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Title: The Boy in the Earth

Author: Fuminori Nakamura

Narrator: Brian Nishii

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-25-17

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 1 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Fuminori Nakamura's Akutagawa Prize-winner plunges us into the depths of a young man's winding, troubled psyche. An unnamed taxi driver in Tokyo has experienced a rupture in his everyday life. He cannot stop daydreaming of suicide, envisioning himself returning to the earth in what soon become terrifying blackout episodes. His live-in girlfriend, Sayuko, is in a similarly bad phase, surrendering to alcoholism to escape the memory of her miscarriage. He meets with the director of the orphanage where he once lived, and must confront awful memories of his past and an abusive family before determining what to do next.

Members Reviews:

Haunting Novel

I had never heard of Fuminori Nakamura before I read this book. Apparently, he is a well-received author in Japan and his first novel that was translated into English won a prize. After reading this, I am not surprised. Nakamura truly has a way with words and has created a haunting novel that stayed with me well after I read the last page.

The plot is pretty straightforward: An unnamed Tokyo cab driver works the late shift and is consumed by his dark thoughts. In addition to putting himself in dangerous situations-such as confronting a gang-he lives with an alcoholic girlfriend whose problems land her in the hospital. As the novel progresses, we learn that the narrator was abandoned by his parents and lived with a series of distant relatives before ending up in an orphanage. One couple in particular inflicted horrendous abuse on the-then 8 year old. Without giving away spoilers, the account of the abuse is one of the most chilling and heartbreaking things I remember reading despite the fact that the description isn't graphic. That, along with the narrator visiting his former orphanage and meeting up with an official whom he knew from his days there is pretty much it.

This plot of this novel isn't about action, but rather is the study of a young man who is clearly damaged from the abuse that was inflicted on him as a child. It asks the big, hard questions such as: Is it possible for someone who has been severely abused to ever recover or even function in the world? Is it even possible that in some cases, death may be a better option than surviving? What happens to the survives we hear about on the news that survive the unthinkable years after the public has forgotten about them?

These are tough, complex questions and this is the rare novel that really makes one think about these things. Over all, a few good, haunting quick read.

Not your typical thriller, but still unsettling and disturbing.

Our protagonist is a nameless taxi driver, who goes through extended periods of absence from work. He's searching for something in life, something dark and slippery. As the story progresses, he is thrown into his history of abuse, of growing up in orphanages and foster homes, of his girlfriend's increasingly self-violent alcoholism, of the sudden violence he finds in the dark streets and forests of his city.

THE BOY IN THE EARTH isn't exactly a "novel." I mean, it's only 140 pages or so, but there's also not necessarily a plot. It's very reminiscent of some of David Lynch's films: dark, atmospheric, off-kilter in a way that's hard to describe. It's a dedicated character study, a walk through the mind of a troubled young man. While this may not seem entertaining, Fuminori Nakamura actually keeps the pages turning.