On Parole - by Akira Yoshimura (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

After spending sixteen years in prison for a crime of the heart, Shiro Kikutani is released into a world he no longer recognizes. He must readjust to the bright and vigorous stimulus of Tokyo while fending off his own dark memories. In a spare yet powerful style, Akira Yoshimura paints the psychology of a quiet man navigating his way through the unsuspected traumas of freedom-finding a job, finding a home, even something as simple as buying an alarm clock. Kikutani takes comfort in the numbing repetition of his new daily life, only to be drawn inexorably back to the scene of his crime. A subtly powerful story, On Parole explores the fragile life of a murderer and the conditions of freedom in an unforgiving society. Yoshimura's startling novel raises provocative questions of guilt and redemption.

Review Quotes

"Though shorter than Haruki Murakami's South of the Border, West of the Sun, it is a more expansive work, delving into frightening territory....Smoothly translated by James Westerhoven, Okuizumi's prose is full of glassy surfaces that tilt to reach vertigo-inducing depths.-Los Angeles Times

"This eloquent, sorrowful, marvelously translated novel is a meditation on the ravages of war, the persistence of violence on the human soul and incredible bravery."-The Washington Post