The Boy in the Earth is a novella that delves deep into the life of an unnamed twenty-something taxi driver in Tokyo, who recounts his tumultuous past from abandonment to his current state. Written in an existentialist tone, the narrative offers flashes of his troubled childhood marked by abuse and instability. The protagonist's monologue, with interjections from his alcoholic girlfriend, slowly reveals his self-destructive tendencies and disturbing memories, ultimately exploring themes of depression, alienation, and the search for meaning in life.
The author, Fuminori Nakamura, skillfully crafts a narrative that is both introspective and psychologically gripping. Through spare prose and in-depth character exploration, Nakamura presents a story that forces readers to confront themes of existential angst, societal alienation, and the complexities of human nature. The novella, while short in length, offers a profound examination of the protagonist's inner turmoil and the impact of his traumatic past on his present existence.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The book contains high content warnings for themes of trauma, depression, self-harm, and substance abuse.
From The Publisher:
A darkly melancholic tale that combines Scorsese's Taxi Driver and Camus's The Fall set in Tokyo-Nakamura's Akutagawa Prize-winning novel, one of Japan's most prestigious literary awards, is the here translated into English for the first time and marks another high-water mark in this important writer's career.
The Akutagawa Prize-Winning Novel
As an unnamed Tokyo taxi driver works a night shift, picking up fares that offer him glimpses into the lives of ordinary people, he can't escape his own nihilistic thoughts. Almost without meaning to, he puts himself in harm's way; he can't stop daydreaming of suicide, envisioning himself returning to the earth in obsessive fantasies that soon become terrifying blackout episodes. The truth is, his long-estranged father has tried to reach out to him, triggering a cascade of traumatic memories. As the cab driver wrestles with the truth about his past and the history of violence in his childhood, he must also confront his present, which is no less complicated or grim.
A precursor to Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist The Thief, The Boy in the Earth is a closely told character study that poses a difficult question: Are some lives so damaged they are beyond redemption? Is every child worth trying to save? A poignant and thought-provoking tour de force by one of Japan's leading literary voices.
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About the Author:
Fuminori Nakamura was born in 1977 and graduated from Fukushima University in 2000. He has won numerous prizes for his writing, including the Ōe Prize, Japan's largest literary award; the David L. Goodis Award for Noir Fiction; and the prestigious Akutagawa Prize. The Thief, his first novel to be translated into English, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His other novels include The Gun, The Kingdom, Evil and the Mask, and Last Winter, We Parted.
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