Tag Archives: Japanese literature

Book review: Killing Commendatore

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Killing CommendatoreKilling Commendatore

by  Haruki Murakami
Knopf Publishing Group
10/09/2018
Genre: Literary fiction
688 pages
Goodreads

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In just a few days, I devoured this new 680 page novel by Murakami, and I’m still a bit stunned by its beauty, and disappointed I’m done. So far, I kept saying 1Q84 was my favorite by him, but now Killing Commendatore replaces the top place in my chart.
There’s something in Murakami‘s writing (or I should say, in his translator’s,  kudos to Philip Gabriel!) that I have not find in any other writer to that extent: I will call it a flow.

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Book review: The Lady Killer

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The Lady Killer

The Lady Killer

by  Masako Togawa
Pushkin Vertigo
First published in 1963
Republished 10/02/2018
Genre: Thrillers / Crime fiction
Pages: 224
Goodreads

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With The Master Key, the author Masako Togawa has gotten me used to very clever mysteries, a bit like another amazing Japanese mystery writer, Keigo Higashino in The Devotion of Suspect X, for instance. So I’m thrilled to present today another classic by Togawa: The Lady Killer. I actually don’t like the official synopsis, which I think takes off a major part of the suspense, so for your own reading pleasure, skip it.
Apart from that, Pushkin Vertigo is doing an awesome job at publishing mysteries in world literature.

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Book review: The Master Key

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The Master KeyThe Master Key

by  Masako Togawa
Translated by Simon Grove 
First published in Japanese in 1962
Penguin/Random/Pushkin Vertigo 3/27/2018
Genre: Crime/Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Japanese literature
Classics
Pages: 192
Goodreads

***

As you know if you visit my blog regularly, I quite enjoy Japanese literature, both recent and classic. I’m thrilled I got the opportunity to discover Masako Togawa, an important author who died only a couple of years ago, and to present her famous The Master Key, a really ingenious mystery. 

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