Fuminori Nakamura’s novel The Thief has the distinction of being a quick, fast-paced read without really having a plot! Our protagonist is a skilled Tokyo pickpocket who gets roped into one scheme after another by the Yakuza (Japanese mafia) – until he isn’t.
Nakamura might’ve mentioned the main character’s name at some point but I’ve completely forgotten it. Not that he has much of a character anyway – like everyone else in the book, he’s essentially a cipher. He effortlessly picks anyone’s pocket, so what he does for most of the book is unexciting and rote, though it’s not clear why. He doesn’t seem to need any of the vast sums of cash he steals daily nor does he enjoy doing it and Nakamura never goes on to enlighten the reader further! Later on, he’s blackmailed by a mob boss to do something or he’ll be killed, which he goes along with but why does he want to live anyway – unless it’s just basic survival instinct keeping him going? Yeah, completely unfathomable and not the most memorable character at all.
Like the main character’s motivations, the entire story felt pointless. Towards the end, the cartoonish mob boss says something about toppling society but it’s vague and unsatisfying. It’s mostly one pickpocketing scene after another, broken up by a robbery and a subplot involving a prostitute and her son that felt tacked-on, sentimental and baffling as to its inclusion. And, as expected for a directionless story, the ending is flat, empty and underwhelming. What was Nakamura driving at? Was there anything he wanted to impart? I got no strong impression one way or the other and it all felt random and murky at best.
Oh dear - it sounds like I’m really down on this one, eh? The thing is, despite all of the above, I kinda liked it! Because the protagonist is always doing something, and the writing is so smooth, the pages fly by. The old man robbery and the Yakuza boss telling his rambling fable in the sex club were both unusual and interesting scenes. While Nakamura leans heavily on noir genre conventions with its clichéd characters and their unimaginative struggles – basically for all: money – the book never annoyed or bored me.
It’s a literary crime thriller that’s very superficial in all of those aspects, and I expect I’ll have forgotten it all sooner rather than later, but I wouldn’t call it a bad novel either; unfocused is probably the best word. The Thief is a slick and easy read that goes down effortlessly though it’s hella shallow too.
Nakamura might’ve mentioned the main character’s name at some point but I’ve completely forgotten it. Not that he has much of a character anyway – like everyone else in the book, he’s essentially a cipher. He effortlessly picks anyone’s pocket, so what he does for most of the book is unexciting and rote, though it’s not clear why. He doesn’t seem to need any of the vast sums of cash he steals daily nor does he enjoy doing it and Nakamura never goes on to enlighten the reader further! Later on, he’s blackmailed by a mob boss to do something or he’ll be killed, which he goes along with but why does he want to live anyway – unless it’s just basic survival instinct keeping him going? Yeah, completely unfathomable and not the most memorable character at all.
Like the main character’s motivations, the entire story felt pointless. Towards the end, the cartoonish mob boss says something about toppling society but it’s vague and unsatisfying. It’s mostly one pickpocketing scene after another, broken up by a robbery and a subplot involving a prostitute and her son that felt tacked-on, sentimental and baffling as to its inclusion. And, as expected for a directionless story, the ending is flat, empty and underwhelming. What was Nakamura driving at? Was there anything he wanted to impart? I got no strong impression one way or the other and it all felt random and murky at best.
Oh dear - it sounds like I’m really down on this one, eh? The thing is, despite all of the above, I kinda liked it! Because the protagonist is always doing something, and the writing is so smooth, the pages fly by. The old man robbery and the Yakuza boss telling his rambling fable in the sex club were both unusual and interesting scenes. While Nakamura leans heavily on noir genre conventions with its clichéd characters and their unimaginative struggles – basically for all: money – the book never annoyed or bored me.
It’s a literary crime thriller that’s very superficial in all of those aspects, and I expect I’ll have forgotten it all sooner rather than later, but I wouldn’t call it a bad novel either; unfocused is probably the best word. The Thief is a slick and easy read that goes down effortlessly though it’s hella shallow too.
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