The Precision of Death

Name: The Precision of Death
ISBN: 9787544279864

Kotaro IsakaNanhai Publication Company2015

4.0

Word count: 125K words
Chapters: 6
Series: New Classic · Kotaro Isaka Works
ISBN: 9787544279864

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Summary

The Precision of Death is a linked short story collection by Kotaro Isaka featuring Chiba, a detective of death, comprised of six stories that stand alone yet resonate with one another. Chiba always appears on rainy days. Wearing white gloves and hopelessly inept in the ways of the world, he is nonetheless obsessed with music, and counts listening to CDs through headphones in a store's listening booth as his supreme pleasure. His job is to spend seven days accompanying and observing a person marked as "soon to die by accident" based on intelligence provided by his department, then report back to his superiors with a "yes" (let them die) or a "pass" (let them live on). During these seven days, Chiba takes human form and spends time with his subject, talking and even lending a hand to help them sort out their affairs. The people under investigation vary widely: a young woman working a company switchboard who, hounded by customer complaints, blurts out that she "really wants to die"; a man who holds fast to the code of the underworld while being hunted by a gang; a group caught up in a snowbound-mansion murder case; a young man in the midst of a romance; and a woman over seventy living alone, having outlived everyone around her. To a detective of death, death is nothing special. But as the investigations pile up, he gradually discovers that the final days of a person's life often carry the most sorrowful beauty, and that he, a detective of death, does not truly understand death at all. Written in a light, translucent style, the book explores love and hate, life and death, using the slightly clueless outsider's perspective of the detective of death to create abundant contrast and humor, while pulling together at the end into a lingering twist. The title story won the 57th Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Short Fiction, as did the collection itself, and the book was voted the year's best novel by readers of the magazine Da Vinci. It was later adapted into a film of the same title starring Takeshi Kaneshiro.

Editor's review

这本书最大的妙处，是先立了一个近乎冷血的规则：死神千叶只需花七天观察对象，然后上交一份“可”或“放行”的结论。规则越精确，人就越显得脆弱；而千叶偏偏对音乐着迷、对人情一无所知，这种冷静与天真的错位，让每一次“审判”都透着荒诞的温柔。六个短篇写法各异：有黑道义气，有暴风雪山庄式的封闭推理，有纯爱片段，也有老人与往事的留白。看似互不相干，人物和细节却在暗中勾连，读到最后会发现前文的伏笔早已埋好，这正是东野圭吾称赞的“收尾”。它不是靠诡计取胜的推理，而是以死神视角重新丈量“活着”这件事。此次南海出版公司版本由星野空翻译，为“新经典·伊坂幸太郎作品”系列第08种，豆瓣评分8.1，适合作为进入伊坂世界的入门读物。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢伊坂幸太郎式轻盈笔调与温柔荒诞的读者
爱读短篇连作、享受伏笔与收束快感的推理读者
对生死议题感兴趣、但不想读沉重文本的人
看过金城武主演同名电影、想回读原著的观众

Not a good fit for

追求本格硬核诡计、强解谜快感的推理迷
希望读到长篇单一主线、强情节推进的读者
不接受以死神为主角、带奇幻设定的读者

Reading tips

六篇可按顺序读，留意人物、道具的暗中呼应，收尾处会有连锁的顿悟。
不妨把每篇当成一部小电影，读完后回想千叶那句“可”或“放行”的分量。
若读过《死神的浮力》，可将其与本作对照，看千叶这一角色的延续与变化。
适合在雨天或独处时慢读，每读一篇留一点时间消化情绪。

About the publisher

Nanhai Publication Company China · Founded in 1988

Nanhai Publication Company is a comprehensive publisher known for its literature and arts titles, covering fields such as classical poetry, martial arts fiction, and folk literature. Judging from the more than 1,600 books in the database, the company has released classical poetic works including the Nineteen Old Poems and the Nine Songs, as well as multiple volumes of Huanzhulouzhu's series The Swordsmen of Mount Shu, along with related writings by authors such as Guan Hanqing, Qu Yuan, Zuo Si, and Wang Zhihuan. Its publishing character lies in balancing the organization of classic texts with the dissemination of popular literature, placing poetry anthologies alongside long martial arts novels and presenting a relatively diverse literary profile. Public information is limited, and further details about its editorial practices and series planning remain to be supplemented.

The Precision of Death
The Shinigami and Fujita
The Shinigami in the Snowstorm
The Shinigami and Love
The Shinigami on the Journey
The Shinigami and the Old Woman

FAQ

这本书是长篇还是短篇集？

是短篇连作：由《死神的精确度》《死神与藤田》《暴风雪中的死神》《死神与恋爱》《旅途中的死神》《死神与老妇人》六篇构成，各篇独立成篇，又以死神千叶串联。

死神千叶的工作规则是什么？

千叶依据情报部资料，与将被判定的人相处七天，向上级呈报“可”（执行死亡）或“放行”（继续生存），他的结论只在极少数情况下是“放行”。

这本书获过什么奖？

同名短篇获第57届日本推理作家协会奖短篇奖，本书全票获得该奖；并曾位列《达文西》杂志年度最受欢迎小说第一。

有电影版吗？

有，改编电影由金城武主演，是本书在亚洲广为人知的重要原因之一。

南海版和当代世界版有什么区别？

两版译者均为星野空。当代世界出版社2009年版收于“乐读文库”，南海出版公司2015年版为新经典文库版，属“新经典·伊坂幸太郎作品”系列。

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About the author

Kotaro Isaka Author · Japanese · 1971

Kotaro Isaka, born in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, in 1971 and a graduate of the Faculty of Law at Tohoku University, is one of the most distinctive contemporary Japanese novelists. In 1996 he won a honorable mention in the Suntory Mystery Fiction Award for The Annoying Villains, and he made his debut in 2000 with The Audubon's Prayer; he has since been shortlisted for the Naoki Prize several times. His work is often classified as mystery and suspense, yet it does not adhere to the conventional puzzle-solving framework, blending the surreal and a light humor into crime and suspense, with characters who carry warmth and goodwill through absurd situations. The collection includes 19 of his works, among them Golden Slumber, The Precision of the Dead, Gravity's Clown, Lush Life, 777, Pepper's Ghost, The Duck and the Wild Duck's Coin-Operated Locker, One Punk Saves the Earth, and Why Don't You Move to Mars?, as well as several multi-volume complete collections.