Nanase cannot remember when she first realized she could read people's minds, but not once during her eighteen years has she ever questioned her particularly unusual ability. Yet, working as a live-in maid, she is inevitably drawn into the lives, thoughts and desires of her employers, with dangerous and at times hilarious consequences. From the sexual rapaciousness of her first boss to the grime and stench of the house where she works next and her third employer's inability to accept she's no longer young, Nanase's adventures are a picaresque journey into the inner sanctum of the lives and psyches of ordinary Japanese people.
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"The nice thing about Tsutsui is that history and modernity combine effortlessly, as do drab reality and fantasy." - Philip Hensher, The Daily Telegraph "Imagine a manic J.G. Ballard, but one with an even darker past to work out." - Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian "Tsutsui stands squarely within the modern and post-modern domain from Franz Kafka to J.G. Ballard" - The Independent
About the Author
Born in Osaka, Yasutaka Tsutsui is particularly well known for his science fiction. After graduating from Doshisha University, he founded NULL, a science fiction magazine. His short story Oo-tasuke (Help) won him the recognition and respect of Rampo Edogawa, 'the father of Japanese mystery writing'. In 1970s Tsutsui began experimenting in a variety of styles, from slapstick and black humour. Winner of various awards including Izumi Kyoka Prize, Kawabata Prize and Yomiuri Literary Prize.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
2 reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
A somewhat interesting paranormal story
Oct 13 2012
By Mel u-The Reading Life
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
he Maid is the second novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui I have recently read. Just like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, The Maid is a work in the paranormal genre with a bit of science fiction about a young woman with special powers that set her very much apart from most people. Of the two works. I prefer The Maid.
Yasutaka Tsutsui (1934, Osaka) is considered one of the leading writers of science fiction in the Japanese language. He has received numerous awards and has several well regarded novels including Hell and Paprika.
Not too surprisingly, The Maid, set in contemporary Japan, is about a maid. What is special about this maid is that she can read minds. Based on these two novels, Tsutsui seems to develop one concept and work it in various situations. The maid is only 18 when we first meet her and the story is told by her in the first person. Nanase has always been able to read minds, she does not even think it is an unusual ability. The fun in this novel is seeing into the lives of the people who she works for as she moves from job to job. Through her perceptions, we see below the masks of civility worn in contemporary Japan into the darker recesses of the lives her employers. We see children with contempt for their parents, wives and husbands planning affairs and we listen in as one of her male employers wonders whether he could get away with raping her. Most of the time people are thinking about sex, their standing in the world and brooding about how bad their lives are. None of the employers comes off very well.
She works for a total of eight families, each one with their own chapter. I thought the most interesting parts of the book were in her first encounters with the members of the families when she was sort of sizing them up. She works for all sort of people, from professors to artists to retired businessmen but it is the women who run the families in most cases. She is attractive and that causes her problems. Some of the employers try to be nice and some do not even acknowledge she is a person but over all the employers come off looking bad. The Maid never seems to find any good or morally sound thoughts in anyone or any family or marital love. There is a sort of a feel to this book of "OK let us expose how evil people really are". I enjoyed reading about the different families and the concept was interesting.
Yasutaka Tsutsui (1934, Osaka) is considered one of the leading writers of science fiction in the Japanese language. He has received numerous awards and has several well regarded novels including Hell and Paprika.
Not too surprisingly, The Maid, set in contemporary Japan, is about a maid. What is special about this maid is that she can read minds. Based on these two novels, Tsutsui seems to develop one concept and work it in various situations. The maid is only 18 when we first meet her and the story is told by her in the first person. Nanase has always been able to read minds, she does not even think it is an unusual ability. The fun in this novel is seeing into the lives of the people who she works for as she moves from job to job. Through her perceptions, we see below the masks of civility worn in contemporary Japan into the darker recesses of the lives her employers. We see children with contempt for their parents, wives and husbands planning affairs and we listen in as one of her male employers wonders whether he could get away with raping her. Most of the time people are thinking about sex, their standing in the world and brooding about how bad their lives are. None of the employers comes off very well.
She works for a total of eight families, each one with their own chapter. I thought the most interesting parts of the book were in her first encounters with the members of the families when she was sort of sizing them up. She works for all sort of people, from professors to artists to retired businessmen but it is the women who run the families in most cases. She is attractive and that causes her problems. Some of the employers try to be nice and some do not even acknowledge she is a person but over all the employers come off looking bad. The Maid never seems to find any good or morally sound thoughts in anyone or any family or marital love. There is a sort of a feel to this book of "OK let us expose how evil people really are". I enjoyed reading about the different families and the concept was interesting.
3.0 out of 5 stars
'she thought of it as another sense, like hearing or sight'
April 22 2012
By sally tarbox
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Moderately interesting novel telling the story of 18 year old Nanase and her secret ability to read minds. As she works for eight families in turn as a maid she tunes in to the secret thoughts of their members- dissatisfied spouses planning affairs, young people despising their elders, an abstract artist who 'zones out' from his awful wife and son by visualising them as colored shapes, and a number of men who have bad intentions toward Nanase herself.
Sometimes she uses her insider knowledge to push events one way or another to save a marriage or avoid being assaulted.
Gives a very different picture of Japanese society to the polite, respectful one we envisage!
Sometimes she uses her insider knowledge to push events one way or another to save a marriage or avoid being assaulted.
Gives a very different picture of Japanese society to the polite, respectful one we envisage!
›
Go to Amazon.com to see both reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
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