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魚住くんシリーズ #1
夏の塩
学生時代からの友人・魚住に勝手に居候を始められた会社員・久留米。心因性の味覚障害に陥ったり拒食症で倒れたりするなど問題多発で、顔はイイが不運三昧の男・魚住の世話を不満タラタラで仕方なく焼くうち、無自覚で芽生え始めた感情があった…。
魚住が味覚を失ったのは、生きる意味を見失ったから？
インド人の血を引く隣人サリームに、久留米の元彼女のマリ……。
日常に潜む生と死、哀しみと喜びの物語。
榎田尤利初期の名作「夏の塩」が、読み応えある大ボリュームで復活！
魚住が味覚を失ったのは、生きる意味を見失ったから？
インド人の血を引く隣人サリームに、久留米の元彼女のマリ……。
日常に潜む生と死、哀しみと喜びの物語。
榎田尤利初期の名作「夏の塩」が、読み応えある大ボリュームで復活！
- GenresJapanese Literature
393 pages, Soft Cover [単行本]
First published July 1, 2000
3 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
榎田尤利
107 books1 follower Yuuri Eda is a Japanese Light Novel writer.
The genre of her works is Boys Love (BL).
Her debut novel is「夏の塩」(2000).
Yuuri Eda was one of the disciples of Azusa Nakajima ( 中島 梓, pen name of Kaoru Kurimoto / 栗本 薫.
She uses the pen name 榎田ユウリ for her general audience (not BL) works.
※Her two names in Romanization are the same.
榎田 尤利（えだ ゆうり）は、日本のボーイズラブ小説家。
7月16日生まれ、蟹座、O型。
2000年「夏の塩」（成美堂出版 クリスタル文庫）にてデビュー。同作品は、1996年『小説JUNE』77号に掲載。
『小説JUNE』にて連載されていた投稿作批評コラム「中島 梓 (栗本薫の別名義)の小説道場」の門下生。文章力に定評があり、物語性のある作品が多い。シリアスからコメディまで、作風は多様性に富む。
BL以外のライトノベル作品は、〝榎田 ユウリ〟で執筆している。
The genre of her works is Boys Love (BL).
Her debut novel is「夏の塩」(2000).
Yuuri Eda was one of the disciples of Azusa Nakajima ( 中島 梓, pen name of Kaoru Kurimoto / 栗本 薫.
She uses the pen name 榎田ユウリ for her general audience (not BL) works.
※Her two names in Romanization are the same.
榎田 尤利（えだ ゆうり）は、日本のボーイズラブ小説家。
7月16日生まれ、蟹座、O型。
2000年「夏の塩」（成美堂出版 クリスタル文庫）にてデビュー。同作品は、1996年『小説JUNE』77号に掲載。
『小説JUNE』にて連載されていた投稿作批評コラム「中島 梓 (栗本薫の別名義)の小説道場」の門下生。文章力に定評があり、物語性のある作品が多い。シリアスからコメディまで、作風は多様性に富む。
BL以外のライトノベル作品は、〝榎田 ユウリ〟で執筆している。
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 21, 2011
Please see the previous one for the English review.
ガビーチャンに影響受けて、再読しました。本当にこのシリーズはBLクラシックの最高峰だと思う。BLのくくりにするのはもったいなさすぎる。これは魚住君の再生と癒しの物語。脇役たちも独自の素晴らしい物語を持っていて、本当にこのシリーズに出会えてよかったと思います。BLって聞いて避けている人にも絶対読んでほしい。
ガビーチャンに影響受けて、再読しました。本当にこのシリーズはBLクラシックの最高峰だと思う。BLのくくりにするのはもったいなさすぎる。これは魚住君の再生と癒しの物語。脇役たちも独自の素晴らしい物語を持っていて、本当にこのシリーズに出会えてよかったと思います。BLって聞いて避けている人にも絶対読んでほしい。
March 8, 2015
This is kind of a placeholder until I feel up to writing properly about this book (and its sequel): this is an absolutely amazing piece of literature. I cannot put into words how much this book touched me and also destroyed me. It showed me once again that there are books you don't just read - you have a conversation with them.
