194th out of 967 books
—
3,446 voters
The Devil of Nanking
by
Mo Hayder
Like the thrillers of Thomas Harris and Philip Kerr, Mo Hayder's riveting new novel animates the dark corners of modern history. The solitary Englishwoman Grey comes to Japan looking for a rare piece of footage that is said to document a particularly monstrous episode of the 1937 Nanking Massacre. Her quest will take her to a reclusive scholar and a wheelchair-bound gangst...more
Paperback, 480 pages
Published
May 30th 2006
by Penguin Books
(first published 2004)
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It is really hard to categorise this book. It is really scary but not a horror story (well not in the conventional sense). There is a mystery at the heart of it but it isn't crime or mystery. It is about another culture that is sometimes hard to understand and accept. It creeped me out but I had to keep reading (though I am not a fan of being scared) It was dark and sinister but not bloody and gory. It was also enlightening. My mother is Chinese and hates the Japanese, which always embarrassed m...more
“Tóquio” foi a minha estreia literária com a escritora inglesa Mo Hayder e revelou-se um livro “doentiamente” excelente.
O ponto de partida do livro são os crimes da guerra genocida perpetrados pelo exército imperial japonês em Nanquim, durante a guerra com a China entre 1937 e 1938, e em que foram cometidas inúmeras atrocidades, como estupros, saques sistemáticos, torturas macabras, incêndios criminosos e execução de prisioneiros civis e militares, num compêndio de violência generalizada e atroz...more
O ponto de partida do livro são os crimes da guerra genocida perpetrados pelo exército imperial japonês em Nanquim, durante a guerra com a China entre 1937 e 1938, e em que foram cometidas inúmeras atrocidades, como estupros, saques sistemáticos, torturas macabras, incêndios criminosos e execução de prisioneiros civis e militares, num compêndio de violência generalizada e atroz...more
Japão. Palavras esquecidas, que me lembre reconheci duas ou três, os canji, os serviços de acompanhantes, a cidade fervilhante, a mafia (a Yakuza), os biombos a separar ambientes. Moshi moshi
A guerra com a china, a violência do exército japonês, a tomada de Nanquim, o desepero, a superstição, a chacina, a busca pessoal disfarçada de interesse académico.
A medicina chinesa (japonesa?), os troféus, a sabedoria dos antigos, a busca da imortalidade, as mezinhas humanas de humanos, oshaka.
A esquisita...more
A guerra com a china, a violência do exército japonês, a tomada de Nanquim, o desepero, a superstição, a chacina, a busca pessoal disfarçada de interesse académico.
A medicina chinesa (japonesa?), os troféus, a sabedoria dos antigos, a busca da imortalidade, as mezinhas humanas de humanos, oshaka.
A esquisita...more
I am familiar with the events of Nanking, during the invasion by the Japanese, in the late 1930's. I came into to this expecting the upmost in horror and the lowest acts of man. That was here. The story is told by a professor who lived,worked,and experienced the rape of Nanking and a young English woman who has spent much of her studies researching those days of depravity.
One has knowledge from participation and the other far removed, and somewhat sanitized, by the printed page. But, when it com...more
One has knowledge from participation and the other far removed, and somewhat sanitized, by the printed page. But, when it com...more
Jun 19, 2011
Julie Caroline
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
owned-or-loaned
Intrigue bien ficelée, l'alternance de narrateur tient en haleine. On sent bien dans une histoire (1937) comme dans l'autre (aujourd'hui) la tension monter.
L'héroine principale n'est ni mièvre ni attachante, et heureusement. L'écriture se concentre sur l'action, sur le moment et le vécu, sans s'encombrer de tout un contexte par personnage. L'histoire de l'héroine nous est connue petit à petit aux moments où le lecteur en a besoin. Et contrairement à d'autres commentaires que j'ai lus, ce n'est p...more
L'héroine principale n'est ni mièvre ni attachante, et heureusement. L'écriture se concentre sur l'action, sur le moment et le vécu, sans s'encombrer de tout un contexte par personnage. L'histoire de l'héroine nous est connue petit à petit aux moments où le lecteur en a besoin. Et contrairement à d'autres commentaires que j'ai lus, ce n'est p...more
I'm a big fan of Mo Hayder and Tokyo was not a disappointment. I finished it in just over 24 hours - couldn't put it down.
