Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Real World

by Natsuo Kirino, Philip Gabriel (Translator)

3.36 of 5 stars 3.36 · rating details · 2,181 ratings · 295 reviews

A stunning new work of the feminist noir that Natsuo Kirino defined and made her own in her novels Out and Grotesque.

In a crowded residential suburb on the outskirts of Tokyo, four teenage girls indifferently wade their way through a hot, smoggy summer and endless “cram school” sessions meant to ensure entry into good colleges. There’s Toshi, the dependable one; Terauchi,...more

Hardcover, 224 pages

Published July 15th 2008 by Knopf (first published 2003)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami

Best Japanese books

34th out of 348 books — 1,239 voters

Japanese Literature

50th out of 179 books — 92 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jul 26, 2008 Yulia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: by-and-of-japan, criminal-intent, read-to-me-by-frank

A deceptively game-like excitement about news of a male neighbor's matricide leads four female friends into a surprisingly harsh look at the masks they've put on to maintain appearances, at our fascination with and empathy for those who are driven to do an unthinkable act, and at the meaning of life's struggle to be honest with ourselves and our closest friends and to accept the consequences of our actions. The boy's young neighbor doesn't want to get involved in the police investigation and pro...more A deceptively game-like excitement about news of a male neighbor's matricide leads four female friends into a surprisingly harsh look at the masks they've put on to maintain appearances, at our fascination with and empathy for those who are driven to do an unthinkable act, and at the meaning of life's struggle to be honest with ourselves and our closest friends and to accept the consequences of our actions. The boy's young neighbor doesn't want to get involved in the police investigation and protects him for her own sake, while her lesbian friend is intent on helping him escape; a third friend is intrigued by this boy-on-the-run enough to meet him and a fourth follows everyone's actions and makes a decisive move of her own. All the time, I couldn't help wondering, who would I have been in this scenario?

At turns funny, melodramatic, hyper-aware, and realistic to the point where I was placing those I knew in these characters' situations, this was a disorienting read at times due to the need to change internal settings as the mood of the characters did, but Kirino pulls it off successfully because an underlying truth connects all these mood swings and second guessing.

(spoiler warning)

I was left crying at the end, wondering for the first time not about those who end their lives, but those who are left behind to remember and endure the meaning of lives cut short. For once, I thought not of the reasons for suicide (to spare others' humiliation, tpo end one's own suffering, to erase oneself from the world's chaos) but of those left behind to deal with what the suicide meant, and the body that is no longer fit to be seen in the coffin, and the questions that will always remain unanswered: about the crossed webs of guilt, and why we feel we must keep the secrets we do, and how well our closest friends truly know us and why we can't be open to them when we need them most. So yes, I cried, thinking improbably not of the deceased, but of those left to remember and wondering how things could have turned out differently.

I admit, I needed another antidepressant by the time we'd finished the book (we'd read through the night and it's morning now), but perhaps the thoughts that came to me about the no-win situation of life (damned if you kill yourself, damned if you live on to endure a life that will end in death) and the unfairness of who deems themselves worthy of passing on their genes to future generations and who is so overwhelmed at the thought of being an adequate parent so that they never do have children--well, all these thoughts may be brushed off as a sign it was time for me to take another antidepressant pill, but I can't help wondering, was it depressive realism that overwhelmed me when I finished this book and saw the utter bleakness of our situation with death so near and our goals so meaningless?

And I thought of those who had died recently, from those I never knew, like Tim Russert, to those I did, like my father-in-law, and the thought of the reality of their death was suffocating and felt too real, too close to life. So what does this prove? I am afraid of death. It's an escape, but to escape by means of seeking out the thing you fear makes no sense yet complete sense, and why is this?

Again, Capote came to mind with the image of the friend with a white cloth over her head, which was unfit to be seen. No, Kirino is not flawless, but her works are haunting and they do raise very real issues amid the chattiness and seeming lightness. They hit you when you're least prepared. Which is good, no?

