Hideo Nakai's "Offering to Nothingness": When there is no culprit in death, and reality is just a pure accident

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Link: http://paratext.hk/?p=2684

"The Offering to Nothingness" is a masterpiece written by Hideo Nakai in 1964. It is known as one of the four great books of Japanese mystery literature, but at the same time this book is also called "the epitaph of mystery novels". The origin of this title is quite similar to what Adorno said after World War II: "After Ozwiecim, writing poetry is barbaric." From a certain point of view, Hideo Nakai told us in this work, After so much suffering in Japan, it is barbaric to write mystery novels that long for bizarre murders. And it is destined to be only "an offering to nothingness".

As for why it is called the four strange books in the reasoning world? The reason is that "The Offering to Nothingness" is a very complicated work in terms of plot, characters and so on. First of all, there are four or five characters in the book that can be called "detectives". Whenever a murder occurs, they get together and take turns to come up with their own reasoning, including who the culprit is, what the method is, what is the motive, and so on. and debate each other. But what makes people dizzy is that the reasoning in the story is not so much reasoning, but more like a long-winded fantasy about the "Murder Case of the Jewel Merchant Hienuma Family", but it is supplemented by detailed and meticulous logic and details. Make up the connection between events and mysterious clues.

These long, dazzling reasonings seem unavoidable in the book, as tragic and bizarre deaths have occurred in the Hainuma family from generation to generation. Therefore, these "detectives" who call themselves Sherlock Holmes, Watson, etc. interpret the cases that happened in reality as a continuation of past history and interpret them together. Various historical investigations, wild stories, genetics, and religious deeds have been proposed to explain "the karma of the dead", including the Ainu's serpent curse, the legend of the Five Colored Undead King, and the genetics of various roses. Apocalypse, the origin of various gems in the Ice Marsh family, and the mystery novel conceived in front of the first murder victim, Hongsi, to try to connect various unsolvable clues. Try to interpret the meaning of "prisoner" in committing the crime.

However, these detailed, trivial and full of psychoanalytical reasoning and interpretation are not enough to demonstrate the enthusiasm of these "detectives" for cases and reasoning. They thought that the detective who waited until the case happened before appearing to solve the mystery and solve the prisoner was outdated. In addition to cracking existing cases, modern detectives should accurately predict the occurrence of the next murder, including who is the murdered? when? where? Who is the culprit? The motive, the method, etc. And stop the incident in time before it happens. So the next round of more complex reasoning was launched.

We can't help but ask ourselves, is it the criminal who created the stage for the detective? Or did the detective create the existence of the criminal? In this book, it is not so much that the detectives appear because of the occurrence of the case. Rather, they are looking forward to and longing for the occurrence of the case from the very beginning when they discuss whether the mysterious death case of the Hinuma family will appear as before. And this one was like a fictional "prisoner" from the beginning, and it even had to match the prisoner that would appear in their ideal mystery novel. Because such a "prisoner" is the perfect prisoner who deserves the appearance of a "detective". As if in mystery novels, the real culprit is actually the detective himself, while the "prisoner" who actually committed the case is just the detective's scapegoat and exploiter.

Furthermore, the "detectives" in the book are actually more like readers who are addicted to mystery novels, or mystery novelists. Since I have read many mystery novels in my life, as long as a case occurs, I hope to play the role of a "detective" to solve the mystery, and even long for mysterious and bizarre cases in my life, so that I can immerse myself in the joy of solving the mystery. In this case, the "detective" becomes a writer who seems to be conspiring with readers, to expect and promote the occurrence of murders and more complicated developments.

"There are four patients ABCD in this hospital... First, A was killed by B, then B was killed by C, C was killed by D, and finally the remaining D fell into the trap set by A before his death and died. This is roughly The plot, and then according to the general formula, there will be a big reversal of the "amazing truth"."

This is the first deceased - Hong Si's conception of his mystery novel "The Shadow of the Ominous Bird". Not long after he finished speaking, he died in the bathroom. Immediately after, the "prisoner" that the "detectives" deduced for Hongsi's murder case died of a gas poisoning. It makes them more convinced that the mystery novel conceived by Koji will be the prelude and structure of the Hienuma family murder case.

