Bookeater's Journal

洋書の読書感想文

"the Cockroach" Ian McEwan

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*とにかくすごい。あらゆる意味で*

ある日図書館の新着本コーナーにこの本はあった…。表紙にゴキブリ!(以下G)

もともとこのイアン・マキューアンという作家のことを変態に違いないと思っていたのだが、期待を裏切らない本だった。変態って文豪の証なのか!?だって川端康成とかとてつもない変態だから…。

この本はカフカの「変身」へのオマージュという事だったのでてっきりある男がある朝目覚めると虫になっていたんだろうなと思って読み始めたんだけど、なんだかさっぱりわからない。それでネットで調べたところ、全く逆だということがわかった。つまり、あるGがある朝目覚めると人間になっていたという話だったのです。作者のインタビューも読むことができて、それからは楽しく読めました。めでたしめでたし。時にはネタバレも必要かもと思います。

薄い本です。結構読みにくいから薄くてよかった。Amazonの書評に「空港で買って飛行機で読み終えた」と書いてあって、自分の英語力の無さを痛感するも、日本人だもん!と開きなおる。

イアン・マキューアンの本は日本でも人気なのかほとんどが翻訳されているが、この本はどうもまだらしいのは、タイトルのせいか?表紙のせいか?わからんが、そもそも売る気はあるのか?

作者が自国のEU脱退の憂さを晴らすために書いたらしいので、あまり売る気はないのかも。

Gが鏡を見て「うぇ!気持ち悪!」って思うのが笑えます。でもそういうものかも…美の基準って。

表紙の絵がほんと気持ち悪いので、ブックカバーがマストです。あと、家族からも嫌がられて、一切この小説の話は聞いてもらえなかったのも辛かったです。誰か読んでください。

 

*Extraordinary. In every sense.*


One day, I found this book in the new books section of the library... Cockroaches on the cover! (hereinafter referred to as C)


I originally thought that this author, Ian McEwan, must be a pervert, and this book did not disappoint me. Is being a pervert a prerequisite of being a great auther?  For example,Yasunari Kawabata is an incredible pervert...


This book was supposed to be an homage to Kafka's ``The Metamorphosis,'' so I started reading it thinking that a man woke up one morning and found out that he had turned into a bug, but it seemed to me that everything written there made no sense at all. However, after looking it up on the internet I realized that it was quite the opposite of what I had originally thought. In other words, the story was that C woke up one morning and found out it had become a human. Surging the web also yielded an interview with the author about the book and how it helped him process BREXIT. This insight enabled me to  enjoy the book more deeply. Congratulations! I think sometimes spoilers are necessary.


It's a thin book. I'm glad it's thin because it's pretty hard to read. On Amazon sight someone says, ``I bought it at the airport and finished reading it on the plane,'' which made me keenly aware of my lack of English skills, but I'm Japanese after all! I stay positive.


Ian McEwan's books are popular in Japan as well, and most of them have been translated, but this one seems to have not been published yet, perhaps because of the title? Is it because of the cover? I don't know, but with a cover like this, do they have any intention of selling it from the start?


The author seems to have written it to relieve his worries about his country's withdrawal from the EU, so he may not have much intention of selling it.


It's funny to see “former” C look in the mirror and think, "Wow! That's disgusting!" But maybe that's what beauty standards are like.


The picture on the cover is really creepy, so the book should be covered somehow when you read it in front of others. It made me feel sad that my family disiked C so much that they wouldn't listen to me talk about this novel at all.

Someone please read it.