Ah, fuck that. seriously, this is amazing.
----------------------------------------------------------------
So, about “Natsu no Shio” and “Natsu no Kodomo”.
I honestly don't know whether I'll be able to write about these books without getting too much into my personal history, but I'll try. Reading them was a once in a lifetime experience for me – it felt like looking in a mirror sometimes. I remembered things I had tried to forget and I felt things I have never felt before in my life. It made me understand myself better, and made me feel understood.
I actually hope it won't be like this for anyone else when they read this, but let me say this: personal feelings aside, the Uozumi-kun series is an absolutely amazing piece of literature that should be read by as many people as possible.
While it was first published under a BL label, it's currently being re-released under a general label. And really, I've read quite a few BL novels and I do love the genre, but this novel really is much more than a BL novel. Rather than a typical romance where the main focus is on Character A and Character B hooking up, this novel is about the journey of its main character, Uozumi Masumi.
Uozumi has survived a rough childhood at the cost of most of his feelings, it seems at the beginning. He kind of seems to drift through life, and by the time we first meet him he has lost his sense of smell and taste as well as being impotent. Completely overwhelmed by life itself, his friends Kurume, Mari and Saleem as well as his co-worker Hamada and his ex-girlfriend Kyoko help him find his footing as time passes. However, this help isn't about “saving him”, it's about being there for him when he wants and basically helping him help himself. (This is very difficult to put into words, but it's what makes this so damn good – this isn't a story where love saves all, it's a story about a young man whose been through a lot but who has survived and who finds his path.)
It becomes apparent pretty soon that among his friends, Kurume is the one who's different. Slowly, Uozumi realizes he is in love with Kurume, and Kurume, usually as straight as they come, realizes the same. But since this series really isn't your typical romance it takes quite a while for them to get together, and even then that isn't the end of the story. There is only one chapter that feels like 100% BL, and I suppose you have to be able to deal with some of the clichés, but even that is toned down and should be readable even for people unfamiliar with the genre.
Unlike your usual BL novels the POV switches frequently – you not only get Uozumi and Kurume, but Mari and Saleem and Kyoko and Hamada and other characters they meet during the course of the story. And when the POV switches, you get to know the other character's circumstances and their problems – when I finally closed the book it felt like saying goodbye to a huge circle of friends. And, even though I am usually not interested in men and even less interested in marriage – I would marry Kurume if he asked. Or Hamada. (Tbh I want to marry Kyoko the most though.)
Another review described this series as a story of “healing and rebirth”, and I think this sums it up very well. Some of its topics are very serious – apart from rape and child abuse another thing that's frequently discussed is suicide – but they're treated seriously as well, something that's not always true for BL or fiction in general. The first part - “Natsu no Shio” - especially was very rough to read, but it was rough because it felt so very real.
The title story of the second part, “Natsu no Kodomo” made me cry more than any other book or movie ever has and even just thinking about it is giving me goosebumps. It's probably the best part of the entire series – definitely my favorite. It's about a young boy from the orphanage Uozumi grew up in – Uozumi takes care of him during one summer, and that summer changed that boy's life.
Some of the images in this book will probably stay with me for the rest of my life. And there were so many outstanding scenes – some about small stuff, like Uozumi not being able to eat an onigiri properly, some about big stuff like him facing his rapist.
I honestly am in awe of the fact that this was Eda Yuuri's first published work. Having read this, the appeal of her later books makes more sense to me, because a lot of that I loved about this series is what I love about the other books I've read – she really knows how to make all the characters shine and matter, and she knows how to capture a reader's heart.
