Synopsis
Out, by Natsuo Kirino is a story of four women who work at a boxed-lunch factory, each for their own reasons. They face difficulties with their respective families (or social lives), some worsened by bleak financial conditions. The situation changes when one of them snaps and murders her husband. Feeling at loss, she seeks the help of Masako Katori, who then decided that the best course of action was to dismember the corpse and spread it around, in hopes that the murder goes unnoticed. Of course, for there to be something for us to read, you know it has to go wrong.
A devious credit company owner soon adds two and two to discover the truth. Before long, Masako begins dismembering other corpses at the request of the yakuza, for a fee. Along the way, there are side stories, centering on the lives of each respective housewife/woman in the uncanny, bloodstained sisterhood held together by the deed they performed in Masako's bathroom, and a Brazillian immigrant who tries to sexually assault Masako at her workplace was also included for a little extra spice, all spured by the same reason, a little more happiness (or a little less misery in this case).
Although the original story is in Japanese, Stephen Snyder has done a wonderful job of translating it (not that I can read Japanese), while preserving a dark and gloomy atmosphere that thrills the senses. The details of each thought and conversation between the story's characters were an enlightening read on what human thoughts and logic when they search for a way out. I particularly enjoyed Masako's role, a gritty housewife significantly detached from her family, and Sato, a club owner charged with the murder of Kenji, the unfortunate husband. The two had a love and hate relationship that makes my emotional capacity look like a teaspoon.
Characters
Bad analogies behind, I thought Masako was beautiful in a way, with her cool-headedness and calculating attitude. Imagine the following conversation, Woman A:"I need your help, I accidentally killed my husband." Woman B:"Okay, lets dismember him and scatter the bits so no one finds out." This makes one wonder whether all (wo)men have it in them to do perform acts so gruesome that the society considers taboo. I guess it all comes down to that primal instinct in people to do something, out of desperation, despair, or otherwise. Her tenacity and ability to remain calm in the face of looming threats is also highly impressionable.
Then there's Yayoi, the youngest woman in the "sisterhood". Yayoi is portrayed as a rather fragile and dependent person, who somewhat lacks self-confidence, but has a good eye for people. Oh, she was the one who snapped and murdered her husband. Throughout the story, she is constantly described as being in a restless state, a person unable to resist the request of another when given a little persuasion. She owns a cat named Milk, who was the sole eyewitness to the murder. Poor Milk never came into the house again after Kenji was murdered at the doorstep, too bad (s)he can't testify, it would have made things a lot more interesting. Being fragile and having a "save me" look, she is often helped by Masako and Yoshie. As a result, she is often the target of envy for Kuniko.
In this story, Kuniko holds the award for "most screwups" and "most useless accomplice". A woman in her late thirties who spends all her money on cosmetic items such as clothes and cars, she is a regular patron of credit companies (cough* loan sharks *cough*). The words "chubby", "lazy" and "meaty" were used to describe her in the book, and in one scenario, was portrayed as "a crude interior trying to look refined" or somewhere along those lines. She is always trying to look for the easy way out, often at her own cost. She is also selfish, having seen to be asking for more reward for her part in the crime than was agreed.
Last but not least, we have the hardowrking but unfortunate Yoshie, also known as the "skipper" who sets the production pace for the assembly line in the boxed lunch factory. Unlucky Yoshie is forced to look after a daughter (in high school), a granddaughter, and her mother-in-law who requires extensive care (diapers anyone?). She joins the unlikely venture for one purpose, money. As she is the only bread winner in the family, the financial responsibilities are great, and working in a factory hardly guarantees a life of luxury. That may be one of the reasons she threw herself into a unique line of work. Although her character is a pitiable one, as she is seen struggling against all the odds thrown at her, she does get one stroke of good luck in the end.
The dismemberment scene was written in detail, and rightly so, since the author actually interviewed pathologists for maximum realism in her story. Again, the translator must have done a wonderful job, leading to a highly believable (to say the least) experience, which leads me to wonder how the French and German versions are faring.
Conclusion
An enlightening read on human thoughts, emotions, and interactions, how fragile family (or otherwise) relationships can be, and how easily relationships can be made in times of need. Oh, and the climax is simply exhilarating and breath takingly immersive, something I don't experience in every book.
P.S: 3 days to do a writeup like this? I does not have linguistic skillz
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