Grotesque
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4.2 • 39 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Life at the prestigious Q High School for Girls in Tokyo exists on a precise social axis: a world of insiders and outsiders, of haves and have-nots. Beautiful Yuriko and her unpopular, unnamed sister exist in different spheres; the hopelessly awkward Kazue Sato floats around among them, trying to fit in.Years later, Yuriko and Kazue are dead — both have become prostitutes and both have been brutally murdered. Natsuo Kirino, celebrated author of Out, seamlessly weaves together the stories of these women’s struggles within the conventions and restrictions of Japanese society. At once a psychological investigation of the pressures facing Japanese women and a classic work of noir fiction, Grotesque is a brilliantly twisted novel of ambition, desire, beauty, cruelty, and identity by one of our most electrifying writers.
Customer Reviews
Humanity in its truest form
Grotesque is a novel that portrays the true depths of human depravity. No one’s nature is free from some level of ugliness regardless of their exterior. Grotesque explores the rotten interior that society shares while divvying itself up into various tiers of value on the exterior. Each character is drastically different with contrasting motivations but all lurk a path of wickedness. A pertinent part of the novel is that the characters can see the sickness in one another but are rarely introspective of the darkness of their own souls. We see corruption from adolescence to old age. Everyone is consumed by it while pretending to be above the fray. If only we all could admit to being monsters with monstrous desires within us. Instead, we are liars who deceive ourselves and only ourselves.