Review by Jong Chung
Book Girl, known as Bungaku Shoujo in Japanese, is a light novel series that merits the read of any light novel fan, and especially so for those who are fans of the mystery genre. Book Girl and the Scandal Mime (effectively volume 1 of the series) written by Mizuki Nomura, details the story of a young boy named Konoha Inoue and his story-munching female upper classman named Tohko Amano. Before the story itself, we learn a bit about our protagonist, Konoha. Through extraordinary circumstances, he was once a world-famous “genius girl writer” by the pen name of Miu. Reading on, it is revealed that this past and responsibility weighed down on him considerably, causing Konoha to suffer a breakdown eventually. After the incident, he returns to a more normal life – no more writing as a “genius girl writer” and back to being a “regular school boy."
Such an opening may already have some readers to cock their brows at the premise alone of such a protagonist, but rest assured, it hardly impacts the story in a pretentious or a negative way one might expect of such extraordinary/”genius” characters. Though biased, narrative also does not intrude on the story while being told in Konoha's perspective. As with most mystery fiction, the story here requires a bit of set up and it is given a significant amount of it in the form of Konoha's school days. For those who are not familiar with the genre it may prove to be tedium, but once you stick with it – oh, how it rewards.
There is a parallel between the mystery/main conflict being told in this novel and Konoha's past, which seems to be something that will persist throughout the series, if not until the later volumes at least. That alone provides a good reason to stick with Book Girl, I believe. Vague hints are placed and told in snippets here and there – leaving the reader in me wanting to know more. If that is not reason enough to read on, then perhaps the appealing references to other pieces of literature throughout the story will provide some fresh interest to spice up the story. We are not left with a feeling that this is “just a book” or “just a story,” but one that is written by – and for readers such as us. Even for those who do not enjoy classical literature much, the references may allow readers of this novel to go out and try it. I think this kind of experience is a rather wonderful thing, provided light novels are often aimed at those who are into the anime/manga culture and do not dabble into classical literature quite as much. One thing of note is that there are heavy references to No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai, one that many readers of Book Girl may not have ever heard of before. Given majority of the “classical literature” by our standards are written by Western writers, it should not come as a surprise that such a great book is obscure to us overseas readers. I have read some of the book myself, and I can say it is definitely worth the time and monetary investment. This is the kind of positive effect Book Girl has had on me, to go out and venture into new readings and experiences.
In summary, Book Girl and the Scandal Mime not only gives us the beginning of a wonderful mystery genre light novel series to look forward to from Yen Press, but also allows us as readers to enjoy something more. The main protagonists themselves are readers and writers: their identities firmly rooted in their being part of the literature club. Does that provide a new kind of incentive to read Book Girl? I believe so, and I hope it does for many of you as well. No gun-toting, super villain combating, mind blowing action here, but pick up a copy at a book store and sift through a few pages. It will be a refreshing experience to those coming from books of more extraordinary fantasy or science-fiction roots, and a wonderful “snack” for those who already love mystery novels.
© 2010 Linda Thai
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