I am nowhere no as good with words as she is, but I really really loved this book, even though reading it hurt like hell sometimes. It was one of those rare books that you don't just read – you have a conversation with them and they change your life.
Ah, fuck that. seriously, this is amazing.
----------------------------------------------------------------
So, about “Natsu no Shio” and “Natsu no Kodomo”.
I honestly don't know whether I'll be able to write about these books without getting too much into my personal history, but I'll try. Reading them was a once in a lifetime experience for me – it felt like looking in a mirror sometimes. I remembered things I had tried to forget and I felt things I have never felt before in my life. It made me understand myself better, and made me feel understood.
I actually hope it won't be like this for anyone else when they read this, but let me say this: personal feelings aside, the Uozumi-kun series is an absolutely amazing piece of literature that should be read by as many people as possible.
While it was first published under a BL label, it's currently being re-released under a general label. And really, I've read quite a few BL novels and I do love the genre, but this novel really is much more than a BL novel. Rather than a typical romance where the main focus is on Character A and Character B hooking up, this novel is about the journey of its main character, Uozumi Masumi.
Uozumi has survived a rough childhood at the cost of most of his feelings, it seems at the beginning. He kind of seems to drift through life, and by the time we first meet him he has lost his sense of smell and taste as well as being impotent. Completely overwhelmed by life itself, his friends Kurume, Mari and Saleem as well as his co-worker Hamada and his ex-girlfriend Kyoko help him find his footing as time passes. However, this help isn't about “saving him”, it's about being there for him when he wants and basically helping him help himself. (This is very difficult to put into words, but it's what makes this so damn good – this isn't a story where love saves all, it's a story about a young man whose been through a lot but who has survived and who finds his path.)
It becomes apparent pretty soon that among his friends, Kurume is the one who's different. Slowly, Uozumi realizes he is in love with Kurume, and Kurume, usually as straight as they come, realizes the same. But since this series really isn't your typical romance it takes quite a while for them to get together, and even then that isn't the end of the story. There is only one chapter that feels like 100% BL, and I suppose you have to be able to deal with some of the clichés, but even that is toned down and should be readable even for people unfamiliar with the genre.
Unlike your usual BL novels the POV switches frequently – you not only get Uozumi and Kurume, but Mari and Saleem and Kyoko and Hamada and other characters they meet during the course of the story. And when the POV switches, you get to know the other character's circumstances and their problems – when I finally closed the book it felt like saying goodbye to a huge circle of friends. And, even though I am usually not interested in men and even less interested in marriage – I would marry Kurume if he asked. Or Hamada. (Tbh I want to marry Kyoko the most though.)
Another review described this series as a story of “healing and rebirth”, and I think this sums it up very well. Some of its topics are very serious – apart from rape and child abuse another thing that's frequently discussed is suicide – but they're treated seriously as well, something that's not always true for BL or fiction in general. The first part - “Natsu no Shio” - especially was very rough to read, but it was rough because it felt so very real.
The title story of the second part, “Natsu no Kodomo” made me cry more than any other book or movie ever has and even just thinking about it is giving me goosebumps. It's probably the best part of the entire series – definitely my favorite. It's about a young boy from the orphanage Uozumi grew up in – Uozumi takes care of him during one summer, and that summer changed that boy's life.
Some of the images in this book will probably stay with me for the rest of my life. And there were so many outstanding scenes – some about small stuff, like Uozumi not being able to eat an onigiri properly, some about big stuff like him facing his rapist.
I honestly am in awe of the fact that this was Eda Yuuri's first published work. Having read this, the appeal of her later books makes more sense to me, because a lot of that I loved about this series is what I love about the other books I've read – she really knows how to make all the characters shine and matter, and she knows how to capture a reader's heart.
I am nowhere no as good with words as she is, but I really really loved this book, even though reading it hurt like hell sometimes. It was one of those rare books that you don't just read – you have a conversation with them and they change your life.
August 2, 2014
Review to follow. But this is amazing.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews