The Letter

Keigo HigashinoYilin Press2009

Rating 3.9
Word count
185K words
ISBN
9787544708548

Tags

Featured Fiction Mystery and Suspense Social IssuesVictims' FamiliesIdentity RevealedHuman NatureSocial MysteryFull-Length NovelJapanese Literature

Summary

Naoki Takeshi and his older brother Tsuyoshi Takeshi lost their parents early and depended on each other. The older brother, unemployed because of a back injury, resorted to burglary so that his academically gifted younger brother could continue studying, but when discovered by the elderly homeowner Mrs. Ogata, he panicked and killed her, and was imprisoned for robbery-murder. The one who committed the crime was the brother, but the price was borne by the younger: Naoki was branded "the murderer's brother," and his studies, part-time jobs, housing, romance, musical dreams, and job hunting—almost everything he tried to grasp—was silently taken from him the moment his identity was exposed. Over more than ten years, Tsuyoshi inside the walls sent home letters punctually every month, writing of his simple concerns and daily life in prison. But for Naoki, these letters are more like an unshakable yoke, reminding him and those around him again and again of who he is and what his brother did. Naoki struggles between love and hate; he cannot forgive his brother for ruining his life, nor can he truly sever this blood tie. He moves house, conceals the truth, cuts off contact, and tries to leave the past completely behind, yet again and again is forced to turn back in accidents, to face his brother, the victim's family, and the question in his own heart that never has an answer: because my brother killed someone, should I too be erased by this society? This book is one of Keigo Higashino's rare full-length novels not centered on a mystery, extending its reach to the often-overlooked group of criminals' families, and has the texture of a crime novel, a coming-of-age novel, and a love story all at once.

Editor's review

在东野圭吾的作品谱系里，《信》是一部「不像东野」的名作：没有密室，没有诡计，案情在第一页就已交代清楚。它提出的问题却比绝大多数推理谜题更难回答：罪犯已经伏法，他无辜的家人是否还要替他继续服刑？ 东野圭吾让「信」这个最朴素的物件贯穿全书：哥哥狱中的家书、弟弟的回信、妻子代笔的信、写给受害者家属的忏悔信。每一封信都是一次穿越高墙的呼唤，也是一次把弟弟拽回原地的拉扯。作者由此写出了歧视如何在社会中悄然运转：没人公开宣告判决，人们只是微笑着疏远、礼貌地拒绝。 这本书曾入围直木奖，被许多读者和研究者视为东野圭吾集大成的社会派作品，多次被改编为电影、电视剧、舞台剧与音乐剧。读它不会轻松，但合上书后，你会开始留意那些被我们无声排除在外的人。这个版本由赵江翻译，译林出版社出版，是这本书流传最广的简体中文版。

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. 不必把它当推理小说读，把它当作一部社会问题小说，注意力放在直贵每一次被「排除」的细节上。
  2. 留意「信」在不同人物手中的变化：谁写、写给谁、对方是否回信，这本身就是全书的情绪线索。
  3. 阅读时不妨自问：如果是自己遇到直贵这样的同事或邻居，会怎么做，再对照书中人物反思。
  4. 读完后可延伸对照东野圭吾《彷徨之刃》《虚无的十字架》，看他对司法与赎罪的持续追问。

About the publisher

Yilin Press China · Founded in 1988

Yilin Press focuses mainly on translated foreign literature. Its current catalogue of 318 titles covers common categories such as mystery and detective fiction, foreign literature, world classics, biography, and social novels. Representative books include The Complete Sherlock Holmes 2: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Pride and Prejudice, To the Lighthouse, The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, and Lives of the Artists: Michelangelo, often presented in bilingual or English-language editions that serve both original-text reading and language learning. Its author resources include foreign writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, and Romain Rolland, as well as translators including Li Jiazhen, Gao Fen, and Ma Ye. The catalogue also includes Chinese works such as Li Jieren's Ripples Across Stagnant Water. The press shows a concentrated publishing strength in foreign classics and bilingual readers; given limited public information, this overview is based only on catalogue data.

FAQ

《信》是推理小说吗？ 不是典型的推理小说。案件在开篇就已交代清楚，没有解谜过程，重心在犯罪者家属所承受的社会歧视与心理困境，因此常被归为社会问题小说与成长小说。
这本书和东野圭吾的《解忧杂货店》风格相似吗？ 不相似。《解忧杂货店》温暖奇幻，而《信》冷静沉重，直面偏见与歧视如何持续影响一个人的一生，阅读体验差别很大。
《信》获得过什么奖项？ 它于2003年入围日本直木奖（第129届），虽未获奖，但被不少读者和研究者视为东野圭吾社会派创作的代表作之一。
简体中文版有哪些？ 最早由译林出版社于2009年推出赵江译本，此后北京联合出版公司也出版过赵江译本的新版本，内容为同一部作品。

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Keigo Higashino Author · Japan · 1958–2026

Keigo Higashino was a Japanese mystery novelist, born on February 4, 1958, in Ikuno Ward, Osaka, and a graduate of Osaka Prefecture University. He made his debut in 1985 with After School, which won the Edogawa Rampo Prize. He went on to write prolifically, spanning honkaku mystery, socially engaged suspense, and warm-hearted narrative, with representative works including Journey Under the Midnight Sun, The Devotion of Suspect X, and Miracles of the Namiya General Store. In 2006 he received the Naoki Prize. His novels often wrap intricate deduction around human conflict, featuring frequent plot twists and unexpected endings, and have had a wide influence on Chinese-language readers. This site carries 24 of his works, mostly catalogued under foreign literature, classic works, and mystery and suspense. He died on July 23, 2026.