*********************************************************

My first impression? Better integrated than but including the eerie insight into Japanese schooling of Grotesque with the keen social commentary of Out, but with less compelling characters than the latter. (less)

5 likes · like · see review

Aug 09, 2008 Amy rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008, asia

I gave up on this book. Real World follows the lives of one teen guy and 4-5 girl teens after the guy murders his mom. Perhaps it is the translation that is the problem. Maybe it is not the writing....I found the writing to be very unconvincing and awkward (I guess maybe that fits the teen POV). Kirino gives the reader too much. Each chapter is from a different teens perspective and it just goes on and on about how horrible their lives are (not saying I don't agree).
I think Kirino does capture t...more

7 likes · like · see review

Sep 30, 2008 William rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another mesmerizing masterpiece from Kirino. I thought going in that at just over 200 pages it might be somewhat unsatisfying but as it turned out, calling it "satisfying" would be an extreme understatement. Every page was wrapped in such intensity it was a thoroughly exhausting read (I mean that in the best possible way).
I was under the impression that her books that have been translated into English (this one plus Out and Grotesque) were the totality of her novels, but reading the book jacket...more

6 likes · like · see review

Jul 31, 2008 Ed rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: kirino

There are at least two distinct “real” worlds described in “Real World”, Natsuo Kirino’s most recent novel to be published in the United States. There is the world of parents, teachers, police officers and other adults and there is the world of high school students being driven insane by the pressure exerted on them from the other world. The two worlds are almost but not completely discrete—when they come together it is a disaster for all concerned.

On one level the central action is the murder...more There are at least two distinct “real” worlds described in “Real World”, Natsuo Kirino’s most recent novel to be published in the United States. There is the world of parents, teachers, police officers and other adults and there is the world of high school students being driven insane by the pressure exerted on them from the other world. The two worlds are almost but not completely discrete—when they come together it is a disaster for all concerned.

On one level the central action is the murder of a mother by a son—a murder described as seen by the son as the killer and also from the point of view of the mother being murdered, as imagined by her son. An artistic tightrope act like this—effortlessly shifting points of view, startling, almost horrifying images (the description of the metal bat hitting the victim’s head and body, for example) done by a lesser novelist might be just the author showing off her verbal chops. For Kirino, though, every action by every character—whether carefully thought out, done at the spur of a moment or even random happenstance—serves her theme of the unbridgeable gap between high school students in Japan, who act as if they are insane but who aren’t yet and their parents, who have given in to the insanity. While the murder is brutal, the response of the four girls in the clique at the center of the book is the real story. They are jaw-droppingly casual about the killing itself, even as they become more involved with Worm, the teenage killer, a neighbor of Toshi one of the girls in a clique. Worm steals Toshi’s bike and cell phone. He begins calling the numbers in the phone, eventually reaching Terauchi, Kirarin and Yuzan, girls who are not so much friends as allies against the madness around them.

The central reality in all of the girls’ lives is the level of the high school they attend—if one is a poor student at an elite school is that better then being a superior student at a merely good school—the college entrance exams they face and dread. Their lives have been based on an 11-month school year with a couple of weeks off between each of the three semesters and the one month summer break taken up by cram school to prepare them for the exams. This has been how they have lived for years, barely seeing their parents, fearful of the future, hating the present with its incessant smog alerts. The novel opens with a metallic voice from a loudspeaker announcing dangerous air quality, which Toshi ignores, a perfect image of how little affect adults have on the teenage world. Under these circumstances killing one’s mother makes as much or as little sense as anything else. Toshi is more annoyed with the loss of her cell phone than the death of her neighbor and lies to the police almost naturally and certainly without compunction.

The book is structured as serial narratives from each of the girls. Toshi hears the killing take place next door—hears a struggle and glass breaking—but since she isn’t interested in Worm or his mother, thinks little of it once she decides she isn’t in danger. Her sections begin and end the book—her style is flat, unadorned and tough, describing both what she sees and what she feels with the same affectless tone. Kirarin is a beauty, one who has been subject to being groped and tormented on the subway by men beginning when she was nine years old. Unaccompanied in trips across the city to a “good” grammar school, wearing her school uniform sailor suit, she was a magnet for the men who molested her and now makes money by accompanying them to love hotels in the afternoon. Yuzan is a Lesbian who decides the real world is the gay subculture she found when she ditched her cram school to cruise gay bars. Both Kirarin and Yuzan are sexual misfits with no connection with their families.

