Original Title: オーディション (Audition)
Author: Murakami Ryu
Translator: Ralph McCarthy
Published date: June 7, 2010
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Format: Paperback, 191 pages

Blurb:

Documentary-maker Aoyama hasn't dated anyone in the seven years since the death of his beloved wife, Ryoko. Now even his teenage son Shige has suggested he think about remarrying. So when his best friend Yoshikawa comes up with a plan to hold fake film auditions so that Aoyama can choose a new bride, he decides to go along with the idea.

Review:

Too many highfalutin words which made it harder to read. Too much details about Aoyama's backstory and it could be removed without hurting the plot. Despite of that, I really liked Murakami Ryu's writing style. He, indeed, has a way with words. I loved his descriptions and how he relates it to other things and make the readers feel what he wanted to convey.

"But sometimes things happen that no one hopes for. Events that cause everything you've worked hard towards, the life you've carefully constructed piece by piece, to come tumbling down all around you. No one is to blame, but you're left with a wound you can't heal on your own and can't believe you'll ever learn to accept, so you struggle to escape the pain. Only time can heal wounds as deep as that - a lot of time - and all you can really do is place yourself in its hands and try to consider the passing of each day a victory."

I was also impressed with his techniques at foreshadowing. I learned a lot from reading this book.

There was no likeable characters except Yamasaki Asami. Aside from the author's brilliant prose, she was the saving grace of the story. I was amazed about the way this character was created. The way the author described her was impeccable.

"She's like a smoke: you think you're seeing her clearly enough, but when you reach for her there's nothing there."
"She's either a saint or a monster. Maybe both extremes at once, but not somewhere in between."

I would love to read a version of this novel in her point of view. I was more intrigued with her than Aoyama's sickening monologues and infuriating viewpoint about certain things, like:

"There had to be something wrong with any woman who dreamed of being an actress."

Wow. Just one sentence and even though I never dreamed of becoming one, I was seriously trigged. Yoshikawa also said something equally provoking:

"There's no such thing as an actress with a stable personality."

Nevertheless, the climax of the story makes up for the lack of tension in the previous chapters. It was so intense I could hardly breathe. But the ending was just so-so. I was a fan of Audition's cult classic film adaptation and watched it more than twice. It was the main reason I badly wanted to own a copy and read this novel. Though I have a few disappointments as the movie was better than the original story, I think it was worth the read.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

A young  man makes a shocking discovery while visiting his parents’ home. Along with a purse and a lock of hair that may have belonged to his recently deceased mother, Ryosuke finds three journals with notes that seem to be the confessions of a murderer.
Now, he has to figure out what’s fact, what’s fiction... and who are these people he’s called “Mom” and “Dad.”
Available for the first time in English, Nan-Core is an unsettling, unrelentingly suspenseful tale from one of Japan's most intriguing novelists.

Review:
So I bought my copy of the book on my local go-to bookshop on Facebook which sells various pre-loved and remaindered books online.

I started reading it with knowledge of what will happen in the story, and I guess that's where I went wrong. After I put down the book, I sighed because I ended up being quite disappointed with it. Yes, this is one of the few instances wherein the movie was better than the original novel.

Although I love how easy it was to read, I couldn't help but point out that the translation was a bit cringey and there were also a few typos in the book. The format or style of how it was written was awkward especially when it's the father's turn to narrate his part of the story. It should've been better if all have been in third person point of view except for the notebooks.

Another factor would be the change in the title to "Nan-Core". To me, it seemed like they were trying too hard to find an English equivalent to a unique and special word that was only created for this novel. They should've just stick with the original title instead.

Still, I gave it a pretty high score because I still love the whole story and it was something you wouldn't read very often.

Rating: ★★★★☆