pleasant surprise considering how mainstream the far-right is in Japan. Also appreciated the parting words of Matsuo because that often is the only way I feel we can get through life; hang on to the good and keep fighting for justice no matter how futile it seems.

The book frequently came off as fractured (which makes sense because it was originally published in a serialized format) and I'm inclined to judge different facets of it individually instead of as a whole so at this moment that is exactly what I'm going to do: take the bits I enjoyed from it and just leave the rest of it behind. Most likely would not recommend to anyone but I imagine parts of it will come up in future conversations. Mostly just glad to be done with it lmao