The fascinated "detectives" then went a step further and put forward more evidence and hypotheses to explain the increasingly mysterious cases. And the evolution of things is getting more and more bizarre. In addition to the creepy overlap with Hongsi's novel concept, it is also related to the various bizarre legends thrown by the original "detectives". And unexpected characters appeared again and again, overturning the original reasoning. And what is the truth? Not only does it stimulate the "detectives" in the book, but even the readers can't restrain their surging curiosity. But just like the title and Aya Tsuji Koto's comments on the book:

"At the end of intoxication and shock -- the reader will eventually become a captive of 'nothingness'."

When the final "prisoner" finally appeared, we were surprised to find that none of the detective's reasoning fully matched the actual truth. But what is even more disappointing is that all the clues related to mysterious legends, strange rumors and curses that appear in the case are not clues left by the criminals ingeniously when committing the crime, the exquisite crime stories connected by these clues, or symbols The information was fabricated by the "detective" without actually thinking about it by the prisoner. They are neither what prisoners left behind to convey some deep meaning, nor are they a challenge to the "detectives". And it's really just a "coincidence" that doesn't make any sense. Ironically, what was thought to be a very important clue: the appearance of the Ainu people, was later found to be a temporary joke and did not really happen. What was considered a trivial matter at first turned out to be the most crucial clue. Of the three murders that occurred, only one was actually committed by the prisoner, and the rest were accidental and simple suicides. Not detectives are convinced that prisoners kill for their cleverly arranged secret rooms. In the end, what strikes the "detective" and readers the most is the criminal's motive for committing the crime, an extremely ridiculous reason that has absolutely nothing to do with the deep historical revenge of the generations, or the human entanglement of love and hatred.

"I thought about it for a long time. Looking at the dark sea for several days in a row, I kept thinking how to convince myself that this is what happened in the human world? How to make me accept this fact? There is only one answer. That is precisely because I like storms, Dad would be happy to get on the boat. If he knew in advance that the boat was going to sink, and he got on the boat anyway. Then I would feel a little better...to finish the tragedy—that's what I told myself."

The reason why the prisoner kills is precisely because he cannot understand why his family has encountered so many meaningless disasters and deaths at the same time, so in grief and anger, these deaths are spliced into a scene through an additional murder case. Meaningful serial killings. Like a meaningful tragedy. The detectives unwittingly participated in the performance of this "tragedy" and even gave an interpretation.

"Everyone who loves to join in the fun. Seeing us, the survivors of the Toya Maru shipwreck, you will feel pity at most. You say you can understand the blow we have suffered, but I know very well that you are shaking and looking forward to" "Hinuma Family Murder Incident"... After 1955, you can have the pleasure created by irresponsible curiosity. When looking around and looking for something interesting, in reality, there must be a strange cruelty that meets your expectations. Cases, this is the era now. As long as you can hide in a safe area, no matter how painful the situation, you can enjoy it happily! This is too miserable nothing!”

Here, the last confession of the prisoner seems to be the last revenge on the reasoning literature. At the same time, the "you" in his mouth refers not only to the mystery novelists pretending to be detectives in the book, but also to us readers who are hiding outside the book. The year 1955 in the sentence is the one year after the Toya Maru shipwreck in Japan (the fourth largest shipwreck in the world so far, with a total of 1,430 deaths), and the year when the Ziyun Maru shipwreck occurred again. The photojournalist at that time took a lot of pictures of people struggling, fearing, and dying on the sea. In the book, the prisoners and the later repentant "detectives" felt an indescribable cruelty of watching.

Is speculative fiction really doing reasoning? Or are they actually fantasizing about impossible cases for their own amusement? And although people often yearn for meaning in life, could meaning be like a fictional "prisoner," some kind of trap we set for ourselves? And make us like the prisoners in the show committing murders so that death is not pointless? Or like the "detective" in the play who believes that everything must be related to what he believes in, and then commits a "murder case", making up a "criminal" that doesn't exist at all? And believe that there are complicit "readers" outside of life who witness their own style?

Deliberately searching for the culprit in order to make death meaningful, such "meaning" can only be a performance, not an actual exploration. The performance and appreciation of "meaning" may reflect the most emptiness of life in the emptiness that people face today. It reveals -- the confusion that people seem to have no idea what to live and why to die. But he always wants to find a way to let himself linger in the eyes of the imaginary meaning, stage, and "reader", and is unwilling to leave the intoxicating atmosphere in which he is. From this, Hideo Nakai warned us that we yearn to read life as a perfect novel, just like the writing of mystery novels, if only to deliberately find "criminals", and there is no other exploration. So no matter how magnificent and exquisite it is, it may be just a kind of "offering to nothingness" after all.

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