Tokyo
(The Devil Of Nanking)
by
Mo Hayder, Rahmani Astuti (Translator)
1937.
Tentara Jepang melakukan pembantaian besar-besaran di Nanking saat mereka
melakukan invasi ke China. Mereka melakukan pemerkosaan, perampasan,
pembakaran, serta eksekusi terhadap tawanan perang dan penduduk sipil. Ini
merupakan peristiwa paling tragis yang dialami bangsa China. Karena kekejamannya
di Nanking, seorang letnan Jepang bernama Junzo Fuyuki mendapat julukan
yanwangye—si Iblis.
1990.
Fuyuki menjadi pemimpin sebuah geng Yakuza. Ia dipercaya biasa menyantap daging
manusia agar tetap sehat dan panjang umur. Fuyuki selalu didampingi oleh tangan
kanannya, Suster Ogawa, yang dijuluki Jahanam Saitama karena kesadisannya.
Suster Ogawa telah menjadi mitos di dunia bawah tanah Jepang.
Shi
Chongming, profesor di Universitas Todai, beserta Grey, seorang mahasiswa dari
London, bekerja sama untuk mengungkap rahasia Fuyuki dan Pembantaian Nanking.
Ketika satu per satu fakta terungkap, Grey berada dalam bahaya karena telah
membangunkan kembali Iblis yang pernah merajalela dalam tragedi di Nanking
dahulu...
496
halaman
Dastan
Books 2009
Sybill: I just finished listening to The Devil of Nanking. Because it is
about Japanese atrocity in Nanking during WWII, it is not surprising that the
theme is the terrible things humans do to others. It is perhaps surprising that
it is more about the terrible things we do to ourselves. It is hard to review
this without spoilers. The story unfolds small bits at a time. The pacing is
excellent with the story moving between a young mentally scarred English woman
and an elderly Chinese scholar. Their stories intertwine with poignancy, raw
emotion and grace. I think I this book will stick with you long past the end.
Samantha: This book centers
around the Nanjing Massacre that has happened a long time ago. In thsi book, an
Englishwoman named Grey comes to Japan to look for a document or footage the
captures the horrifying event of the Nanking massacre. This book literally
broke my heart because of the gruesome things the Japanese soliders had done to
many of the Chinese civilians/people. They raped them in the streets and
murdered thousands of people. I think many people should be informed about this
genocide which is a mass murdering of many people because we need to make sure
that history does not repeat itself- even though it has known to do so. This
book brings out the horrors of humanity and I would reccommend this book to the
young adults and mature age group.
Kathrina: I can't stand to
read a thriller that contains nothing more than a bag of cheap tricks the
author must construe a plot around, so I read mass market thrillers with a huge
degree of trepidation. I want to be compelled, not manipulated. Hayder hits the
mark; she's intelligent, does her homework, and writes with dexterity and
skill. She's woven a contemporary mystery that runs sidelong with an historical
atrocity, and both are compelling and thrilling. As far as I can tell, this is
her only novel with an Asian setting (too bad, because she's very
knowledgeable, having lived in China for a portion of her life), but I'd be
confident enough in her skill to try one of her British settings, just because
I like her style.
Teresa: "Tóquio” é um
livro que me manteve em permanente angústia durante toda a leitura.
É baseado num episódio da história da humanidade – o massacre e tortura de milhares de chineses, pelo exército imperial japonês, durante a invasão da cidade de Nanquim, em 1937. A acção desenrola-se, capítulo a capítulo, entre a cidade chinesa e Tóquio 50 depois, onde encontramos Grey, uma jovem inglesa, que procura um filme que relata um episódio do massacre.
É baseado num episódio da história da humanidade – o massacre e tortura de milhares de chineses, pelo exército imperial japonês, durante a invasão da cidade de Nanquim, em 1937. A acção desenrola-se, capítulo a capítulo, entre a cidade chinesa e Tóquio 50 depois, onde encontramos Grey, uma jovem inglesa, que procura um filme que relata um episódio do massacre.
É um livro muito bem escrito e muito complexo, que
expõe o lado mais negro do ser humano, até dos inocentes.
O final é inesperado e avassalador. Não é fácil de ler. Até porque fala de amor: “...sempre foi para mim claro que o coração humano se vira do avesso para pertencer a alguém, que tenta aproximar-se do primeiro e mais próximo afecto...”
O final é inesperado e avassalador. Não é fácil de ler. Até porque fala de amor: “...sempre foi para mim claro que o coração humano se vira do avesso para pertencer a alguém, que tenta aproximar-se do primeiro e mais próximo afecto...”
Veronika: Haunting... gave
this book 4stars because I couldn't put it down...it had a good transition
between wartime Nanking & present day Tokyo...I will say that the
"magic elixir", once I found out what it was, gave me nightmares days
after I finished the book. I will not be able to read it again, and really
can't find myself recommending the book because the nature of the massacure in
Nanking bothered me so much. It bothered me the most when I kept thinking that
really could have happened. Even though the characters are fiction, the war was
not...the massacure was not....I guess the evil that man can inflict on each
other will never cease to amaze me.
If you have lost a child, I strongly recommend you
NOT READ THIS BOOK!!! It has haunted me for days....I can not even begin to
describe the horrors inflicted....
However, like I said, I did give it 4stars because
it was a well told story, that had my heart racing and on the edge of my seat.
