When Out first, well, came out, critics apparently argued that women should stick to writing romance instead of writing such gruesome stories. And to that I say…
Anyway.
While we may not value men’s opinions in this house, here are some other things that happened around this novel’s release that I would like you to know before we head to the review.
- The dismemberment scenes (yeahhh, this book has them) were apparently unsuitable for women writers.
- A male radio host refused to interview the author because of the type of novel Out was.
- And of course, the “stick to romance” directive that I want to repeat here for the rage.
Are we sufficiently filled with rage and spite now, my fellow shrews?
About Out
Out is about four women part-timers who work the night shift at a boxed lunch factory. One of the women strangles her abusive husband in a fit of rage and kills him. As one does.
The other women come together to help her out of this sticky situation. Masako, the silent and practical main character of the novel, comes up with the idea of dismembering the husband’s body and scattering the bits and bobs in plastic bags across the city. Again, as one does.
It looks like everything would go to plan, but the police investigation, one character’s loan shark problems, and the involvement of a murderous club owner all attempt to derail the women’s plans…and lives.
While the premise is a wild ride, this book’s brilliance starts with something as small as its title.
Time for some serious analysis, me frens.
Book review: Out by Natsuo Kirino
The original Japanese title of Out, アウト, is written in the katakana script.
A quick Google search reveals that the Japanese writing system has 3 main scripts: kanji, hiragana, and katakana. Katakana is apparently primarily used for scientific and technical terms, and foreign loanwords — comparable to italicized text in English.
Titling this story in katakana is telling. This is a book where alienation and otherness is a theme throughout.
At the center are 4 working class women who essentially live outside traditional society.
- Masako, who is emotionally estranged from her husband with a son who refuses to speak.
- Yoshie (the Skipper), who is her mother-in-law’s sole (and reluctant) caregiver and is wrung out emotionally and financially.
- Kuniko, the debt-ridden, vain outsider of the group who is also isolated emotionally, trying to fill the chasm of emotional connection with meaningless purchases.
- And finally, Yayoi, the trigger of the whole story, who is isolated from a meaningful adult relationship.
Even the supporting characters reek of isolation. There are literal foreigners (Kazuo and Anna) and outsiders by circumstance too throughout the novel.
While the women come together to cover up a crime, isolation still rears its ugly head in their friendship. There’s backstabbing, transactional behavior, and a general every-gal-for-herself vibe that keeps the women from fully coming into emotional connection even if it is what they all crave. There is also a lot of internalized misogyny in the characters.
Out is as character-driven as it is a plot-driven novel too and it’s the perfect candidate for annotation and analysis. I for one will be rereading this novel a few more times through the years just to savor the writing and the way Kirino wields the key themes of the story.
Stephen B. Snyder’s translation adds to the dark themes of the novel. The narration is gritty yet pragmatic and can eke out discomfort even in the most stoic reader.
Out has a famously polarizing ending and I am on the side of popular discourse here: I simply don’t get why it ended the way it did. But I can rationalize it to some extent by saying it is in keeping with the themes explored throughout too. And that’s all I can say about that as this is a spoiler-free review.
Overall, Out is a gritty classic that every thriller fanatic should read. It’s the perfect book club pick despite the dark themes it explores because it provides a lot of opportunity for analyses and critical reading.