Richard Lloyd Parry: People who eat darkness; love, grief and a journey into Japan's darkness

An absolutely fascinating book. I recall the circumstances when it was current news. I am not usually a fan of book-length explorations of major crimes although there have been some exceptions most notably in recent years , the account of Columbine by Dave Cullen and that of the Norwegian island massacre by Anders Breivik, One of Us by Asne Seierstad.
In both of these case there was a rivetingly detailed account of what happened so that one felt one truly knew the actual events as opposed to the drip-feed self-generated stream of stories thanks to the 24-hour news cycle.
But most importantly one felt that the events and people and societies had been thoughtfully examined and as a result one knew more about all aspects.
First among these was having a sense of the nature of the main characters...the perpetrators and their victims. Depending on the nature of the event there is often understandably a slightly greater focus on the perpetrator...not atbthat expense of the victim but in the case of massacres ( Columbine and Anders) the sheer number of victims and survivors means that there has to be a selection...not to.tormenting that not all survivors could/would want to/be able to talk and discuss their experiences. With bother two earlier books the powerful choices of individual survivors and victims Kent these books much of their power. In the case of Darkness though the one victim is necessarily the focus.
There are also two other crucial ways in which these books make such an impact. Firstly, one got a sense of the societies both where the events happened...an American mid-West High School, a country ( Anders and Darkness). This is of vital importance to anyone who has not lived their life even partially in those societies. It certainly doesn't explain everything... in fact particularly I felt with Anders, it actually makes it more baffling.
Secondly there is invariably a really thoughtful and powerful way in which the writers and lllll explore the character of the perpetrators...yes victims and last well of course but isn't enough the picture of the perpetrator is the figure whom one carries away most strongly and bafflingly. It helps us to understand them and for me in all of these I had a strong sense about people ; ' wow, humans can be like this'.
In Darkness though and with all of these, the most significant element was how need of the central characters ever really knew either each other or indeed themselves. In Darkness with all the characters, Lucy all her family the killer...they thought they knew themselves and their intimates their closest families and partners...but they didn't. Everyone seemed to have an idea of each other but one result of the trauma seems to be to reveal to the readers at least if not to the characters themselves , how little they understood of themselves.
Darkness also confirmed my sense that Japan is, to someone of my background, one of if not the strangest of all cultures and societies.
So superbly revealing thought provoking and memorable. Thanks again Luke Kearns for the recommendation.