Autumn is the season for reading, so let's enjoy a mini viewing session with a book that has been made into a movie
~Monosus' "Reading Club" #08~

I like the author Fuyumi Ono, and I started reading her works such as "Twelve Kingdoms" and "Shiki" that were made into anime. "Zan'e" is a horror novel, but there aren't many ghosts in it. It's more like, "They're there" if you feel like they're there.

The protagonist, "I," is a writer, and the story is likely evocative of the author himself. Long ago, I wrote in the afterword of a novel for junior and senior high school students, "If you have any scary stories, please send them to me," and I still receive letters from readers from that time.

One day, a female reader named Kubo wrote to me saying that sometimes when she was at home she would hear a "swoosh..." sound coming from the Japanese-style room behind her, and that's where our correspondence began. I thought it might be the sound of the ventilation fan, so I tried various things like turning it off or closing the door, but nothing happened when I looked at the room, but the sound came when I turned my back on it.

In the end, I decided it was just my imagination, but then I heard the sound again... and one day, when I turned around, I saw something that looked like a kimono sash. The two of them pursue the mystery of what it was, but in fact, "I" thought I had heard this story before. Then, when I was sorting through my luggage, I found a letter from another reader with a similar story, and the address was a different room in the same apartment building as Kubo-san.

From there, the story begins to suggest that there might be something wrong with the apartment building itself, and as we investigate further, we discover that it's not actually the apartment building that's wrong, but the land itself...and this is how the story uncovers the cause.

It's not that something incredibly scary appears, but rather that it might become scary if you think about it...

Maro-san's (Murakami's nickname) voice sounds like a narrator in a horror movie (laughs).

Do you eventually find out what was causing the noise?

Gradually, you start to understand. He does a lot of research, and years pass in the novel. By the way, in the novel, Kubo is a writer in his 30s, but in the movie, he is a student in his 20s.

What did you find most scary?

Well, it's scary. I mentioned earlier that there might be something strange about the land, but when you think about "land," I don't think there was anything there in the past. Someone must have died there, and if you go back hundreds of years, there are probably people who died in vain.
I can't help but wonder how many years it will take for that kind of grudge to disappear. Well, that's not the ending... but it does give some insight into the solution.

I'm curious about the ending.

As you read, you realize that a lot of people actually died.
It's not a grudge, but it's a fact that I've come to realize.

He seemed happiest when I told him he was dead.

I love science fiction, and I brought along my favorite novel by Michael Crichton. Many of his works have been adapted into films, including Jurassic Park, Disclosure, and the original story for ER.

The story of "Andromeda Strain" is set in America during the Cold War in the 1960s. A satellite used in a military experiment to weaponize extraterrestrial life forms lands in a village, but when the military goes to retrieve it, they find that all the villagers have been wiped out. To find out what it is, scientists from multiple fields are gathered in an isolated research facility and attempt to analyze the unknown life form. This novel is told in the form of reports and records, and describes the events that took place over several days in the research facility of this project called "Project Wildfire."

The story progresses in three timelines: the research facility where the scientists are gathered, the military cleaning up the aftermath of the wiped-out village, and Washington, where the president oversees them all. The story is told in a straightforward manner, depicting how the actions of each person in their own place and with good intentions ultimately lead to a crisis that destroys the research facility and leads to an outbreak.

So, the movie is not one that is "interesting". The story progresses over time in each part. In Michael Crichton's novels, there are times when a small thing is overlooked at the beginning of the story, and that leads to a serious crisis at the end.

It's nice to be like, "If only I'd done that first!"

The story progresses logically, but in fact, something went wrong at the beginning, and the answer they reach becomes the trigger that causes a crisis. Each character tries their best, but...

It's becoming more and more ruinous.

...which seems to be connected to

Is it assumed that extraterrestrial life exists?

Ah, that's right. When Michael Crichton writes his novels, he incorporates new scientific theories. His story starts with the idea that the amino acids that became the origin of life on Earth were attached to meteorites, and that a life form that breaks through the atmosphere has a toxicity that wipes out all the villagers.

Who is the director of the movie?

The director is...oh, Robert Wise.

The director of "Citizen Kane"! That's great.

The remake is by Ridley Scott.

Ahhh. Maybe it's a bit low compared to the excitement of Citizen Kane (laughs).

The one I would like to introduce is "Goodbye Midori-chan" by Minami Qta. After watching the movie, I read the original manga.