“Real World” begins with murder and ends with suicide, accidental death and random violence. While not quite on the same level as “Out” and “Grotesque” it is a chilling and dismaying look at the world and an extraordinarily well done book.
(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 24, 2009 Tamara rated it 2 of 5 stars

It's easy to read, but I just didn't love it. I wasn't convinced that the characters' actions made sense. I liked Out way better, but there just may be something to her writing that doesn't seem real to me. I didn't get their teenage angst and it didn't make me understand their ridiculous actions.

5 likes · like · see review

Oct 29, 2008 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-in-translation

Sometimes wishes do come true. Or rather, sometimes serendipity happens. I'd been wanting to read this novel; I finished 'Grotesque' earlier in the summer, and had read 'Out' some summers ago. Coming back on a commuter plane from JFK I found a copy of this book in the pocket of my airplane seat. Left behind or intentionally forgotten? I dunno...but I consider it a gift. Just for me. Thank you Noelle from Arizona! (who left her ticket stub in the book as well).
------
I liked the book though it's n...more

2 likes · like · see review

Aug 04, 2008 Mariko rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mysteries

I thought Natsuo Kirino's Out was a pretty interesting book. It was very detailed and justifiably creepy. Her other two books that have been translated to English just seem like lame attempts at sensationalism and cheap thrills--the characters are not particularly realistic or interesting and the plotlines ludicrous. I didn't think the translation was all that great, either (though I don't really know how true the translation really was). It's like the translator is trying really hard to be edgy...more

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 11, 2009 Aaron rated it 3 of 5 stars

Set in Japan not far from Tokyo, this import (translated by Philip Gabriel) presents Worm, a teen who has killed his mother after years of unhappiness. Interestingly, the story is presented not only by Worm, but also by four friends who seem to be drawn into the resulting confusion of the murder because Worm has stolen the bike and cell phone of one of them.

Each of the narrators, interestingly, seems to have his or her own troubles with their mother. Toshiko, who goes by the alias Ninna Hori whe...more Set in Japan not far from Tokyo, this import (translated by Philip Gabriel) presents Worm, a teen who has killed his mother after years of unhappiness. Interestingly, the story is presented not only by Worm, but also by four friends who seem to be drawn into the resulting confusion of the murder because Worm has stolen the bike and cell phone of one of them.

Each of the narrators, interestingly, seems to have his or her own troubles with their mother. Toshiko, who goes by the alias Ninna Hori when she wants to protect her identity, is Worm's neighbor. She and her mother argue constantly, and one of the reasons is over her interest in the new neighbors.

Yuzan, Kirarin, and Terauchi, are friends of Toshiko's and they seem drawn to worm because they both pity and want to help him. In fact, one even ends up running away to help him. One lost her mother to illness while another is also different from her mother.

The characters are richly drawn and full developed, giving the reader an opportunity to explore subplots such as a lesbian coming into her own, one girl still recovering from the fact that her best friend and boyfriend has come out as gay, and a third just has terrible home issues.

I do have to admit that I had a hard time with this one. In the book's defense, I tend to struggle with tales when all of the characters are despicable. I want at least one person who can be considered good and give a little bit of hope. That was one of the reasons I was never able to get into The Sopranos. They were all scum bags.

I also had quite a bit of trouble with the really bad decision making process found in the kids. On some level, each of the narrators seems to almost idolize Worm for what he did. Like he did what the always hoped they could have done with someone who treated them badly. They then all go on to abet the crime after the fact on different levels.

