The main reason I wanted to read this book specifically is because there is a drama based on this book that I really liked, so I’ve been interested in reading this book for years now. But my Japanese was not nearly good enough to tackle it before, so it’s kind of a big accomplishment for me to even finish it, even if I didn’t understand whole sections of it.
Book Review
Disclaimer: I did not fully understand everything that happened in the book, so this is just based on what I could grasp.
This is not the best explanation of the premise, but you can look online for a better one. This is a murder-mystery story.
The premise is there is a murder case of an influential couple in a high-rise building. Four university students were involved in this case, so the story is about the backstory of these four students who live in the same apartment and how they became involved in the case.
The title is Nのために, which translates to “for the sake of N”. All of the characters’ names in this book start with N, so “N” is different for each of the four characters. The story switches off between the the time of the incident and 10 years later.
Overall
2nd Disclaimer: I watched the drama first, so a lot of my feelings toward the book are in comparison to the drama, so it is a little biased.
Honestly I thought the book was interesting because it goes more in depth of the four main characters’ thoughts and feelings.
There are 4 POVs in this story: Sugishita Nozomi, Naruse Shinji, Nishizaki Masato, and Ando Nozomi. The first part was centered more around Naruse and Sugishita and the second part was more about Nishizaki and Ando. But interestingly Ando was talked about a lot, but not from his POV. It was just what the other characters thought of him. In the drama, the main character is Sugishita Nozomi by far, but in the book she is the main character, but not as much as the drama.
From a Language Learning Perspective
This book was pretty difficult to read from a language learner perspective (at least to me). The grammar itself was not that difficult with N3/N2, and the vocab was not too bad with N2. You do have to look up some words.
The main difficult thing for me was I had trouble figuring out who was speaking at times. Like the only indication sometimes was the change of I (私 vs 僕 vs 俺). Most of the dialogue had no indication of who was speaking which lines. Also the sentences were very long and confusing sometimes. There was one part I was super confused about. I want to go back and reread that section again. The author would refer sometimes to other male characters as just 男, so sometimes I would be confused which person she was talking about.
The story itself too is a bit complex, since it is a mystery story and it takes place in two time periods and there’s four different POVs. I think if you are new to reading this genre, it could be more difficult too (like for me).
Would I recommend it?
Yes, I think it is a good book, but I would only recommend to read it if you have an interest in the story already. Mainly because the story is hard to follow at times. It does give you a more in-depth understanding of the characters. My feelings about the characters in the book were different to the drama.
SPOILERS
DO NOT read past here if you don’t want to read clear spoilers about the plot and characters.
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Differences Between the Drama and Book
Characters
Sugishita: She was kind of a mystery in the sense it was hard to tell what she was thinking a lot of the time. A lot the story is not told from her POV, and just shows her actions or words.
Naruse: Naruse was much more likable to me in the book. In the drama, he was a nice guy too, but somehow for me personally he was definitely overshadowed by Ando. But in the book, I felt bad for him. I felt like he kind of disappeared in the end and became less important compared to the drama.
Nishizaki: In the book, they describe him as a shockingly beautiful person who wants to be author. It’s surprising compared to the drama. (because Ando is clearly the best looking of the three male characters in my opinion)
Ando: I have mixed feelings towards Ando. In the drama, I thought he was a incredibly kind and gentlemanly character until the climax part, and even then I just felt bad for him because it didn’t seem like he did it on purpose really. He just had no idea what was going on and he felt left out. In the book, Ando’s kindness did not seem as obvious or clear. (and the chain part seemed pretty bad to be honest.)
Noguchi: He seems much more evil in the drama compared to the book.
Naoko: She isn’t that prevalent in the book until later on and she seems a bit off and distant throughout.
Romance Aspect
There is a strong theme of 愛 (love), what is it, and how is it shown. It talks about different relationships between husband and wife, mother and child, man and woman, etc. The title is Nのために, so how far will you go for N?
There is a very obvious love triangle in the drama (like all dramas to be honest) between Sugishita, Naruse, and Ando. Naruse is her school friend, and they grew up together (sort of) on this remote small island. There was a big fire incident that brought them closer together. Ando is someone she meets in her apartment complex after the typhoon and they go to the same university. They not only have the same name, but they also have a similar growing up experience coming from small islands.
In the 10 years later part of the drama, Sugishita and Ando have more of an obvious romance, and Ando even goes so far to propose to her. Her romance with Naruse is much more subtle. But from what I remember in the drama, she doesn’t end up with either in the end.
But in the book, I felt honestly there was no love triangle. To me, Sugishita liked Ando and only him. Her “N” was him, and she even basically says she wouldn’t let anything get in his way. That’s why she doesn’t tell him at all about their plans because it could interfere with his work and she didn’t want him involved at all.
In the book, it says his stuff was at her place, and she would make food for him. Even Nishizaki and some other person asked her explicitly “Perhaps, you like Ando?” Naruse was just her island friend, but I don’t think she truly liked him romantically in the book.
All that being said, I think Ando is actually much nicer in the drama. Perhaps it is because my comprehension is not good enough, but I could feel his kindness toward Sugishita much more in the drama than in the book.
One of my favorite scenes was when he took her to go window cleaning because she wanted to see a high place. It is in a book, but somehow it makes a much bigger impact in the drama. He asked her in the drama, 何になりたい? (What do you want to be?) It is kind of a necessary point as he is actually interested in her hopes and dreams too, but he never says that in the book.
In the drama, he does a lot of really nice things for her throughout and it shows a lot of their time spent together at university, learning shogi, scuba diving practice, etc. In the book, that happens too, but somehow it feels less impactful. He doesn’t even propose to her in the book.
Ando has the least amount of pages in his own POV, but he is one of the most talked about characters in the book. You learn more about what others think of Ando more than his own thoughts. They all say he is a good guy, works hard, etc. I think the most interesting part of the book in regards to Ando, is the chain part. At the climax, Sugishita knows Ando put the chain, but she doesn’t even have much of a reaction to it.
I think another interesting thing about the plan is in the book, she is super against saving Naoko when Nishizaki mentions it, but somehow does it in the end.
Major Plot Changes
One of the biggest changes is in the drama, they introduce a detective character who talks to all the characters and tries to figure what really happened. In the book, that detective doesn’t exist. The drama shows them planning an elaborate plan to save Naoko, but in the book they just talk about it a little in the end.
For the sake of TV, they repeat the climax murder scene a lot in the drama along with the island fire scene, but in the book they don’t repeat it nearly as much. There is a couple references, but only one long explanation of what actually happens.
Honestly, I still think the drama is better than the book. It is definitely probably my bias and limited understanding, but I felt the emotions of the characters was much better portrayed in the drama compared to the book. (Plus the drama has visuals and a great theme song (Silly – Ieri Leo)!)
If I were just to recommend one, go watch the drama. It will not disappoint.
framed in beige 