Natsuo Kirino
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Natsuo Kirino (桐野夏生) (nom de plume, real name Mariko Hashioka), born in 1951 in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, is a Japanese novelist and a leading figure in the recent boom of female writers of Japanese detective fiction.[1] A prolific writer, she is most famous for her 1997 novel, Out, which received the Grand Prix for Crime Fiction, Japan's top mystery award, and was a finalist (in English translation) for the 2004 Edgar Award. In addition, Kirino received the 1993 Edogawa Rampo Prize for mystery fiction for her debut novel, Kao ni furikakeru ame (Rain Falling on My Face), and the 1999 Naoki Prize for her novel Yawarakana hoho [Soft Cheeks]. So far, two of her novels (Out and Grotesque) have been translated into English, with a third (Zangyakuki) to follow in 2008 (under the English title What Remains). The latter novel, a violent tale of childhood abuse and sexual degradation, enjoyed a considerable readership in Japan; Kirino, however, has expressed doubts that it will do as well in the U.S. market [2] Kirino also has written an installment in the Canongate "Myths" series (concerning the myth of Izanagi and Izanami), to be published in 2009.
A Japanese film adaptation of Out, directed by Hirayama Hideyuki, was released in 2002 to generally tepid reviews. According to Variety (on-line edition), New Line Cinema has purchased the rights for an American version, to be directed by Nakata Hideo (Ringu, Ringu 2).[3]
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] Fiction
- Kao ni furikakeru ame (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1993)
- Tenshi ni misuterareta yoru (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1994)
- Auto [Out] (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1997); English translation by Stephen Snyder as Out (New York: Kodansha, 2003; New York: Vintage, 2005)
- Sabiru kokoro (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 1997)
- Mizu no nemuri hai no yume (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 1998)
- Faiaboro burusu [Fireball Blues] (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 1998)
- Jiorama [Diorama] (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 1998)
- Yawarakana hoho (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1999); French translation by Silvain Chupain as Disparitions (Paris: Rocher, 2002)
- Rozu gâden [Rose Garden] (Tokyo: Kodansha, 2000)
- Gyokuran (Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 2001)
- Dâku [Dark] (Tokyo: Kodansha: 2002)
- Gurotesuku [Grotesque] (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 2003); English translation by Rebecca L. Copeland as Grotesque (New York: Knopf, 2007)
- Kogen (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 2003)
- Riaru warudo [Real World] (Tokyo: Shueisha, 2003)
- Zangyakuki (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 2004)
- Tamamoe! (Tokyo: Mainichi Shinbunsha, 2005)
- Boken no kuni (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 2005)
[edit] Works on Kirino
- Rebecca L. Copeland, "Woman uncovered: pornography and power in the detective fiction of Kirino Natsuo," Japan Forum 16/2 (2004): 249-69
- Amanda C. Seaman, Bodies of Evidence: Women, Society, and Detective Fiction in 1990s Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2004), 86-118
- Idem, "Inside OUT: Space, Gender, and Power in Kirino Natsuo," Japanese Language and Literature 40/2 (2006): 197-217
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ The basic biographical details can be found on Kirino's official web site, BUBBLONIA, accessed May 25, 2007. On the rise of Japanese women's detective fiction, and Kirino's role in it, see Seaman, Bodies of Evidence, 10-25.
- ^ See Margy Rochlin, "Grotesque: Natsuo Kirino's Dark World," in LA Weekly (3 July 2007)
- ^ New Line thrills to 'Out' with Nakata. Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
