Grotesque - Natsuo Kirino
A psychological look into the darker side of the human psyche told through the eyes of 4 women who were part of the elite schooling system in Japan where it is a pressure-cooker perverted microcosm of the uglier side of Japanese society.
The narrator, a "half" woman of Japanese and Swiss parents, doesn't look very out of the ordinary. However, within her was a malice and viciousness which can only be described as "Grotesque". Scarred from young by a dysfunctional family and the shadow of jealousy of her breathtakingly pretty sister.
Yuriko is born so physically perfect she was monstrous. The darker side of her nature came to being as she was so physically perfect, everyone doted over her as they lusted for her. Eventually her physical perfection drove her into the extreme dark side of life and prostitution.
Kazue Sato, self-delusional and obsessed, her psyche was first perverted by her overbearing father, then later scarred by the beauty of Yuriko. In her life, her delusional obsessive nature drove her to the degradation which was her murder.
Mitsuru, a brilliant student who tried her very best at being the best. However, when she was swept into this maelstrom of hatred, maliciousness and anger, her psychology was bent and she fell into a surprisingly dark fate.
The murder of Yuriko and Kazue reveals the grotesque nature of the darker side of society. Some of which is so dark and terrible, the title is apt.
What is read, cannot be un-read. Not for the faint hearted. 4 1/2 out of 5
