ジャパン・タイムズに素晴らしい記事が載りました！
ジャパン・タイムズに素晴らしい記事が載りました！
（下記に記事全文、ジャパン・タイムズの許可を得て掲載）
Nahoko Uehashi's 'The Beast Player': Fantasy grounded in nature
by Kris Kosaka
Contributing Writer
Oct 13, 2018
"The Beast Player," by Nahoko Uehashi, proves fantasy novels can work without magic. It's an engaging tale, refreshingly grounded in nature with nary a wizard in sight.
The novel opens with 10-year-old Elin, who must struggle to overcome tragedy after her mother -- a beast doctor to a species of weaponized water serpents known as Toda -- is sentenced to death. Within multiple plot strands, Uehashi weaves the personal and the political. As we follow Elin's growth to maturity and her devoted fascination for animals, a coming-of-age narrative emerges and, through this, the novel incorporates devastating political intrigue from various perspectives.
It's no surprise that Uehashi works as a cultural anthropologist and professor, as the authenticity of her world building truly impresses. In 2014, she received the Hans Christian Andersen Award for her work as a children's writer and she also penned the highly popular "Moribito" series.
Although the book features imaginative creatures like the Toda or the Royal Beasts (wolf-like, winged creatures that act as defenders against the Toda army) Uehashi first establishes Elin's affinity with the animal world by showing her fascination with honeybees. This juxtaposition of the familiar with the fantastical also adds to the authenticity of the narrative. Beautifully written, thought-provoking and utterly immersive, "The Beast Player" uses the genre of fantasy to question the political realities of human tyranny over the natural world.
（下記和訳、全文より一部抜粋）
「上橋菜穂子作"The Beast Player"は、魔法がなくてもファンタジーは成り立つことを証明している。
魔法使いが一人も登場しない、自然界に根差した新鮮な設定を持つ、引き込まれる物語である。
中略
作中では「闘蛇」や「王獣（闘蛇軍に対する守備を担う、翼を持つ狼に似た生き物）」といった
想像上の生き物が活躍するが、上橋は、まずエリンがミツバチという生き物に魅了され、
動物の世界へと親しんでいく様子を丁寧に描き出している。このように、想像上のものだけでなく、
ミツバチといった身近なものを同時に描くことで物語の現実味が増している。
美しい文体で書かれ、読者を考えさせ、夢中にさせるストーリーだ。」
The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi,
Translated by Cathy Hirano.
512 pages
PUSHIKIN PRESS,
Fiction.
