Challenge

Keigo HigashinoPeople's Literature Publishing House2019

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Chapters
20
ISBN
9787020152100

Tags

Literature Essays and Miscellany Sports FictionSelf-BreakthroughLife EssaysTrue ExperienceHumorous StyleEssay CollectionJapanese WritersJapanese Literature

Summary

Challenge is a collection of sports-themed essays by the Japanese author Keigo Higashino, chronicling his real experiences after plunging headlong into the world of snowboarding in middle age. In midlife, Keigo Higashino suddenly developed an almost obsessive interest in snowboarding, making frantic trips back and forth to the mountains every day off and calling himself an "uncle snowboarder." In a wry, self-deprecating style, he writes about learning to snowboard from scratch: agonizing over someone's casual promise to "go snowboarding together," quietly gloating when he practices a few hours more than others, charging boldly down a deserted slope only to reach the bottom in a tumble and realize he has taken on an advanced course. Besides snowboarding, the book also covers watching the World Cup, trying curling, attempting golf, the Hanshin Tigers' championship win, and impressions of plays he attended. Writing and sports are the two modes of life that run in parallel for Keigo Higashino: in writing he pushes the limits of creation, and in snowboarding he pushes the limits of his body. The line in the book, "What fascinates me is 'progress,'" is both the voice of a snowboarder and a footnote to this bestselling author's constant self-transcendence. The book consists of twenty short essays, light and easy to read, presenting a Keigo Higashino who steps away from mystery storytelling and returns to everyday pleasures.

Editor's review

读惯了《白夜行》《嫌疑人X的献身》里那个冷峻缜密的东野圭吾，这本《挑战》会让人有强烈的反差感：原来这位推理大师私下是个为滑雪着迷到不听劝阻的「大叔滑手」。全书二十篇短随笔，写的是学滑雪、追世界杯、玩冰壶、看球赛、看戏这类再普通不过的日常，笔调轻快自嘲，像一个中年朋友坐在你对面絮絮叨叨地讲他的小得意与小狼狈。可贵的是，这些「不务正业」的兴致背后藏着他一贯的认真：为了多滑几个小时而拼命赶稿，为了一点点技术进步而心满意足。想认识作品之外的东野圭吾，或想在冬天来临前找一本轻松又有点热血的读物，这本小书都值得一读。

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. 不必按顺序通读，可挑感兴趣的篇目随手翻阅，每篇篇幅都很短。
  2. 读到滑雪段落时不妨结合自身某项长期爱好的经历来体会「进步」的乐趣。
  3. 把它当作认识东野圭吾创作状态的补充读物，与他的小说对读会有额外趣味。
  4. 冬季或滑雪季前阅读，代入感更强。

About the publisher

People's Literature Publishing House China · Founded in 1951

People's Literature Publishing House publishes across classical literature, foreign literature, documentary writing and folk literature, with 492 titles in its catalogue. Representative books range from the Chinese classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms to Lao She's Teahouse and Longxu Ditch in the Selected Works of Lao She, as well as translated foreign literature such as Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, Dante's Divine Comedy and Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels, alongside documentary and fictional works including Primo Levi's If This Is a Man and João Guimarães Rosa's The Devil to Pay in the Backlands. Its authors include Chinese writers such as Lao She, translators such as Shen Emeri and Li Wenjun, and foreign authors such as James Wood. Overall, the house has a strong record in editing classic works and translating foreign literature, with a publishing character that bridges Chinese and foreign writing and values textual quality.

Contents

  1. How the Old Man Skier Was Born
  2. Old Man Skier Struggles On
  3. Watching the World Cup
  4. Love at SSAWS
  5. Old Man Skier's Countdown Begins
  6. Old Man Skier Gets Going
  7. A New Orthodox Ski Trip
  8. Old Man Skier Keeps Struggling
  9. Novel: Old Man Skier
  10. Golf Next?
  11. I Went to Mount Gassan!
  12. Curling Is a Thrill, but Carelessness Kills!
  13. Starting from the Basics
  14. Thoughts on the Hanshin Tigers' Championship
  15. I Went to See The Murder Case by the Lake!
  16. Everything's Ready but the Snow
  17. The Long-Awaited First Time
  18. Old Man Skier on Gains and Losses
  19. That's About It
  20. Old Man Skier Murder Case

FAQ

《挑战》是东野圭吾的推理小说吗？ 不是。这是一部运动与生活题材的随笔集，记录作者中年痴迷单板滑雪、冰壶等运动的经历，没有案件与谜团，风格轻松诙谐。
这本书有多个中文版本吗？ 有。人民文学出版社2019年8月版由曹艺翻译，ISBN为9787020152100；另有上海文艺出版社2019年版，ISBN为9787532172726。本条目以流传较广的人民文学出版社版为准。
没滑过雪能读得懂吗？ 完全不影响。书中写的多是普通人的好奇、执着与小得意，滑雪只是背景，即便从没上过雪道也能轻松读进去。

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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.