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A review by lkedzie
The Rope Artist by Fuminori Nakamura
4.0
It's like what if you wrote a detective story that itself was about the tension between noir fiction and hardboiled fiction.
Police detective Mikiya Togashi is called to investigate the apparent murder of a man, found in his apartment dead and folded up. Finding evidence that puts his ex-girlfriend as the lead suspect in the case, he tries to cover up her involvement while looking for the actual killer. Then things get worse.
The Rope Artist is a crime novel in the spirit of Chandler and Hammett, so much so the later at first that pointing it out felt like a backhanded compliment. But there is an atmosphere to it that feels unique, and as the book progresses it picks up an increasing number of metafictional and other literary techniques that set it apart from the greats. In a good way, mind you, but the roller coaster here is not only plot based but out of the structure of the narrative. I could see that not being for everyone.
Likewise, the connection with kink and specifically BDSM is almost a headfake. It is not a throwaway premise like a TV episode where each mystery delves into subculture, but nor is it about-about it, like to the extent that if masterful descriptions of ropework is going to get your blood up, it will disappoint (plenty of sex scenes in general though). Rather, the rope art is a means to a philosophical end, of discussion...well, the world, really, and life in general, but with getting tied up for sex as a framing device. I was reminded of when you find yourself sitting at the bar next to someone who has their particular grand theory of everything, and how everything in their world relates to _____ in a sort of paranoia without the pathology. But it is very much so in character voices, and usually contrasted with other character interpretations, or even characters readdressing their own former unified beliefs. That makes it memorable and engaging. Again, if you are just on-board for the detecting, it probably is not worth it, but if you want some conceptual wrestling in your moral ambiguity, this is for you.
Police detective Mikiya Togashi is called to investigate the apparent murder of a man, found in his apartment dead and folded up. Finding evidence that puts his ex-girlfriend as the lead suspect in the case, he tries to cover up her involvement while looking for the actual killer. Then things get worse.
The Rope Artist is a crime novel in the spirit of Chandler and Hammett, so much so the later at first that pointing it out felt like a backhanded compliment. But there is an atmosphere to it that feels unique, and as the book progresses it picks up an increasing number of metafictional and other literary techniques that set it apart from the greats. In a good way, mind you, but the roller coaster here is not only plot based but out of the structure of the narrative. I could see that not being for everyone.
Likewise, the connection with kink and specifically BDSM is almost a headfake. It is not a throwaway premise like a TV episode where each mystery delves into subculture, but nor is it about-about it, like to the extent that if masterful descriptions of ropework is going to get your blood up, it will disappoint (plenty of sex scenes in general though). Rather, the rope art is a means to a philosophical end, of discussion...well, the world, really, and life in general, but with getting tied up for sex as a framing device. I was reminded of when you find yourself sitting at the bar next to someone who has their particular grand theory of everything, and how everything in their world relates to _____ in a sort of paranoia without the pathology. But it is very much so in character voices, and usually contrasted with other character interpretations, or even characters readdressing their own former unified beliefs. That makes it memorable and engaging. Again, if you are just on-board for the detecting, it probably is not worth it, but if you want some conceptual wrestling in your moral ambiguity, this is for you.