Finally, the translation has more than a few moments when the writing becomes awkward. I don't want to say that the results are confusing, but they are awkward. It really slowed down my reading pace because I had to focus in order to not get lost in the "I did this ... I did that" repetitive patterns the translator uses as he lets each character tell his or her tale.(less)

like · see review

Jan 04, 2013 meeners rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, translation

really, really good - a crime novel made up of taut plotting that tapers into a long, slow, psychological burn. the back cover of my edition has a blurb from a miami herald review that talks about how kirino "demands total submission to her characters' inner lives," and i think that is exactly right. with this particular book, each individual account captures different kinds of claustrophobic confinement, restraint, defeat, retreat . . . but putting them all together gives you a much larger and...more

like · see review

Oct 13, 2012 Elizabeth Reuter rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is, in my opinion, the weakest of the three Kirino books that have been published in America. However, that is just me comparing Kirino to herself, and on the scale of good or bad fiction, Real World is still pretty impressive.

Four teenagers are crushed under pressure to pass entrance exams that will decide their entire futures, and so they become cold; the world is flat, colorless, a string of tests and study sessions. Unable to confide in their families, they turn to various reckless beha...more

like · see review

Sep 17, 2012 Budd rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: generalliterature, coming-of-age-story, ya, translated

Natsuo Kirino, a well known author in Japan, releases her second English
translation with Real World. Real world follows four Japanese high
school girls as they assist a boy that has just committed matricide in
his escape.
The book is a really quick read and you actually care about the
characters and start to sympathize with the "Worm" character. You
almost understand why the girls are helping him. The characters are the
lifeblood of this novel and Kirino fleshes out what seem to be
stereotypical Japan...more

like · see review

Sep 11, 2012 Crystal rated it 3 of 5 stars

The main plot of "Real World" is very fun and interesting; it's what compelled me to finish the book. However, the actual writing itself is a bit dry and lacks a bit of passion in my opinion, but it could be the translation.

The only character that seemed to have its own distinct personality was Kirarin. She had a different voice than the rest of the characters and felt much more natural; I understood WHY she got involved with 'Worm'. I still don't understand what drove the other characters to...more

like · see review

Jun 02, 2012 Philomela997 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Real World di Natsuo Kirino è un testo interessante al fine dell’indagine semiotica in quanto presenta una serie di problematiche relative alla comunicazione quotidiana e nell’affrontare il lutto. Questo romanzo in particolare mostra, e la storia raccontata simboleggia, il rischio di smarrire il concetto di morte. Real World inscrive l’analisi in un orizzonte di idee legate sì alla morte in sé, ma anche e soprattutto alla sua comunicazione. Si tratta di un romanzo ambientato a Tokyo che prende a...more

like · see review

Feb 20, 2011 Monique rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: anticipation-suspense-novels

Was all set to rate this book a strong three stars but upon reviewing the points of the novel with my boyfriend I realized it had one amazing trait of a great novel and that is that is was unforgettable and made me think..for that it deserves the four stars and a commendation. After reading Out by this author I knew I wanted to read other books by her because as other reviewers commonly state her work is chilling, haunting and so tragically real. This book also centers on life in Japan where the...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 06, 2011 Travis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

This is the first book I've read by Kirino, but I have Out on my shelf and Grotesque on my wishlist, and I'm really looking forward to reading both.[return][return]I wasn't sure what style of book this was when I picked it up (in fact, I didn't even read the cover blurb). The cover looks like it could be horror, and I see people have tagged it as a thriller, but I wouldn't call it either (definitely not horror). It's a book about five teenagers, four girls who are all good friends, and a boy who...more

like · see review

Sep 15, 2010 Karen Hansen rated it 1 of 5 stars

“Real World” is my third Natsuo Kirino novel and the first to fall flat. At first I thought that maybe it just wasn’t a very good translation, but after finishing the novel, I think it was more the overall plot and characters.

The story centers a boy who kills his mother and flees the scene of the crime. He steals the cell phone of a girl who is his neighbor and proceeds to call her and her friends. The story is really only concerned with two things, neither of which held my interest…1. Will the...more

like · see review

May 02, 2010 Lucinda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Real World (Knopf 2008) [Riaru warudo (Japan 2003), translated by Philip Gabriel:] explores the teenage wasteland from the viewpoint of four girls and one boy, all high school seniors during midsummer vacation in Tokyo. For most of them, life revolves around cram school to get into college, and finding air conditioned refuge from the stifling heat. Toshi’s neighbor, a boy she’s nicknamed Worm, has committed a terrible crime and is now on the run. But this is the age of cell phones and text messa...more

like · see review

Jul 11, 2009 Gary rated it 5 of 5 stars

Real World by Nasuo Kirino
New York: Alfred A. Knopt - 2008
$23.95 (hardback), $9.99 (Kindle)

