Speed of Lightness

by Sherwood, Barrie

• ISBN13: 9789814914086
• ISBN10: 9814914088
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2021-04-20
• Publisher: Penguin Books

Summary

A window on modern Japan, this off-kilter, anti-sentimental literary thriller is an eye-opening journey into the hinterlands of a postmodern nation. Kyoto University student Aozora Fujiwara has been playing too much mah-jong and now he’s deep in debt. When Aunt Okane (‘money’) dies and leaves a collection of priceless art to him and his sister, Mai, he thinks his problems are solved. But they’re only just beginning: Mai’s disappeared and he can’t liquidate the estate without her. The quest that ensues takes Aozora to the deep south of Japan and the unlikely setting of a Dutch theme park called, Amsterland… The joy in Sherwood’s tale is in Aozora’s madcap journey, during which he meets a slew of silly—and often sinister—souls. Among them: an oyster-loving businessman who sells lifelike inflatable dolls, and a corpulent crime boss who looks like a cross between Liberace and Kim Jong-Il. In his carefully woven descriptions, Sherwood shows unusual insight into a fastchanging society of disaffected youth and sleazy governance. This picaresque on steroids offers a refreshingly irreverent look at contemporary life in a not entirely implausible Japan.

Author Biography

Barrie Sherwood was born in Hong Kong and brought up in Canada. He is the author of the novel The Pillow Book of Lady Kasa and a collection of stories titled The Angel Tiger. He lives in Singapore.