Keiichiro Hirano's "A Man" : a world of its own

Once you’ve read A Man, you have to reread it. Not that it is in any way unclear. But this novel by Keiichiro Hirano is like a bunch of new friends you feel like seeing again and again. Those new friends, of course, and the story itself, I should say all the intricated stories that run through the text, are parts of the same personality – don’t ask me what a personality is. This personality is the author himself : Hirano-san. I really think he is the most talented living writer I have ever read. He seems to fly above the universe, above Japan, above his characters, above places and people and feelings. He seems to be always high, somewhere in the distance, over the rainbow maybe. He seems to know what lies within the heart and the soul of all the characters in the novel. Each of them seems to be the central one when it comes to its moment. Hirano-san seems to be as brilliant, when it comes to the psychology of the men and women of his time, as was Shakespeare or as was Mishima. His understanding is profound and wise. His creation is vibrant and breathtaking. His novel lis full of a paternal love that dare not say its name. There is something melancolic in the story that is full of stories. There seems to always be something missing. A certitude. A verticality. A sky ready to open itself. I sometimes wonder if the tree is not the main character of this work. Silent. Unmoving. Terribly present. Alive. While all the life around could be nothing than an illusion.

A Man is Keiichiro Hirano's first novel to be translated into English. I was high time. Before I talk about the novel I must mention the excellent translation, which is so important when reading translated fiction. And so to the novel : this is a gem of a novel. The central character, although this nove lis so fluid that you can hardly call him that, is a lawyer called Akira Kido. He is asked by a widow to investigate her dead husband, who was living a lie. After he died she discovered he wasn't the man he claimed to be.

Kido finds himself drawn to the dead man, his story and his life. It makes him question his own life and identity. And identity, culture and history are at the heart of this novel. Although this novel has a man acting as an amateur detective, it is so much more. It's a man considering life, how important identity is, the chance of choosing an alternative life and Japan's problems with racism, the impact and after effects of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. This is a novel that demands time to be read and time to consider all of the issues raised. And yet, the only thing whose identity seems stable and cannot be questioned is a tree, representing a man who is no longer there.