In Japan the school year begins in April and ends in March of the following year. It consists of three terms, separated by short vacations in the spring and winter, as well as a month-long summer break. Students attend elementary school for six years, middle school for three years and high school for three years.
- Preface, Real World

Things are not good in Tokyo. If we are to believe the grim details in cu...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 25, 2009 Sophia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: japan, 2009

A Japanese housewife is beaten to death. Her son, nicknamed Worm, having fled with the neighbor's bike and phone, becomes the main suspect. So begins Natsuo Kirino's third novel available in English, Real World, a set of dark psychological portraits of five Japanese teenagers.

In each chapter a different character--Worm, his neighbor Toshi, or one of her friends--picks up the first-person narration. The plot moves surprisingly well given this technique. As each girl reacts differently to the fug...more

like · see review

Jul 30, 2008 Ab rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: older youths

For a book that got such an interesting review in this month's New York Times Book Review, it was very disappointingly one-dimensional and boring. The story follows about 4 girls and a guy, Worm, each with chapters from their respective points of view. But these characters are teens and very underdeveloped and just flat.

I tried reading "Out" by Kirino several months ago but didn't finish b/c it wasn't my thing. But this book seems more of an easy-read-young-adult novel if anything.

1 like · like · see review

Sep 14, 2010 Friederike Knabe rated it 2 of 5 stars

REAL WORLD, Natsuo Kirino's third novel available in English, is as much a modern coming of age story as a psychological thriller, set in suburban Tokyo. At the centre are four girls - teenagers - and their inner musings. They are apprehensive about growing up and question who they really are. They also realize an increasing alienation between their own "real world" and that of the adults around then. They feel controlled by parents, teachers, and, by extension, pressured by the strictures impos...more REAL WORLD, Natsuo Kirino's third novel available in English, is as much a modern coming of age story as a psychological thriller, set in suburban Tokyo. At the centre are four girls - teenagers - and their inner musings. They are apprehensive about growing up and question who they really are. They also realize an increasing alienation between their own "real world" and that of the adults around then. They feel controlled by parents, teachers, and, by extension, pressured by the strictures imposed by Japanese society.

Toshi, Terauko, Kirarin and Yuzan, represent four different character types, ranging from the all-round nice and serious teenager or the cool and intelligent to the flirtatious and wild to the "mannish" behaving, concealed lesbian. While they constantly communicate by texting or cell phone chats, they each try to hide part of who they are from each other, although the others know anyway. Each has her own worries and anxieties, problems with her parents and the other sex. This summer's teenage "angst", however, is focused mainly on the push to prepare for the state exams, attending summer cram school. Suddenly all this is being derailed after a woman's murder next door to Toshi's house. The son, a boy the girls' age, nicknamed "Worm" is the presumed killer and he is on the run. Although Toshi had heard some loud commotion in the house and met the boy shortly afterwards outside the house in the street, she does not report anything to the police. Nor does she reveal that Worm has stolen her cell phone and bike to get away. Her girlfriends start receiving phone calls from her cell... and the story takes off from there.

Narrated alternatively from the perspectives of the girls and Worm, the author takes the reader into the young people's minds and each individual's perspective on the events as they unfold. In some way or other the four friends have all got caught up in the escape, motivated, initially, by some strange fascination of the boy and his action. Mixed in are their feelings of disapproval of their own parents, the half-truths and lies they know of each other, their own deeply held fears. While their individual background and personality is described as being different, they have much in common and their voices are complementary rather than distinct. Worm, the only male voice, is depicted as a confused angry boy, who, being on the run, feels like his action is opening for him a door into a new and different reality. Eventually all of them discover that some things are "irreparable" and the consequences have to be suffered. While Kirino very aptly gets into the minds of the girls, not all their subsequent behaviour is plausible. For me, she is least convincing in her presentation of the boy's thought processes and actions during the ordeal. The conclusion, however, is dramatic and, in some aspects, comes as a complete shock and surprise. (less)

