The Thief (edition 2012)

A longer review appears on my blog:
This">http://mswordopolis.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/the-thief-by-fuminori-nakamura/

This novel is a confessional by a pickpocket who also performs assignments for a crime organization. It's definitely the tale of a loner, with an interesting ending.

source: publisher via NetGalley

From a Western point of view, this is an unusual story told from the thief's point of view.
The first signs that things may not be well are the things that appear in his pockets that he doesn't remember lifting. Has he in his turn been the victim of a skilled pickpocket?

He has been a thief all his life, always coveting the treasures other children had, and gradually perfecting his techniques as a pickpocket. He specialises in replacing the wallets after he has removed what he wants, so the victim does not immediately realise his cash has been taken.

He is alarmed when he meets a boy who shoplifts with his mother and who is setting his sights on life as a pickpocket. He tries to divert the boy, at first refusing to show him any techniques, and then by giving him money to adopt a better life.

The murder of the old man in the house robbery leaves The Thief ensnared in a trap where he is required to steal to order. Failure to carry out the thefts will result in his own death and each task gets harder than the last. He realises he may not be around much longer.

Many other reviewers have commented on the gritty view the novel gives of the underbelly of Tokyo life.

It is a surprisingly short audio book, but is apparently unabridged although Amazon says the hard back version is 304 pages. At first I was put off by the narrator's American accent, but then became used to it. ( )

http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/2012/04/thief-by-fuminori-nakamura.html

A Tokyo pickpocket gets in over his head when he becomes mixed up in an armed robbery and murder plot, while at the same time finding himself the unlikely mentor to a young boy whose irresponsible mother has pushed him into shoplifting and pickpocketing as well. This book is a fast-paced, quick read in which the least despicable characters are our heroes, the pickpockets. It's a good book to read on your morning commute, particularly if you travel on a crowded subway train. You'll find yourself holding closer to your wallet and scanning your neighbours for signs of sneaky thievery.

Disclaimer: I received a digital galley of this book free from the publisher from NetGalley.com. I was not obliged to write a favourable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own. ( )

The language in this novel is strongly reminiscent of Haruki Murakami in its starkness and psychological nature. The reader is taken inside the mind of a highly accomplished pickpocket in Japan which is a fertile field of moral ambiguity. What makes a thief tick? What does a thief give up to be good at what he does? What does a thief run towards and run from? These are a few of the issues addressed in this story. Strongly recommend taking this revealing psychological journey. ( )

A quick piece of noir fiction. The plot is a sketchy bit about a pickpocket drawn against his will into performing crimes for what appears to be a Tokyo underworld figure. It turns a little philosophical as it presents questions of determinism and fatalism and alienation. These larger issues, and the fate of the pickpocket, aren't settled by the book's finale, a nervy coup de grâce that nearly redeems the story for me.

I regret that it doesn't really give much sense of contemporary Japan. The atmosphere is generic and flat and the book almost could have been set in any very large city.

Slight, but enjoyable. ( )