天使の傷痕

Content warnings: murder, suicide, sex

Basic plot: A couple out for a nice walk in the wood encounter a man who has been stabbed. With his dying breath he says ’てん’ which piques the interest of both the police and the news reporter in whose arms he died. What follows is a race by both parties to unravel who killed this man and why.

So if you read this know that it was written in the 1960s. This means 3 things:

1. Kanji usage is different
2. Societal norms are also different, particularly in regards to gender roles. You will bump into that several times. If that interferes with your ability to enjoy a book, I recommend skipping this.
3. It’s way better if you just imagine everything through the lens of a classic Bond movie, or your favorite hyper-masculine 1960s series of choice.

This book won the 江戸川乱歩 prize and being a fan of 江戸川乱歩, I felt pulled to read it. The author is also prolific and fairly well known, although perhaps more so with older readers. That said, by the end of the story I could understand why it won a prize and I think it deserved it. If you like your writing to be hyper realistic and believable, this is not it, but if you want drama and a tangled web type of mystery then grab your popcorn and settle in.

If you ignore the kanji issue, this book is a fast, pulpy read which would be similar to many of 赤川次郎’s books on similar topics and land with them in the high 20s/low 30s. I will not ignore the kanji in my grading however, because it would present a real challenge to a lot of people. I did entertain myself by making a list of less-common kanji used in the book however, so please feel free to use these as a reference so make it feel like a 30 book instead of whatever it has landed at.

Oh, also, the first several pages and last page are written entirely in kanji and katakana. Don’t worry, it’s just for a few pages for dramatic effect.

Unusual kanji usage (by modern day standards) that I noted:

曳金（read 引き金）。総べて。筈。判らなかった。頻り。積り。閑。委せて。成程。畠。矢鱈。暫く。勿論。蒼く。折角。悪戯。或。一先ず。但し。位(for くらい)。頁。屑箱。何処。忽ち。一寸。欺される（だまされる）。貴女(read like 貴方, used when referring to a woman)。硝子。呉る・貰う。林檎。矢張り。為。頂戴。只。逢い。此処。如何。俯向いて(typically written 俯いて)。非道い。