Points and Lines

"The Point and the Line" is the pioneering work of socialist mystery novels. It is an immortal masterpiece by the Japanese literary giant Seicho Matsumoto. It was selected as the third best mystery novel in history by "Weekly Bunshun". The Japanese version has sold more than 3 million copies. "Points and Lines" and the socialist trend it triggered constitute an important part of the world's history of mystery novels. As one of Seicho Matsumoto's masterpieces, "Points and Lines", "Focus of Zero" and "Sandware" profoundly influenced Keigo Higashino, turning him from hating reading to becoming obsessed with mystery novels, thus embarking on the path of writing mystery novels. In Keigo Higashino's book "My Wandering Youth," he said: "I read "Points and Lines" and "Focus of Zero," all in one go, and it was extremely refreshing. The past of getting headaches as soon as I saw type became so unreal." Two waitresses went to Tokyo Station to see off regular customers. The three of them saw the waitress Ah Shi and a man getting on the train at platform 13. A few days later, their bodies were found on the coast of Kyushu. The police determined that it was love suicide. But a policeman found it strange: at busy Tokyo Station, number 15 can be seen from platform 13 for only 4 minutes a day. Could it really be such a coincidence? [About the author] Matsumoto Seicho (1909-1992) is a Japanese writer who has won the Akutagawa Prize, the Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Prize, the Kikuchi Kan Prize, the Mystery Writers Association Award, etc. His work "Points and Lines" pioneered socialist mystery novels, and his representative works include "Zero's Focus" and "Sandware". Matsumoto Seicho is a prolific writer who only went to elementary school and became a late bloomer. He has rarely been recognized by both the pure literary world (such as the Akutagawa Prize) and the popular literature field (such as the Mystery Writers Association Award), and has a huge number of readers. "Sankei Shimbun" reported that "Sand War" sold at least 4.3 Million copies, while "Point and Line" and "Zero Focus" also sold 3 million copies and 2.2 Million copies respectively. Represented by these three books, Seicho Matsumoto created a new era in the history of mystery novels and profoundly influenced a number of important contemporary Japanese writers. As Miyuki Miyabe said: "Just like you can see the moon and the sun when you raise your head, in the world of mystery novels, you can see the works of Matsumoto Seiharu as soon as you raise your head." Kyogoku Natsuhiko said: "Matsumoto Seiharu is the father of the socialist mystery novels, and I still remember it until now. I have been reading his works." Matsumoto Seicho himself said: "I have never studied writing, so I don't know what kind of novel I should take as my direction. But I don't want to follow the path that others have taken, and I only write stories that I like." Perhaps this is the reason why his influence is so profound.