like · see review

Apr 20, 2013 Serena! rated it 3 of 5 stars

In realtà il libro arriva alle tre stelline (scarse) solo perché è piuttosto breve e quindi la mia insofferenza e la mia noia non hanno avuto modo di manifestarsi nel pieno della loro potenza.
Ho capito però che la Kirino non è un'autrice per me.. Ne avevo avuto sentore con "Le quattro casalinghe di Tokyo", ma avevo dato la colpa alla mole eccessiva, alla storia totalmente fuori dalla grazia di Dio e a certe cadute nella narrazione che mi avevano indispettito parecchio.
In realtà, con questa secon...more

like · see review

Mar 07, 2013 Fuka-chan rated it 5 of 5 stars

I’ve expected nothing less from Kirino sensei and once again she does not disappoint me.

Kirino sensei has a way of showing Japan tradition, revealing the inner thoughts of what really happened there. It was simple, but the way she explained it made it seems like it was a big deal. As I was reading this, I keep thinking to myself, what if the same thing happened to one of my friends? Not in a way of killing his/her own mother, of course. Let say for example, Terauchi’s situation. Her mother was i...more

like · see review

Apr 22, 2011 Lisa rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One summer morning, Toshi's next door neighbor, whom she hardly knows and calls "Worm" behind his back, steals her bike and cell phone and flees Tokyo . . . right after killing his own mother. Soon, Worm starts calling Toshi and her friends, who each develop a unique fascination with Worm's decision to kill his mom. Each girl begins to see her own pain and alienation reflected in Worm's life on the run. Needless to say, the girls' interest in Worm quickly starts to spiral out of control. I like...more

like · see review

Jul 09, 2010 christa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Natsuo Kirino has a way of describing heinous death scenes, and subsequent clean up, in a lazy clinical monotone typically reserved for reciting the tasks on a to-do list. This can either create chilling suspense for the lack of emotion, or it can lull a reader into a desensitized state where the word "Smush!" in reference to skull-implement contact barely causes pause.

In her novel "Real World," a high school boy nicknamed "Worm" bludgeons his mother to death with a baseball bat for no real reas...more Natsuo Kirino has a way of describing heinous death scenes, and subsequent clean up, in a lazy clinical monotone typically reserved for reciting the tasks on a to-do list. This can either create chilling suspense for the lack of emotion, or it can lull a reader into a desensitized state where the word "Smush!" in reference to skull-implement contact barely causes pause.

In her novel "Real World," a high school boy nicknamed "Worm" bludgeons his mother to death with a baseball bat for no real reason beyond the perceived slightings that plague all emo teens -- not just those living in a Japanese suburb : She's annoying. He's under too much pressure.

Toshi, the lead off narrator in a story that combines the voices of four teen-aged girls and the murderer, hears the commotion from next door and sees a cheerful Worm leaving the scene as she is on her way to cram school -- a sort of summer school hosted by a cult-ish mix of peppy young adults who rah-rah studying with the enthusiasm of life coaches. While she's in class, Worm steals her bike and cell phone on his way out of dodge. He skirts around town building up a summer stink and calling her besties from her phone.

When the body is discovered, Toshi lies to the police about seeing Worm and their brief interaction. She doesn't tell them that he has her phone, and her wheels. Toshi and her friends, an eclectic mix of the misunderstood, coax Worm along in his flight.

First up is the butch Yuzan with her gravely man-voice, who trades a new cell phone and bike for Toshi's stolen property. Yuzan is exploring her sexuality through out-of-the-way lesbian bars and is operating under the guise that her friends don't know she's gay. (They do).

Then there is Kirarin, the band's token sexpot, who is still smarting from a broken heart. Hobbies include: Trolling the internet for dudes, then hooking up. The thrill seeker agrees to meet up with Worm at a train station, intrigued by what a murderer looks like.

When Worm decides he needs a brilliant manifesto to up his cult status, he solicits Terauchi to write it for him. Terauchi sympathizes with the killer because of her own complicated feelings toward her mother, who is banging one of her coworkers on the sly.