The only reason I gave this 4 stars rather than 5, was because I felt there were a few 'holes' in the plot, that maybe needed filling in a little more than they were. Jason was an odd-ball character, but I felt he could have been 'fleshed' out a little more so that we understood why he was the way he was. Similarly, Grey's ignorance and background with her parents was never...more
The only reason I gave this 4 stars rather than 5, was because I felt there were a few 'holes' in the plot, that maybe needed filling in a little more than they were. Jason was an odd-ball character, but I felt he could have been 'fleshed' out a little more so that we understood why he was the way he was. Similarly, Grey's ignorance and background with her parents was never...more
I'm a big fan of Mo Hayder and Tokyo was not a disappointment. I finished it in just over 24 hours - couldn't put it down.
The only reason I gave this 4 stars rather than 5, was because I felt there were a few 'holes' in the plot, that maybe needed filling in a little more than they were. Jason was an odd-ball character, but I felt he could have been 'fleshed' out a little more so that we understood why he was the way he was. Similarly, Grey's ignorance and background with her parents was never...more
The only reason I gave this 4 stars rather than 5, was because I felt there were a few 'holes' in the plot, that maybe needed filling in a little more than they were. Jason was an odd-ball character, but I felt he could have been 'fleshed' out a little more so that we understood why he was the way he was. Similarly, Grey's ignorance and background with her parents was never...more
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I have mixed opinions about this book.
While it was gripping, I took my time reading this book because it was not one of those read-it-and-get-it-done-with-so-that-I-can-say-that-I've-read-this kind of books. It contains a lot of disturbing subject matter, so definitely not for the weak of heart.
I was really fascinated by the characters, though I sometimes found it frustrating that the writer builds suspense, and then reveals so little by little that I'd be thinking, "Oh come on just spill it al...more
While it was gripping, I took my time reading this book because it was not one of those read-it-and-get-it-done-with-so-that-I-can-say-that-I've-read-this kind of books. It contains a lot of disturbing subject matter, so definitely not for the weak of heart.
I was really fascinated by the characters, though I sometimes found it frustrating that the writer builds suspense, and then reveals so little by little that I'd be thinking, "Oh come on just spill it al...more
I have read Mo Hayder's The Walking Man series: Birdman, The Treatment, Ritual, Skin and Gone, but this was, unfortunately, based on an actual event. Grey is a young English woman with a disturbing background who comes to Tokyo to find proof about the 1937 Nanking Massacre. She thinks there is a tape that will definitively prove her remembrance of an article on the subject. A surviver of the massacre is a visiting professor at the university of Todai who will have nothing to do with Grey until s...more
I read this over the past few nights and have decided that it’s one of the more haunting, unforgettable books I’ve read recently. A young woman named Grey is institutionalized after she becomes obsessed with the Nanking massacre. As a young child, she found a book in her home that had a reference to a obscure film recording of a particular atrocity that occurred during the massacre and refuses to let it go. She travels to Tokyo to meet a professor, a survivor of the massacre, who she believes kn...more
I gave this four stars although "really liked it" isn't exactly how I felt after finishing it. I wish there was a way to indicate a book's level of unforgettableness, or something like, "the number of mental images burned into my brain" - that would be a better measure of how The Devil of Nanking affected me.
The main character herself isn't exactly likeable, or easily identified with, but she's someone I'll always remember. Mo Hayder is extremely observant and chooses word combinations that mak...more
The main character herself isn't exactly likeable, or easily identified with, but she's someone I'll always remember. Mo Hayder is extremely observant and chooses word combinations that mak...more
This is too creepy a book for me to ever read again, but it definitely deserves being called a "thriller." It intertwines two plots. The first is the diary of an idealistic (naive) young Chinese scholar in Nanking at the dawn of the Pacific war, who has no idea what is awaiting his beloved city. The other is of a traumatized British girl who seems to have raised in total isolation, and is obsessed with the Nanking massacre. This character, Grey, seems completely believable because her initial ex...more
Haunting... gave this book 4stars because I couldn't put it down...it had a good transition between wartime Nanking & present day Tokyo...I will say that the "magic elixir", once I found out what it was, gave me nightmares days after I finished the book. I will not be able to read it again, and really can't find myself recommending the book because the nature of the massacure in Nanking bothered me so much. It bothered me the most when I kept thinking that really could have happened. Even th...more
Tokyo (or The Devil of Nanking, depending on which edition you're reading) by Mo Hayder is a book that is hard to put in a box, and that's not a bad thing. Some classify it as thriller, others as horror or even historical fiction. It's a little bit of everything. Thankfully, the horror side of it is not prevalent, it's just that some parts, especially towards the end of the story, are not for the faint-hearted. Tokyo is the story of Grey, a disturbed young British woman on the search for a film,...more
I had heard that Mo Hayder was one of the top writers of grisly horror-thrillers, so I was on the lookout for her books. I found a copy of Pig Island and gave it a try. I wasn't impressed. The writing was great and the book was bloated. Friends assured me that The Devil of Nanking was worth it. So I picked it up and it is.
