傲慢と善良
(Gouman to Zenryou)
by 辻村 深月 (Mizuki Tsujimura)
Author: 辻村 深月 (Mizuki Tsujimura)
Japanese Level: JLPT N2
Genre: Mystery, human drama
Pages: 493
Amazon Japan Kindle: 傲慢と善良
Bookwalker Japan: 傲慢と善良 (paperback)
Japanese Summary
婚約者・坂庭真実が忽然と姿を消した。
その居場所を探すため、西澤架は、彼女の「過去」と向き合うことになる。
生きていく痛みと苦しさ。その先にあるはずの幸せ──。
2018年本屋大賞『かがみの孤城』の著者が贈る、圧倒的な”恋愛”小説。
English Summary (translation by Japanese Talk Online)
His fiancé, Mami Sakaniwa, has gone missing.
Kakeru Nishizawa turns to her past in order to find her.
The pain and suffering she took on to live. And the happiness she should have had after.
An impactful “romance” novel by the award-winning author of “Lonely Castle in the Mirror”.
Why You Should Read 傲慢と善良 (Gouman to Zenryou)
I first want to you warn you that this novel sells itself as one thing, while doing something else. I understand why it does this, but I’ve seen a lot of Western readers disappointed because the novel was not what they expected.
If that’s all you need to know, and want to avoid slight spoilers, then I suggest you don’t read any reviews. Even this one!
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If you don’t care about minor spoilers so you have a better idea of what you’re getting into then read on!
The story follows Kakeru as he tries to find out what happened to his missing fiancé Mami. However, it’s worth knowing in advance that it’s a low-stakes mystery. There’s nothing thrilling like in 容疑者Xの献身 (The Devotion of Suspect X) or アリス殺し (Alice Killer), but it is still a mystery. I don’t want to say anything more than that.
This novel is, at its core, a discussion about modern-day marriage in Japan. The term in Japanese is 婚活（こんかつ）, which directly translates to “marriage activities”. These are things people do for the specific purpose of finding someone to marry. (Such as arranged marriage interviews called お見合い（おみあい）or using dating/marriage apps.)
There is a lot of discussion about how different people approach 婚活 differently and why someone might want to do it. Specifically looking at how different people are raised and social expectations pushed upon them.
There is one point towards the end of the novel where the perspective changes. I was angry about this at first, but the more I read, the more I learned to appreciate what was happening. I ended up finishing this book feeling satisfied.
Why Japanese Learners Should Read 傲慢と善良 (Gouman to Zenryou)
This is a fantastic novel for practicing advanced Japanese which is used on a daily basis (around JLPT N2). The story talks about re-world issues, and topics which still impact Japanese people today: marriage, education, child-rearing, disasters, the police, etc. There’s a great variety of vocabulary and topics covered.
Most of the chapters focus on Kakeru talking to specific people about different topics. This makes the scenes easy to understand, and quickly to read because they’re mostly conversations.
Summary
I think if you’re looking for an interesting discussion about modern issues in Japan, then this is a great book to read! If you’re looking for a high-stakes, thrilling mystery, then this novel probably won’t tickle your fancy.
You can try a free sample of the book on Bookwalker!
Other Books You Might Like
A Whole Lot of Hurts (52-Hertz Whales)
Mystery Writer and Medium Detective Duo (medium)