Scan barcode
A review by mohabbataien
Real World by Natsuo Kirino
3.0
*3.5
The ongoing theme of recognized alienation (the constant repetition of a "others can't understand me but I can't understand them fully either" mentality) that was woven through all the character POVs came to a crescendo with Terauchi. Her ability to understand fundamental truths about the people around her destroyed the perception that they alone could understand themselves.
With characters like Worm, Kirarin, and Yuzan, complicated emotions and struggles from their perspective became simple and easy-to-digest facts about the people they were from Terauchi's POV.
Despite her knowledge of others, she was truly the most alienated from the world. Her deep thinkings of abstractions -- a useful tool for her to understand the motivations and characters of others ultimately fails her when she calls the police on Worm (leading to Kirarin's death). While being able to observe the actions of others as a third-party witness provides insight, viewing oneself from the same lens leads to an alienation from oneself. Usually, when the self is divided it seeks to reduce itself back into a simpler form. The other characters in the book did many morally grey things, but their worldviews kept them whole. When a part of them doubted themselves, their belief that only they could understand themselves in this world kept them together.
Terauchi's ability to ponder on and accept the complexities of human nature (ex: accepting a person you don't trust and its impact on the psyche) becomes a disadvantage when she is unable to become one with her actions. She believes she did a wrong thing and this clashes with her worldview that centers around her being the impartial observer. She can't come to terms with herself because she has broken her own trust, and this stems from her relationship with her mother, who sowed these seeds of mistrust within her. Now with two clashing ideas of the world within her mind, and stuck with the inability to reduce or conjoin them, Terauchi takes her own life -- the inevitable and easy way out, according to herself.
After Terauchi's death, Toshi absorbs Terauchi's original objective worldview into herself. At the end, Toshi is able to do what Terauchi couldn't (though most likely Terauchi knew Toshi would be able to do this) and takes irreparable route of living with a facing-facts worldview in the face of events that are also irreparable.
The ongoing theme of recognized alienation (the constant repetition of a "others can't understand me but I can't understand them fully either" mentality) that was woven through all the character POVs came to a crescendo with Terauchi. Her ability to understand fundamental truths about the people around her destroyed the perception that they alone could understand themselves.
With characters like Worm, Kirarin, and Yuzan, complicated emotions and struggles from their perspective became simple and easy-to-digest facts about the people they were from Terauchi's POV.
Despite her knowledge of others, she was truly the most alienated from the world. Her deep thinkings of abstractions -- a useful tool for her to understand the motivations and characters of others ultimately fails her when she calls the police on Worm (leading to Kirarin's death). While being able to observe the actions of others as a third-party witness provides insight, viewing oneself from the same lens leads to an alienation from oneself. Usually, when the self is divided it seeks to reduce itself back into a simpler form. The other characters in the book did many morally grey things, but their worldviews kept them whole. When a part of them doubted themselves, their belief that only they could understand themselves in this world kept them together.
Terauchi's ability to ponder on and accept the complexities of human nature (ex: accepting a person you don't trust and its impact on the psyche) becomes a disadvantage when she is unable to become one with her actions. She believes she did a wrong thing and this clashes with her worldview that centers around her being the impartial observer. She can't come to terms with herself because she has broken her own trust, and this stems from her relationship with her mother, who sowed these seeds of mistrust within her. Now with two clashing ideas of the world within her mind, and stuck with the inability to reduce or conjoin them, Terauchi takes her own life -- the inevitable and easy way out, according to herself.
After Terauchi's death, Toshi absorbs Terauchi's original objective worldview into herself. At the end, Toshi is able to do what Terauchi couldn't (though most likely Terauchi knew Toshi would be able to do this) and takes irreparable route of living with a facing-facts worldview in the face of events that are also irreparable.