かか

by Rin Usami, 宇佐見りん

うーちゃん、19歳。
母(かか)も自分も、もう抱えきれん。

選考委員・町田康、村田沙耶香、震撼。
痛みと切なさを描く20歳の才器、第56回文藝賞受賞作。

19歳の浪人生うーちゃんは、大好きな母親=かかのことで切実に悩んでいる。かかは離婚を機に徐々に心を病み、酒を飲んでは暴れることを繰り返すようになった。鍵をかけたちいさなSNSの空間だけが、うーちゃんの心をなぐさめる。
脆い母、身勝手な父、女性に生まれたこと、血縁で繋がる家族という単位……自分を縛るすべてが恨めしく、縛られる自分が何より歯がゆいうーちゃん。彼女はある無謀な祈りを抱え、熊野へと旅立つ――。
未開の感性が生み出す、勢いと魅力溢れる語り。
痛切な愛と自立を描き切った、20歳のデビュー小説。

人間の気分、気持ちが恐ろしいほど正確に文章化されている。そしてそれが何度も人間存在そのものに迫って胸を衝かれる。
――町田康

この作者は、書くことの呪いにかかっている。それは、信頼できる、「作家」としての呪いだ。
――村田沙耶香

Genres: Japanese Literature

128 pages, Paperback

Published November 14, 2019

About the author

Usami was born in Numazu, Shizuoka, and raised in Kanagawa Prefecture.She was awarded Bungei Prize for her first work Kaka (かか) in 2019. She was successively awarded Mishima Yukio Prize for the same work, which made her the youngest holder of the prize.She was also awarded the 164th Akutagawa Prize for her second work Oshi, Moyu (推し、燃ゆ).

Reviews

[Vj · Rating 4 out of 5]

that someone, not just a 20 year old but anyone, could write this is a bit startling. the concept of 推し、燃ゆ seems like easy and ripe material for a writer to tackle, whereas かか, Usami's first novel, is centered around the maelstromic relationship between a mother and daughter in which the mother, once revered by the daughter, descends into madness as the result of neglect by her parents and her children's father/ex-husband. the conceit is really sort of niche, but on top of that the relationship itself seems far too complex for the average writer to attempt. and sure enough, the novel ends up dipping into the psychospiritual, with Usami putting to paper some extremely intimate psychological images. the story is also both told in second-person, in the manner of a parent telling a tale to their child, and narrated in a specific idiolect (かか弁, which something like a pseudo-Kansai dialect mixed with childish speech patterns). the narration perfectly encapsulates the dynamics between the protagonist and her mother, giving weight to all the events.

[January · Rating 3 out of 5]

繊細。

[Wenjing · Rating 3 out of 5]

很可爱的写法，但可惜不是我喜欢的类型，甚至是我特别讨厌的写法。就算是严肃写作中，我也非常不喜欢因为不注意而随意地改变视角和主语，更何况全文这样写。能get到其中的女性意识（反性缘）和母女关系，甚至很有代入感，很同龄人的感觉。看完才知道作者比我还小很多，期待她未来的作品。

[Giulia Shahinaj · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️