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"...the concept of singular is a subtle but important factor in much of Japanese culture. It implies taking a step back to admire something that might be slightly deviant, or unsettling in some way. To coolly observe something repellent and unpleasant and appreciate it as a form of beauty for entertainment. I find that psychology fascinating. Take the ideogram for 'singular' for instance, which also contains the meaning of 'suspect and unusual'. I see in that a kind of warped humour. With echoes of a sadistic joke, a brutal awakening, or a detached gaze."

I never thought I'd love a murder mystery as much as this. It's also weird to read something in this genre, where the writing is so lacking in tension (at least in the beginning), and the overall mood is peaceful and reflective. This is not a criticism, as I really loved that about it, and it felt refreshing. For large chunks, the book seems more interested in the human elements, of how memory works after trauma, of how people deal with extraordinary unexplainable events, of how you can't know what goes inside another person's head, than with solving the mystery, and I'm fine with that.

“Fear is a spice that lends credibility. Just the right amount sprinkled in any story makes it plausible.�

Without a second read, I can't say for sure, but my initial thought upon finishing is that I wish she had been more extreme: by leaving it either MORE open ended or not open ended at all... I either want to know everything that happened, or I want to know much less than she gave us. The ending provided just enough of a tease that it frustrated me. If it were more open-ended, then I could just enjoy it as a reflection on a traumatic event and a town and its people, with an element of mystery in there.

I think it's also because the "solutions" to the mystery that Onda seems to be nodding towards all seem a bit silly to me.

But I definitely wanna qualify that opinion with the fact that I've only read this once, and I think this really is a book you need to read twice. Maybe things become more clear after a second read.

“That’s how I came to believe that it’s impossible to ever really know the truth behind events.�

The novel is written from many different perspectives, almost like in the movie Rashomon, where truths fragment into many versions and angles. Each section is written in a different way, some are excerpts from one of the character's novel, some are entries in a diary. But many sections are transcripts of a conversation between an invisible interviewer and one of the characters while they walk around town. These sections were fine except for a pet peeve I have. It's one that mostly happens in movies where you hear only one side of a phone conversation, and it goes something like this:

"What did I have for lunch? A sandwich. What did I think of it? I thought it was delicious"

Whereas in real life the conversation would've been: "A sandwich... Delicious"

I know, it's a silly thing, but it bothers me in movies, and it bothered me here as well. Overall, I really loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind uncertainty and unsolved mysteries, and a lot of meditative beautiful passages.