Yasumi Kobayashi is an author of SF, horror and mystery novels. His novel『アリス殺し』is very popular in Korea (I have often seen it among the steady sellers), but I had never read Yasumi Kobayashi before.
Setting
Our protagonist, Nikichi Tamura, suffers from anterograde amnesia. He cannot create new memories and forgets everything new (what has happened, why he came where he is, what he wanted to do) after 10 minutes.
The 殺人鬼 mentioned in the title is a man who can inject new memories in other people’s mind.
Review
I enjoyed reading this book very much, but it was not what I expected. I think that I was misled by the cover which does not look like the cover of a suspenseful psycho-thriller. I thought this book would mainly be a realistic depiction of what it means to live with anterograde amnesia, and that it would simply have some kind of mystery element attached to it. It was the reverse: this book is mainly a suspenseful thriller that incorporates thoughts and elements linked to amnesia and memory.
I don’t mean to say that I was disappointed in the book. On the contrary, I was engrossed in it from beginning to end,
There are interesting thoughts about how our memory works and how much we can trust it. It also shows, through the character of the “殺人鬼” how much we rely on it, to the point where we can go against our interests, values and personality. The author asks the question: what would happen if someone could inject new memories in your train of thoughts? The answer really sent shivers down my spine!
(I happen to be reading The Body by Bill Bryson as I write this review, and I have just read the passage saying that “it is possible through suggestion to implant entirely false memories in people’s heads” (p.56), even convince people that they committed and were arrested for a crime in their youth, to the point where they actually recall the event and add “vivid incriminating details” to this imaginary past (see footnote 3). This is fascinating and scary! 😮😱)
If you are looking for a page-turner,『殺人鬼にまつわる備忘録』is exactly that. It is suspenseful, easy to read, has a lot of dialogues and also contains fascinating thoughts about memory. But be aware that it does contain violence and I found every scene related to the 殺人鬼 relatively disturbing… I even made a horrible nightmare clearly inspired by the book after reading it, haha!
About
I’m learning Japanese, Korean and Chinese to read mystery novels and play video games in these languages.
Learning languages has always been one of my favourite hobbies, but I’m not a social person, I don’t like to meet new people and make friends, this is just not me. I keep hearing that languages are meant for communication, that we have to actively use them, talk to people, etc. and for a long time, I thought I was weird to learn languages just for me, just to enjoy media, culture and entertainment in a foreign language, with absolutely zero interest in communicating with natives.
Now I don’t really care what people think, and this blog helped me a lot to stop doubting myself and just do what I enjoy doing.
There is a movie titled “Memento” with a similar plot in year 2000. Check it out! It’s the same story with this guy having anterograde amnesia and trying to hunt down the killer who killer his wife and son.
I have heard this film mentioned before, but I didn’t know it was about anterograde amnesia! I will definitely watch it, thank you!
You’re welcome. By the way, I like looking at your drawing in each post. It’s so adorable and かわいい。 May I know which apps or tools you use to draw?
Thank you very much 😊 I’m using Clip Studio Paint, and I draw on my Surface pro 4. I love using my Surface to draw, it’s very convenient!