Piercing is a novel by Ryu Murakami

Ryu Murakami

is a Japanese novelist and filmmaker. He is colloquially referred to as the "Maradona of Japanese literature".-Biography:Born as Ryūnosuke Murakami in Sasebo, Nagasaki on February 19, 1952...

. Originally published in Japanese in 1994, it was translated and published in English by Bloomsbury Publishing in 2008.

Overview

Piercing is set in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 and follows Kawashima Masayuki trying to come to terms with his overwhelming desire to stab his infant

Infant

A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...

 child with an Ice Pick. He resolves to divert the impulse into an unsuspecting prostitute. However as he begins to execute his meticulous crime everything, including his past, begins to unravel.

Critical reception

"...a haunting Japanese version of a David Lynch nightmare" - Chris Petit, Guardian Book Review.

"Far from being a cheap gorefest, ‘Piercing’ handles its violence with controlled aplomb, making it seem a natural by-product of Tokyo’s economic dominance. The result is a brief and convincing narrative of a crime and its motivations. With simple language and vividly evoked images, the novel looks at a single moment of horror from every angle." - Ed King, Time Out Book Review.

External links

• Ryu Murakami at Bloomsbury Publishing