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A review by jfictitional
Popular Hits of the Showa Era by Ryū Murakami
4.0
A book I think had to be read in one day, such is the mad energy it exudes.
Ryu Murakami - if you've seen Takashi Miike's "Audition," you know his style - is widely considered the master of Japanese satire, but their idea of satire is very different from America's - or anyone else's, really.
What starts as a nasty battle of the sexes between a group of nihilistic incels and desultory spinsters quickly escalates into absurd heights of bloody vengeance, wrenching open the cracks in a society that, at the time, was mired deep in an existential malaise it had no idea how to escape. The characters are repugnant, utterly mad and capable of momentary poignance; the plot is straightforward and propulsive; the disdain Murakami has for his country's failings is blistering. Definitely not for everyone, but those with the right frame of mind will find it darkly hilarious.
Content warnings: Murakami's way of making violence absurd is to describe it in as luridly graphic terms as possible. When it's also being committed by twenty-something losers who hate women, well, you get the idea. But don't worry, the ladies' revenge is even more horrific.
Ryu Murakami - if you've seen Takashi Miike's "Audition," you know his style - is widely considered the master of Japanese satire, but their idea of satire is very different from America's - or anyone else's, really.
What starts as a nasty battle of the sexes between a group of nihilistic incels and desultory spinsters quickly escalates into absurd heights of bloody vengeance, wrenching open the cracks in a society that, at the time, was mired deep in an existential malaise it had no idea how to escape. The characters are repugnant, utterly mad and capable of momentary poignance; the plot is straightforward and propulsive; the disdain Murakami has for his country's failings is blistering. Definitely not for everyone, but those with the right frame of mind will find it darkly hilarious.
Content warnings: Murakami's way of making violence absurd is to describe it in as luridly graphic terms as possible. When it's also being committed by twenty-something losers who hate women, well, you get the idea. But don't worry, the ladies' revenge is even more horrific.