“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Chapter 1: The Poisoning The novel opens with the horrific mass poisoning at the Aosawa family estate during a […]
Japanese literature
Under the Midnight Sun
“The sun never sets on some sins.” Prologue The novel opens in Osaka, 1973, with the brutal murder of a pawnshop owner, Yosuke Kirihara. Detective Sasagaki is assigned […]
Japanese literature
Journey Under the Midnight Sun
“The sun doesn’t go down, and the darkness never comes. That’s what the midnight sun is like.” Chapter 1: The Murder at the Pawnshop The story begins in […]
Japanese literature
Malice
“The moment I heard about the murder, I knew who did it. The only question was whether I could prove it.” Chapter 1: The Discovery Novelist Kunihiko Hidaka […]
Japanese literature
The Devotion of Suspect X
“Logic can be twisted to serve any purpose. The only truth is what you choose to believe.” Chapter 1: The Crime The novel opens with Yasuko Hanaoka, a […]
Japanese literature
Paprika
“The border between dream and reality is blurred—who knows which is which?” Chapter 1: The Dream Detective Dr. Atsuko Chiba, a brilliant psychotherapist, works at a research institute […]
Japanese literature
Real World
“The world is full of things that don’t make sense. That’s why we have to make our own sense of it.” Chapter 1: The Murder The novel opens […]
Japanese literature
Grotesque
“People are grotesque. They pretend to be good, but inside they’re rotten.” Part One: The Sisters The novel begins with the unnamed narrator reflecting on her sister Yuriko’s […]
Japanese literature
Out
“The night was deep and quiet, the kind of quiet that makes you feel like you’re the only person left in the world.” Chapter 1: The Factory The […]
German literature
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
“He who ruled scent ruled the hearts of men.” Chapter 1: Birth of a Monster Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born in 18th-century Paris under the foulest conditions—amid fish guts […]