The book ties (a bit improbably, but whatever) a young damaged British woman and an old damaged Chinese man. The man is rumored to be in possession of a film of an atrocity fro...more
The book ties (a bit improbably, but whatever) a young damaged British woman and an old damaged Chinese man. The man is rumored to be in possession of a film of an atrocity fro...more
I'm still pretty traumatized by this book. I don't read a lot from the thriller genre, but this one caught my eye and I have to say it lived up to the name Thriller. A young English woman with a traumatic past travels to Japan to follow up on some research she's done into the Nanking atrocities. There is one atrocity in particular that she is interested in confirming, and there is only one man, a Chinese medical professor living in Tokyo, who can confirm this information for her. Grey, the young...more
Feb 04, 2009
Toni Osborne
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
yes
Recommended to Toni by:
no one
A young Englishwoman name Grey while in Tokyo tries to find out whether a piece of 16mm film taken during the 1937 Nanking atrocities actually exits. Increasingly desperate, she accepts a job in a night club as a hostess that caters to Japanese businessmen. While there she acquires information from a patron who may be the key to gaining the trust of the only man that can help her: he is an elderly professor, and a survivor of the massacre. The story quickly becomes a three-way dual... and Grey i...more
This is one hell of a book. I judged it (literally) by its cover--or at least that is the reason I picked it up in the bookstore. Familiar with "The Rape of Nanking" by the all but sainted Iris Chang and having read a bit into this all but swept under the rug episode of genocidal mass murder in China by the Japanese Army I wanted to see how it would be treated fictionally. Mo Hayder tells the mass slaughter part of the story through the fears and emotions of an unbalanced teenager in England and...more
ok, first of all, why is the title different? the book i'm holding in my hands says "TOKYO" in big letters on the front cover.... is it just a different countries edition thing? that's weird.
well anyways, this book was given to me. it's not my usual type of fiction since i'm not too into mysteries or scary books, but i really enjoyed this book. i picked it up cuz it was set in Japan, and of course, living here and all, i usually like that. the story was really well written and i found myself alw...more
well anyways, this book was given to me. it's not my usual type of fiction since i'm not too into mysteries or scary books, but i really enjoyed this book. i picked it up cuz it was set in Japan, and of course, living here and all, i usually like that. the story was really well written and i found myself alw...more
Can I go three-and-a-half stars?
Thanks to Tracy for the rcommendation!
I couldn't put this down. I was anxious for the ending I knew had to come. But I'm glad it was all more gothic than Clive Barker. There is foreboding, fear and even terror. Discomfort, queasiness and dread. the little gore is carefully sprinkled about. Some of Hayder's jacket blurbs had me expecting/fearing more. She shows talent in her restraint. I would give this four stars if all the characters were not obviously insane. Of...more
Thanks to Tracy for the rcommendation!
I couldn't put this down. I was anxious for the ending I knew had to come. But I'm glad it was all more gothic than Clive Barker. There is foreboding, fear and even terror. Discomfort, queasiness and dread. the little gore is carefully sprinkled about. Some of Hayder's jacket blurbs had me expecting/fearing more. She shows talent in her restraint. I would give this four stars if all the characters were not obviously insane. Of...more
This book is incredible. It sat, untouched, on my shelf for about 5 years before I decided to give it a chance. I had won it in a raffle and, not being familiar with the author or interested in what I thought was the subject matter, placed it on my shelf to forget about. I recently read a short review of another of Hayder's books and added it to my list, wondering why the name sounded so familiar. I took it down from the shelf this past weekend because I was in need of something to read on a fli...more
When English girl Grey was very young she found a book about the Japanese invasion of Nanking. Reading about the atrocities committed there, she found a description of something so terrible she had to ask somebody if it were really true. But nobody would believe her when she told them that she read it and she was labeled 'sick', 'twisted' and 'evil'. And the book vanished, leaving her with no evidence to back up her protests.
