"Villain" by Shuichi Yoshida

[Mulboyne]

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I've just finished reading a translation of "Villain" by Shuichi Yoshida which came out earlier this year. The original, called "Akunin" was published in 2007 and has been turned into a film of the same name (trailer above). In the West, the author is being marketed as the next Stieg Larsson in an ambitious attempt to cash in on the apparent popularity of translated crime fiction (an earlier big push on Natsuo Kirino didn't really pay off). Yoshida is nothing like Larsson but I enjoyed "Villain". Crime fiction frequently reflects problems in society faster than any other genre. "Villain" doesn't deal with any big issue, in the way some recent Japanese bestsellers have looked at cyberbullying, insurance fraud or loansharking. Instead it's the small details which accumulate to give you a sense of underlying melancholy and loneliness as the story plays out. It's also set in Kyushu which is something of a welcome break from the big city focus of crime books set in Tokyo and Osaka. The denouement didn't really work for me but if you want to read a new book which has a good feel for contemporary Japan, then this isn't a bad option. NPR reviewed the book here and included a small excerpt.