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モンスター
誰もが魅了される絶世の美女・未帆。しかし彼女の顔はかつて畸形的なまでに醜かった。莫大な金額をかけて徹底的に整形し、変身を遂げたのは何のためか。『永遠の０』の著者、最大の問題作！
494 pages, Paperback
First published April 12, 2012
2 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Naoki Hyakuta
56 books14 followersAssociated Names:
* Naoki Hyakuta
* 百田 尚樹 (Japanese)
* 百田尚樹 (Chinese)
Naoki Hyakuta is a Japanese novelist and television producer. He is known for his right-wing political views and denying Japanese war crimes prior to and during World War II. He is particularly known for his 2006 novel The Eternal Zero, which became a popular 2013 film, his controversial period as a governor of government broadcaster NHK, as well as his support of Nanjing Massacre denial. Hyakuta has written a number of other books, several of which have been turned into films, such as Bokkusu and Monsuta.
* Naoki Hyakuta
* 百田 尚樹 (Japanese)
* 百田尚樹 (Chinese)
Naoki Hyakuta is a Japanese novelist and television producer. He is known for his right-wing political views and denying Japanese war crimes prior to and during World War II. He is particularly known for his 2006 novel The Eternal Zero, which became a popular 2013 film, his controversial period as a governor of government broadcaster NHK, as well as his support of Nanjing Massacre denial. Hyakuta has written a number of other books, several of which have been turned into films, such as Bokkusu and Monsuta.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 29, 2017
Are you ugly? What would you do if you were really, really, but really ugly? How would that impact your life, your relationships and the weight you give to other's beauty in your own judgments of them?
Well, don't look any further. Here we have "モンスター",a book where beauty and its search are at its core, and where the monstrosity resides in the skin and from there seeps to the heart.
We have a mysterious beautiful woman that starts a little restaurant in a very small city in Japan. Everyone in the city is talking about her otherworldly beauty and many men (and women) come to the restaurant to have a chance to see the person of whom so many rumors fly around. However, this too-beautiful woman has a secret. She lived in the city many years ago. And she was really ugly, so ugly that no one wanted to talk to her or be her friend. So ugly that she became a monster.
Hyakuta is trying to develop a very basic idea: are we bad because we are inherently bad? Is it beauty part of what makes us different, for better or for worse? And can we change? And does this change that happens outside influence the inside, as the change that happens inside it is said that influences our exterior? Our heroine is so ugly that all her walking days (and nights) revolve around her ugliness and the impact it has on her life. And in a society that relies too much on looks, in particular if you are a woman, the message hits too close to the bull's-eye. Our Masako is a woman that has to suffer to live in a society that treats women as objects and little more than decoration. And she tries to change herself. She tries to change herself just for the sake of it. Her life becomes an obsession with beauty, where all her efforts will be directed to be more and more beautiful.
Hyakuta does a great job at developing this ideas. The mystery is engaging, the characters (in particular Masako) are interesting, and the plot has enough twists and surprises that, even if we know where it is going, never becomes boring. Hyakuta's writing style is nice. It is easy to read, the pace is great and the dialogues don't overload the story.
However, sometimes the treatment of the story is too heavy-handed and its ideas over-simplistic. Hyakuta gives Masako time to breathe and develop her relationships. At the same time, unfortunately, Hyakuta is also hitting on our heads with hammers to bring his ideas to light. You know, what is beauty and all that. It is in part because he repeats himself, too many pages dedicated to our heroine's change from ugly to beautiful, so many that we will be become well acquainted with any Japanese word that may have any relationship with plastic surgery. At least a third of those pages could have been taken out without taking anything from the story. He also over-relies on conversations around psychology and beauty, making characters say what should be subtly developed in the story. We all know that how we look influences others and ourselves and that people that are socially considered beautiful, nice or cute (even if these are just perspectives, opinions, subjective) have an easier life than others.
But "モンスター" is not a monster of a book. It is a great and thrilling story of how our dreams are shaped by the world we live in, so much that sometimes we lose ourselves in other's opinions and dreams.
7.5/10
(Japanese Original Version)
Well, don't look any further. Here we have "モンスター",a book where beauty and its search are at its core, and where the monstrosity resides in the skin and from there seeps to the heart.
We have a mysterious beautiful woman that starts a little restaurant in a very small city in Japan. Everyone in the city is talking about her otherworldly beauty and many men (and women) come to the restaurant to have a chance to see the person of whom so many rumors fly around. However, this too-beautiful woman has a secret. She lived in the city many years ago. And she was really ugly, so ugly that no one wanted to talk to her or be her friend. So ugly that she became a monster.
Hyakuta is trying to develop a very basic idea: are we bad because we are inherently bad? Is it beauty part of what makes us different, for better or for worse? And can we change? And does this change that happens outside influence the inside, as the change that happens inside it is said that influences our exterior? Our heroine is so ugly that all her walking days (and nights) revolve around her ugliness and the impact it has on her life. And in a society that relies too much on looks, in particular if you are a woman, the message hits too close to the bull's-eye. Our Masako is a woman that has to suffer to live in a society that treats women as objects and little more than decoration. And she tries to change herself. She tries to change herself just for the sake of it. Her life becomes an obsession with beauty, where all her efforts will be directed to be more and more beautiful.
Hyakuta does a great job at developing this ideas. The mystery is engaging, the characters (in particular Masako) are interesting, and the plot has enough twists and surprises that, even if we know where it is going, never becomes boring. Hyakuta's writing style is nice. It is easy to read, the pace is great and the dialogues don't overload the story.
However, sometimes the treatment of the story is too heavy-handed and its ideas over-simplistic. Hyakuta gives Masako time to breathe and develop her relationships. At the same time, unfortunately, Hyakuta is also hitting on our heads with hammers to bring his ideas to light. You know, what is beauty and all that. It is in part because he repeats himself, too many pages dedicated to our heroine's change from ugly to beautiful, so many that we will be become well acquainted with any Japanese word that may have any relationship with plastic surgery. At least a third of those pages could have been taken out without taking anything from the story. He also over-relies on conversations around psychology and beauty, making characters say what should be subtly developed in the story. We all know that how we look influences others and ourselves and that people that are socially considered beautiful, nice or cute (even if these are just perspectives, opinions, subjective) have an easier life than others.
But "モンスター" is not a monster of a book. It is a great and thrilling story of how our dreams are shaped by the world we live in, so much that sometimes we lose ourselves in other's opinions and dreams.
7.5/10
(Japanese Original Version)
August 15, 2025
3.5 stars 🌟
September 23, 2015
最初は文章の良さに驚かされたが、内容の品が余りにも低いため読むのが嫌になってしまった。そういう才能でそんな話を書くのがもったいない気がした。書く技術が四ツ星で、内容が一ツ星で、平均は二ツ星。
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews