All She Was Worth

Rating:
Summary: "I just wanted to be happy ..."
Review: I had never read anything of Miyabe's before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I had heard about all of the hype this book received in Japan, so I was curious to see what it would be like when I actually read it.

I was definitely not disappointed. At its core, Miyabe's tale has a very real lesson about the dangers of credit card debt. But what makes the story a real gem is the way that Miyabe tells the story of Shinjo Kyoko and the way she manipulates the way that Honma (and thus the reader) looks at her: as a mysterious petty criminal, a heinous murderer, a dreamer, a star-crossed victim; shallow, desperate, superstitious, heartless, ugly, and beautiful. The ending (it would be hard to call it a "resolution") was fitting: there is no end to this tale yet, as Kyoko is still fleeing, even after being found. Still, it's frustrating not to know what they all talked about in the restaurant at the end. Miyabe leaves it up to the imagination: What would Tamotsu say to the person who killed his childhood friend? What does Kimura Kozue say to the woman that came to kill her in cold-blood? As Honma says, perhaps the best thing would be to just listen to the story that Kyoko has lived but has yet to tell to another. But that's easy for him to say: unlike the others who had the misfortune to run across Kyoko, Honma did not have to pay in blood or heartbreak.

I did not read the English translation, but I hope the translator was able to capture the subtlety and fluidity of Miyabe's prose. I'd be interested to know how the accents and dialects were translated into English.

This book was a beauty ... I hope more of her work is translated soon so a wider audience can enjoy her books! A must-read.

Rating:
Summary: "I just wanted to be happy ..."
Review: I had never read anything of Miyabe's before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I had heard about all of the hype this book received in Japan, so I was curious to see what it would be like when I actually read it.

I was definitely not disappointed. At its core, Miyabe's tale has a very real lesson about the dangers of credit card debt. But what makes the story a real gem is the way that Miyabe tells the story of Shinjo Kyoko and the way she manipulates the way that Honma (and thus the reader) looks at her: as a mysterious petty criminal, a heinous murderer, a dreamer, a star-crossed victim; shallow, desperate, superstitious, heartless, ugly, and beautiful. The ending (it would be hard to call it a "resolution") was fitting: there is no end to this tale yet, as Kyoko is still fleeing, even after being found. Still, it's frustrating not to know what they all talked about in the restaurant at the end. Miyabe leaves it up to the imagination: What would Tamotsu say to the person who killed his childhood friend? What does Kimura Kozue say to the woman that came to kill her in cold-blood? As Honma says, perhaps the best thing would be to just listen to the story that Kyoko has lived but has yet to tell to another. But that's easy for him to say: unlike the others who had the misfortune to run across Kyoko, Honma did not have to pay in blood or heartbreak.

I did not read the English translation, but I hope the translator was able to capture the subtlety and fluidity of Miyabe's prose. I'd be interested to know how the accents and dialects were translated into English.

This book was a beauty ... I hope more of her work is translated soon so a wider audience can enjoy her books! A must-read.

Rating:
Summary: Boring
Review: I haven't been able to finish the book, out of boredom. Made it to about page 156 out of about 300. The characters and plot are utterly mundane. There is no sense of magic or true mystery or any interesting insights into life. Compare this book with Haruki Murakami's books -- his books are filled with interest.

Rating:
Summary: Translate more Miyabe
Review: I liked this book very much and lent it to many others. I agree with the other reviewers here that it transcends the mystery category. Recently saw one of Miyabe's ghost stories performed at New York's Japan Society -- that also was excellent. Have been looking for other work by the author but it appears nothing else has been published in English. It would be great if Random House (or another publisher) would pick up her backlist and translate it.

Rating:
Summary: Have fun figuring this one out!
Review: I'm not a mystery fan, but I was intrigued by the synopsis on the back. This is an excellent book. Not because you don't know what happens (that's easy to figure out), but because you have no idea how things were done. Too bad more of this author's books haven't been translated into English.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting both as mystery & a look into Japanese culture
Review: In Japan, a police inspector on leave to recover from a gunshot wound is enlisted by his nephew to find his missing fiancee. Soon, he is on the trail of a woman who may have committed murder to steal the identity of another. This novel definitely benefits from its exotic setting. Interesting facts and insights into Japanese society enliven a mystery that seems a bit plodding at times. Although it drags in the middle, it really begins to pick up momentum again toward the end. The finale reveals that this novel is not really about the mystery so much as it is about Inspector Honma and his drive to solve the puzzle. Honma is a well-drawn character, but I would have been happier if the novel had provided more closure concerning the runaway fiancee.

Rating:
Summary: good mystery, intriguing look at current Japanese culture
Review: Interesting mystery; not too hard to figure out the plot, but still a pleasure to follow the detective as he unravels the mystery. Also very interesting look at Japanese culture.

Rating:
Summary: For Want Of A Penny
Review: It is a shame that this single volume is the only novel of Miyuki Miyabe's that has made it into translation. In Japan, Miyabe is a highly successful writer whose novels have been adapted into 10 films as well. Here she is only barely known, represented only by a single detective story - All She Was Worth.

The novel tells the story of Shinsuke Honma, a middle-aged police detective who is off duty while recovering from a gunshot wound to his leg. The enforced inactivity has begun to wear thin on him, and a request from a distant relative to investigate the disappearance of his fianc?e - Shoko Sekine tempts him into a freelance investigation that is part meticulous investigation and part social commentary. Shoko disappeared when it was revealed that she had gone through a personal bankruptcy. Honma discovers layer after layer of misdirection and subterfuge - the disappearance is only a reflection of the grim truth.

The telling of the story reveals many of the inherent differences between Japanese and Western writing, even as it pares away at a social problem - easy credit and indebtedness - that is universal in both cultures. The telling is extremely detailed, with a strong focus not on the plot, but on the social and family milieus of the characters. The style is very naturalistic, and may irk American readers who are so used to stories that are action based and plot driven. Yet there are opportunities here for the writer to indulge of some niceties of language, many of which come through despite it being a translation.

What Miyabe has chronicled is the lives of ordinary Japanese, carrying on with their lives, not the flashy high tech or Samurai mythos face of Japan that we see most often in imported Japanese culture. This is quite eye-opening, even as we realize that quiet desperation is just a Western phenomenon. In a sense, the plot itself isn't very important. In fact, the reader will know from fairly early in the novel what the crime is and who committed it. But the details of Honma's investigation, the bits of his family life, the fine grains of Shoko Sekine's own adventures, fit together like a puzzle, forming a compelling whole of their own. As such, this is an excellent introduction into what makes Japanese popular fiction tick.

Rating:
Summary: For Want Of A Penny
Review: It is a shame that this single volume is the only novel of Miyuki Miyabe's that has made it into translation. In Japan, Miyabe is a highly successful writer whose novels have been adapted into 10 films as well. Here she is only barely known, represented only by a single detective story - All She Was Worth.

The novel tells the story of Shinsuke Honma, a middle-aged police detective who is off duty while recovering from a gunshot wound to his leg. The enforced inactivity has begun to wear thin on him, and a request from a distant relative to investigate the disappearance of his fiancée - Shoko Sekine tempts him into a freelance investigation that is part meticulous investigation and part social commentary. Shoko disappeared when it was revealed that she had gone through a personal bankruptcy. Honma discovers layer after layer of misdirection and subterfuge - the disappearance is only a reflection of the grim truth.

The telling of the story reveals many of the inherent differences between Japanese and Western writing, even as it pares away at a social problem - easy credit and indebtedness - that is universal in both cultures. The telling is extremely detailed, with a strong focus not on the plot, but on the social and family milieus of the characters. The style is very naturalistic, and may irk American readers who are so used to stories that are action based and plot driven. Yet there are opportunities here for the writer to indulge of some niceties of language, many of which come through despite it being a translation.

What Miyabe has chronicled is the lives of ordinary Japanese, carrying on with their lives, not the flashy high tech or Samurai mythos face of Japan that we see most often in imported Japanese culture. This is quite eye-opening, even as we realize that quiet desperation is just a Western phenomenon. In a sense, the plot itself isn't very important. In fact, the reader will know from fairly early in the novel what the crime is and who committed it. But the details of Honma's investigation, the bits of his family life, the fine grains of Shoko Sekine's own adventures, fit together like a puzzle, forming a compelling whole of their own. As such, this is an excellent introduction into what makes Japanese popular fiction tick.

Rating:
Summary: Cultural Gap Almost Bridged
Review: It is extremely interesting to read the customer reviews such as the one which gives this book a low rating because it has "an unsatisfying ending". You will find a review at Amazon.co.jp on the same book saying the exact opposite. The best part of the book, the Japanese reader says, is the ending. The rest of the book is just a prelude. In spite of the favorable rating by most of the reviewers of the English version, these opposing reviews speak more about the book than all the rest. It is a book that almost comes across over the cultural gap. As such, the English version - despite the numerous informative passages - is something of a strip tease as well as a mystery. Don't expect an American novel. This book will not easily fit into a familiar formula.