OUT By Natsuo Kirino; Winner of Naoki price for Literature
Protagonist: Masako Katori
Others: Yoshie, Kuniko, Yayoi, Satake etc
The novel dwells into the underbelly of the most populous city on the planet “Tokyo”. Our main character works in a food packaging company preparing Tiffin boxes as a part timer. The story begins with an in-depth analysis of their monotonous existence; in which they are supposed to look after their respective families, have to work in sub-human conditions and more importantly BEHAVE NORMAL. The story takes a cold blooded turn with the murder of Yayoi’s husband (by Yayoi herself in a fist of anger). No! There isn’t any attempt to present this part as a mystery. Rather, it’s the facet that integrates these four presumably different characters for a more gruesome finale. The foursome decides to dispose off the body by splitting the entire body mass into four portions. How Masako forces the other two characters (Yoshie & Kuniko) in helping them out is another slice of story telling. Each of them is suppose to dispose off their allotted baggage (containing different parts of the dead body) and Masako volunteers to dispose off the head along with the mutilated torso. And just when it seems that the master plan has worked, comes one twist after another. Another character Satake gets embroiled in this web of murder, deceit and lies. I wouldn’t divulge the entire story lest it robs off the fun quotient. But let me warn one and all that this stuff is definitely not for the juvenile mind. The story telling is straight, taut and is full of gory details. So all you psychopaths; enjoy the obliteration.
Regards to all