The murder is just a backdrop for the relationships in this girl posse, who communicate via phone, text, and email and are never found in the same room throughout the story. The story is more about public face and private face, and how secrets might not be buried as deeply as a naive teen might assume.

As far as suspense novels go, it's pretty light on chill -- especially compared to Kirino's novel "Out," which chronicles, again, four women who murder an abusive husband, which turns out to be the gateway drug to a life of bathroom butchery. But it is a nice portrait of the teen-aged girl as seen through the eyes of others, versus the eyes of self. (less)

like · see review

Aug 02, 2009 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Grim and dark and probably not the best book to be reading if you're feeling a little down already.

However, even though this is a book in translation the use of language and story are amazing. I have read one other book by this author and as with that one, I will not easily forget this story. Each chapter is told first person voice, diary style, from one of the Japanese teenagers in the story. The author somehow manages to capture in print the tumult of thoughts and mercurial emotional shifts of...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 05, 2009 Bookmarks Magazine added it

Natsuo Kirino's latest noir thriller, a grim look at teen culture, elicited varying reactions from critics. Kirino focuses intently on her characters' inner lives as she delves deeply into their nihilist worldviews and feelings of alienation. But some critics found the angst-ridden, self-absorbed teens melodramatic and unconvincing, their slang-studded dialogue often cringe-worthy. Tension mounts as narrators shift and events are gradually revealed from different perspectives; however, some revi

...more

like · see review

Apr 12, 2013 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a bleak but convincing psychological study of how a single violent act impacts a group of teenage friends in Tokyo. However, it's a modest work compared to Kirino's outstanding thriller 'Out', which remains the finest crime novel I've ever read. There's not much of a mystery element here - a woman is murdered but the culprit is immediately recognised. Instead, we get a series of first person testimonies from the murderer and four girls who become involved in his attempt to escape justice...more

like · see review

Mar 24, 2012 Tfitoby rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: lit, translation

I'm conflicted. Look at the cover of this edition. It's amazingly effed up (self censorship for the win!) to the point where even the japanese characters can look like blood if you're not paying attention. It's cashing in on the trend towards Japanese terror in movies and it doesn't deliver. Not that I was expecting that from Kirino.

What I did get was a very well written piece of literature about a group of teenage girls who were never the same after that fateful summer (as the cliche goes) but...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 15, 2011 Goodreads rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm both shocked and not shocked after all at the fact that many of the negative reviews seem to stem from not understanding either characters' emotions or their rationales. (If you don't follow, I'd suggest reading up on some thematic crit on the book and in general before listening to the negative reviews, but I'll still leave a hint: the entire book is about emotions and rationales, as well as confusion about the two!! It's about the emotional alienation that people put into their relationshi...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
PNWJETAA Book Club: Real World	1	4	12. August, 22:54 Uhr

combine
Other Editions (16)

More editions...

Genres

Cultural > Japan

74 users

Asian Literature > Japanese Literature

53 users

Mystery

35 users

Mystery > Crime

33 users

Horror

13 users

Cultural > Asia

12 users

Contemporary

10 users

Thriller > Mystery Thriller

9 users

Literature > Asian Literature

9 users

Mystery > Noir

8 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Natsuo Kirino

NATSUO KIRINO, born in 1951 in Kanazawa (Ishikawa Prefecture) was an active and spirited child brought up between her two brothers, one being six years older and the other five years younger than her. Kirino's father, being an architect, took the family to many cities, and Kirino spent her youth in Sendai, Sapporo, and finally settled in Tokyo when she was fourteen, which is where she has been res...more

More about Natsuo Kirino...

Books by Natsuo Kirino

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Real World

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Real World

“It wasn't so much that I was afraid of the place itself, but I was afraid of the creatures who masqueraded as people.” — 49 people liked it

“I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really hard to survive.” — 17 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Real World
avg rating	preview: Real World Goodreads rating: 3.36 (2181 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2119409.Real_World?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320479929l/2119409.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2119409.Real_World?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Real World by Natsuo Kirino[/url]

Real World

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website