It's a youth romance manga about Yuko, an office lady, who gets caught up with a really scumbag guy named Yutaka, and all sorts of things happen to her. This Yutaka is, well, a real scumbag, and after he becomes close to Yuko, he's like, "I have a girlfriend," "But we're still friends," and "This kind of feeling is nice, isn't it?" Seriously. A hopeless scumbag. But he's also really kind and has a really handsome face. That's the kind of guy he is (laughs).

These two aren't the type to take others too seriously, and they hate to cause trouble. Yutaka is good at dodging the issue, but Yuko isn't that cheerful, so she just puts up with it. She's told to work at a snack bar to earn money, and she forces herself to work at night too. The people around her are pretty hard-working, but these two don't change at all until the last two pages (laughs).

The title "Midori-chan" is the name of Yutaka's long-time girlfriend, and at the end of the story, when Yuko hears "I broke up with Midori," she falls completely in love with Yutaka. You start to get a little hopeful, like, can this happen? But Yutaka says something like, "This is our relationship. It's always been like this," and at that point the two of them finally change. That's the last two pages.

To be honest, the story itself isn't that interesting (laughs).

Honestly (lol)

My favorite scene is at the end of the movie. It's the scene where Yutaka takes Midori-chan in a taxi. Yuko-chan, who is working at a snack bar, is being harassed by a dirty old man. What is this? I want to chase after Yutaka! I'm curious! Oh, he's gone! But now the dirty old man is here! It's starting from here.

From this point on, Yuko runs after the taxi they're in, like the "I'm in love so I'm dashing" type of obsession that you often see in romance movies (laughs).

Hoshino Mari, don't run!

I thought she was chasing after Yutaka, wanting to catch him and get him, but when she caught up with him, Yuuko wanted to see Midori's face. She was more interested in Midori's face, which captivated Yutaka, than in Yutaka himself. I like this part.

I can't really explain it, but this is my favorite place.

Without daring to jump forward, he desperately tries to look at Midori-chan's face, as if he can't tell the person he likes that he likes them... this!

Is that so...

Yes, this. This is what a woman is like (laughs).

Is this scene in the original?

Midori-chan doesn't appear at all in the manga. Not even in a single panel.

Like a fictional being.

Even that is unclear... It's just portrayed as maybe just an excuse for Yutaka to keep various women around. But it's made very clear in the movie. But even so, "Midori-chan" remains an abstract presence.

The book I brought with me is called Pet Sema...it's hard to say...Sematary.

(lol)

The movie is called "Pet Sematary" and the original is Sematary... Sematary is a little difficult to read, but I'll explain why later. I particularly like this movie based on a Stephen King novel, so I chose it because I thought I might be able to read the original novel.

The title means "Pet's Grave" and the main character is a father of a family of four: a couple, their kindergarten-aged daughter, and a toddler son. The story begins when they move to a rural town in America. One day, they find a small road next to their house and ask the old man next door, "What is this road?" The old man says, "If you're interested, I'll take you there next time," so they all decide to go.

There is a pet graveyard there made by the neighborhood kids, and because they are kids, the spelling of the sign on the graveyard is wrong, "Pet Sematary" (the correct spelling is "Cemetery"). This is the title of the novel, "Pet Sematary".

When we returned from the grave, our young daughter began crying, saying, "My cat will never die, will he?"
The father thinks it's better to teach her properly, but the mother has a trauma and can't accept death easily. Hesitating to explain death to the daughter, one day while the mother and children are out, the cat is hit by a car and dies. When the father is anxious about what to do and what to say to his daughter when she comes home, the old man next door says something like, "Follow me!"...

Ahh! I'm curious!

I thought I was going to bury it in the usual pet grave, but there was another path further in. There was an old Indian graveyard, and I was told to bury the cat there, so I buried it without understanding why.

Then, about three days later, the cat comes back. However, something seems a little strange. There's a clear difference in its atmosphere. It feels strange, but I think it's okay, so I continue living like that. Then, my toddler son gets run over by a truck and dies.
So, they go and bury it in that forbidden land.

Woah! He did it.

The land is cursed, or rather, once you go there, you are enchanted. The old man next door should not say anything, but when he is involved with the land, he can't help but want to tell someone. And it seems that he also comes up with a good excuse to bury it.
The father knows it's wrong, but he feels he has no choice but to go. He digs up his buried son and goes to the forbidden place.

Wow.

What happens from there? It's interesting to see the twists and turns.

I've never read Stephen King. I'd like to read it.

I knew the ending from the movie, but the novel was written from the father's point of view, and the descriptions of his struggles were very detailed and realistic... I was drawn in until the end. I'm glad I read it.