This book is a collection of short stories by Matsumoto Seicho, which includes four short stories: "The Drawing Under the Dotted Line", "Passenger", "Rebirth" and "The Prime Minister's Official Residence".
"Painting Under the Dotted Line" tells the story of a lonely painter's wife who spends her days traveling among dignitaries, attracting customers for her husband, and gradually acquires a coquettish air about her. The male protagonist became suspicious of her, and eventually fell into a trap caused by suspicion.
"Rebirth" tells the story of Sangmu who fell in love with the editor Masako after undergoing gastric cancer surgery. From then on, he lived between his wife and Masako, and his life became a mess. Later, Sangmu accidentally drove and killed someone, ruining his promising future, and Masako also chose to leave Sangmu. The "life given" has since become "the life taken away".
"Passenger" tells the story of the psychological changes of an English translator.
"The Prime Minister's Official Residence" tells the story of the Prime Minister's Official Residence during the 226 Incident from the perspective of a trainee military doctor. In his novel, Seicho Matsumoto concentrated on describing the evil heart lurking in daily life, fully demonstrating his insight into human nature.
Reader comments
This book is very good! Every story has its annoying characters, such as the voluptuous wife in "The Dotted Line" and the complicated translator in "The Passenger." The plot is very attractive, especially the ups and downs of Sang Mu's fate in "Rebirth", which made me deeply feel the impermanence of life. Matsumoto Seicho's insight into human nature is really amazing!
Matsumoto Seicho will always be one of my favorite socialist writers. Although I still read mostly long stories, these short stories still have a familiar flavor. Matsumoto Seicho is very knowledgeable about the black and white sides of human nature and all walks of life. The socialist school is also rooted in this. Readers who like it will like it very much. Even when mystery novels are constantly being renovated, we still need Seicho Matsumoto.
Although the narrative is straightforward, several stories have practical significance.
Matsumoto Seicho also writes wonderful non-detective novels
This book is very good! Every story has its annoying characters, such as the voluptuous wife in "The Dotted Line" and the complicated translator in "The Passenger." The plot is very attractive, especially the ups and downs of Sang Mu's fate in "Rebirth", which made me deeply feel the impermanence of life. Matsumoto Seicho's insight into human nature is really amazing!
Matsumoto Seicho will always be one of my favorite socialist writers. Although I still read mostly long stories, these short stories still have a familiar flavor. Matsumoto Seicho is very knowledgeable about the black and white sides of human nature and all walks of life. The socialist school is also rooted in this. Readers who like it will like it very much. Even when mystery novels are constantly being renovated, we still need Seicho Matsumoto.
Although the narrative is straightforward, several stories have practical significance.
Matsumoto Seicho also writes wonderful non-detective novels