Ever since then Grey has been obsessed with proving that that atrocity...more
Ever since then Grey has been obsessed with proving that that atrocity...more
This book somehow manages to be both a mystery/thriller AND a cross between literary and historical fiction at the same time. I was just riveted from page one.
It's hard to believe this is the same author as "Ritual" which was exciting but certainly not written at this level of detail. I completely trusted the world and characters this author has created.
I don't give 5 stars very often and though this had a few holes (mostly to do with wanting more details but not needing them) "Devil of Nanking...more
It's hard to believe this is the same author as "Ritual" which was exciting but certainly not written at this level of detail. I completely trusted the world and characters this author has created.
I don't give 5 stars very often and though this had a few holes (mostly to do with wanting more details but not needing them) "Devil of Nanking...more
Dec 29, 2012
Mariel
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction,
fiction
Finally, a historical thriller that manages to remain engaging until its final page. Something that the the two most recent thrillers I have read (Before I Go To Sleep and Child 44) failed to accomplish. I will definitely read other books from this author. I am now interested in learning more about the rape of Nanking in 1937, so I am currently reading The Rape of Nanking by the late Iris Chang, which details the events during the Japanese invasion of China's former capital, Nanking.
I swear that every book I read by Ms. Hayder, makes my hair stand on end and I am forced to sleep with the light on! This is a fantastic novel that sees a young woman named Grey travel to Japan to find an elusive film taken at the height of the Japanese invasion and destruction of the Chinese city of Nanking. Obsessed and consumed with this event, Grey stumbles into a bizarre subculture that exposes her to deadly secrets and evil practices of Yakuza crime lords. Terrifying at times, this novel i...more
Grey reiser fra England til Tokyo for å finne bevis for krigsforbrytelser begått av japanerne under invasjonen av Nangking 1937. Alle har fortalt henne at hun var gal og hadde diktet opp hendelser fra Nanking, men etter å ha stiftet nærmere bekjentskap med Fuyuki, en yakuza-leder som tilsynelatende holder seg i live ved hjelp av en hemmelig eliksir, innser Grey at hun er faretruende nær sannheten..
Historien er nærmest Tarantino-aktig i all sin kunstferdig komponerte voldelighet, men forfatteren...more
Historien er nærmest Tarantino-aktig i all sin kunstferdig komponerte voldelighet, men forfatteren...more
This book was haunting, I couldn't stop thinking about it after I read it. I had never heard of the Nanking massacre until I read this book, which weaves a fictional story with the factual history of Nanking. It was a story of a student with a strange obsession about the Nanking massacre, who believes there is cinematic evidence of it in Tokyo and ventures there, with little or no resources or money, to get to the truth of it. She meets with a survivor, whose story is told in flashbacks. It is s...more
"Tóquio” é um livro que me manteve em permanente angústia durante toda a leitura.
É baseado num episódio da história da humanidade – o massacre e tortura de milhares de chineses, pelo exército imperial japonês, durante a invasão da cidade de Nanquim, em 1937.
A acção desenrola-se, capítulo a capítulo, entre a cidade chinesa e Tóquio 50 depois, onde encontramos Grey, uma jovem inglesa, que procura um filme que relata um episódio do massacre.
É um livro muito bem escrito e muito complexo, que expõe...more
É baseado num episódio da história da humanidade – o massacre e tortura de milhares de chineses, pelo exército imperial japonês, durante a invasão da cidade de Nanquim, em 1937.
A acção desenrola-se, capítulo a capítulo, entre a cidade chinesa e Tóquio 50 depois, onde encontramos Grey, uma jovem inglesa, que procura um filme que relata um episódio do massacre.
É um livro muito bem escrito e muito complexo, que expõe...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riveting account of the massacre | 1 | 12 | Jul 22, 2012 01:29am |
Mo Hayder left school at fifteen. She worked as a barmaid, security guard, film-maker, hostess in a Tokyo club, educational administrator and teacher of English as a foreign language in Asia. She has an MA in film from The American University in Washington DC and an MA in creative writing from Bath Spa University UK.
Mo lives in Bath with her daughter Lotte-Genevieve.
Series:
* Jack Caffery
More about Mo Hayder...
Mo lives in Bath with her daughter Lotte-Genevieve.
Series:
* Jack Caffery
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“I noticed that in Tokyo people didn’t smell. It was funny. I couldn’t smell them, and they didn’t say very much: the trains were packed but it was quite silent, like being jammed into a carriage with a thousand shop-window mannequins.”
—
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Apr 15, 2013 02:18am