Pretense reviewed Fish Swimming in Dappled Sunlight by Riku Onda
Review of 'Fish Swimming in Dappled Sunlight' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I need to read more contemporary Japanese fiction this year. This book is a fascinating look at what happens with two people who are very attuned to each other and also paranoid about each other—though the plot and mystery are perhaps second to the book’s existential themes. I had some aspects of the book spoiled for me before going into it, so I’m not sure how much of those details were truly predictable or if my brain were just primed to read it that way. Regardless, Onda is skillful in creating a tense atmosphere in a limited setting with just a small cast of characters—primarily the two protagonists, Aki and Hiro, and the murder victim who is central to their relationship.
As a psychological thriller, I feel this could have been a bit more gripping. The beginning of the novel, when things are so tense and uncertain, definitely intrigued and …
I need to read more contemporary Japanese fiction this year. This book is a fascinating look at what happens with two people who are very attuned to each other and also paranoid about each other—though the plot and mystery are perhaps second to the book’s existential themes. I had some aspects of the book spoiled for me before going into it, so I’m not sure how much of those details were truly predictable or if my brain were just primed to read it that way. Regardless, Onda is skillful in creating a tense atmosphere in a limited setting with just a small cast of characters—primarily the two protagonists, Aki and Hiro, and the murder victim who is central to their relationship.
As a psychological thriller, I feel this could have been a bit more gripping. The beginning of the novel, when things are so tense and uncertain, definitely intrigued and roped me into the narrative. Some of the middle portions were more clunky, less compelling to get through. There was a slight undercurrent of repetition, especially since we get alternating perspectives from our two main characters. Perhaps this is a trend of Japanese fiction, but the tactic of liberally writing out the character’s thought processes, changes in direction and all, was both unsettling and fascinating. I think it is because I am not as used to it from western/English books, but I don’t necessarily dislike it.
It is hard to describe the characters or plot because this is really a novel best suited to going in blind. That said, the characters will surprise you and make you question your assumptions throughout the novel; their relationship is perhaps a conveniently arranged plot artifice, but is is far from the point of the book, so I will give it a pass. The plot and mystery, as mentioned above, are really just vehicles for the themes. This novel truly gets into an existentialist mode towards the middle and end of the story—particularly as it relates to the characters’ subjective experiences of the pivotal encounter in question as well as their own lives. By the end, we’ve reached a certain impasse, and it feels both like so much has happened and not enough.
All in all, a very interesting read, and one that I enjoyed for its ability to convey a lot of compelling ideas and themes, though its writing style and characterization were not as strong as I would have liked. The element of suspense promised by the blurb is a true one, though perhaps not for the reasons you might expect.
