Reviewed by Sin - In the Pool

IN THE POOL
By Hideo Okuda
*English translation
Amazon link


"In the Pool", by Hideo Okuda, is a collection of five stories with two things in common: The protagonists all have an unusual problem, with a relatable human core, and they are all under the care of doctor Ichiro Irabu, head of neurology. Along with his indifferent nurse, Mayumi, Doctor Irabu specializes in indulging his patient's irrational, self-destructive impulses. Whether it be compulsively swimming, or text messaging their lives away, doctor Irabu is there to tell them everything is all right.

By the second story you can see the method behind doctor Irabu's madness, while his patients are left in the dark. Seeing how each patient deals with having the most fucked up aspect of themselves encouraged, and eventually figure out why, is the brilliance behind "In the Pool." Yet, as much as you come to know each character and why they are the way they are, the "real" doctor Irabu remains a mystery. Where does the therapy end, and the person behind it begin? I just read the book, and I have no idea, yet it's impossible to dismiss doctor Irabu as crazy. He has a vision, and it comes complete with mommy issues and a pea green porsche.

It's rare that a book makes me laugh out loud, but this one did it repeatedly. It also made me feel bad for the characters, and root for the ones that got their lives together. My favorite story is the first, titled "In the Pool", about a man whose stress drives him to swim. Soon a few laps isn't enough, and it becomes impossible to balance his trips to the pool with the rest of his life. Here, and in the other stories, the journey is what's important, even when the characters don't get where they wanted to go.

Personal rating = A+

Reviewed by Sin - "Piercing"

"Piercing"
by Ryu Murakami (English translation)






Gore: Done with visceral finesse

Sex: Dirty in all the right places

Angst: Like an ice pick to the gut


I read this book in one night, and the next night I went out and bought "Almost Transparent Blue" (also by Ryu Murakami). I read that one last night, went online and bought "In the Miso Soup." As soon as I get another coupon from BORDERS, I'll go buy "69." Though I am pounding these novels like fast food cheeseburgers, rest assured this is not literary fast food. "Piercing" is a fantastic, complex tale about the steps some people take to keep their lives together.

The story centers around a young man named Kawashima, and a very simple premise: he is afraid that he is going to stab his newborn daughter with an ice pick. For ten nights in a row he looms over the crib, ice pick in hand, and tells himself it would never happen. Except he knows that it might, and that would be bad. He had a good job, a wonderful wife, and a bright future. Why throw that away, when he can be proactive about finding a solution?

The story starts out quiet and contemplative, during which we get to know Kawashima extremely well. He is a complicated person, who I found easy to sympathize with. Others may disagree. As his story progresses, Kawashima's well laid plans unwind slowly then unravel, as present events intertwine with old memories and deep psychological wounds. The second half of the novel is as brutal, and has a rare treat: a ending I truly didn't see coming.

Of course, one always worries with novels translated from other languages. I didn't see any red flags while I was reading, and my gut tells me "Piercing" was translated with extreme care. I recommend this to anyone who is into psychological horror, and anyone who thinks Japan can be summed up by anime and Hello Kitty. Every country bleeds. All you need is someone to show you where.

The Cardinal's Blades by Pierre Pevel

I'm so glad to see that this book will be released in the U.S. this October. I ordered my hardback copy from England at great expense, but it was worth every penny.

The book is set in seventeenth century Paris, which is a hotbed of intrigue and deception and dashing musketeers. Necessity has caused Cardinal Richelieu to recall the group of elite spies known as the Cardinal's Blades, disbanded five years ago after a disastrous turn of events that left one of their number dead and another exposed as a traitor. Captain La Fargue is reluctant to accept the reinstatement; the memories of the betrayal by one of his closest friends still hurts him, and he doesn't entirely trust the cardinal, either.

After reading the first 50 pages, I knew I was in the hands of a master. I also had no earthly idea what was going on in the book, but that was okay, because Pevel obviously knew what he was doing. There are so many schemes and intrigues, so many spies and hired thugs and turncoats, so many plots and subplots and counterplots, that a lesser author would have gotten bogged down halfway through and resorted to a lame bunch of coincidences to sort everything out. Pevel never gets bogged down, and the story progresses inexorably to a brilliant climax. I was left guessing and surprised right down to the very last sentence.

There are a lot of characters, all with French names, which I found difficult to remember. I almost made a list to keep track--I hope the North American release has a cast of characters in the front; it would really help. But the characters are so strongly drawn and memorable that I rarely had trouble figuring out who was meant, even if I couldn't place the name right away.

This is a swashbuckling adventure, full of action and violence. It's not easy to describe a swordfight without getting mired in detail that slows the pace, but Pevel is a master of writing action. The fights never went on too long, but they were always exciting.

I read one review a few months ago that mentioned the sexism in the book. I didn't see it at all. One of the blades is a woman, Agnes, who is one of the most important characters in the book's climax; all the other female characters are similarly strong and fully realized.

Since so many characters aren't what they seem, it's hard to know who's the bad guy and who's the good guy. I loved that. I found myself mentally booing a character one paragraph and then pulling for him or her the next. In a less perfectly executed book, I'd be annoyed at the uncertainty. Here it works so well I can't imagine it being any other way.

A big shout-out to Pevel's translator, Tom Clegg, who kept the flavor of the French language while doing a great job making everything clear. That can't be an easy job, especially not with a book like this one.

I hope there's a sequel.

B&N preorder link