Work
Italian《At the End of the Matinee》
Publication date: 2019/02/28
Lauded as the “most beautiful love story of the century,” this bestseller continues to boast a wide range of loving readers!
War in Iraq, refugee issues, the financial crisis, the Great East Japan earthquake… With these worldwide historic events of the late 2000s and early 2010s in the background, this full-length novel describes the love and solitude between “genius” guitarist Satoshi Makino and journalist Yoko Komine. From the time of its initial newspaper serialization, feedback on this story has been extraordinary. The state of human affairs in an increasingly antagonistic and fractured society, not only in romantic love but also in the love between a parent and child, between master and student, between friends, and for one’s country, are described in sophisticated and elegant prose. This was welcomed as the aesthetic result of a dividualist view of the world and of people, and as the first musical novel since Farewell to the Departed. With over 600,000 copies sold, this bestseller was Hirano’s first novel to be picked up for a film. Winner of the Watanabe Junichi Literary Prize.
First Appearance
『Mainichi Newspaper』Morning newspaper 2015/3/1 - 2016/1/10
Reviews&Interviews
・Book review in 「Rolling Stone 」#Best book of this month" 2019/3/4
«I due protagonisti di Dopo lo spettacolo ricordano un po’ quelli di In the Mood for Love, il film di Wong Kar-wai. Cioè due persone che trovano un àncora di senso nelle rispettive esistenze, ma che sanno anche che l’idea dell’amore a volte è più intensa dell’amore stesso.»
・Book review in 「CriticaLetteraria」2019/3/12
・Book review in 「il Giornale」2019/3/27
・Book review in 「il manifesto」2019/4/10
・Book review in 「L'Eco del Nulla»」2019/4/15
・Book review in 「Senzaudio」2019/5/3
Awards
the Watanabe Junichi Literary Prize