Cult X

By: Fuminori Nakamura, Kalau Almony - translator

Narrated by: Brian Nishii

The magnum opus by Akutagawa Prize-winner Fuminori Nakamura, Cult X is a story that dives into the psychology of fringe religion, obsession, and social disaffection.

When Toru Narazaki's girlfriend, Ryoko, disappears, he tries to track her down, despite the warnings of a private detective he's hired to find her. Ryoko's past is shrouded in mystery, but the one concrete clue to her whereabouts is a previous address where she lived: in a compound in the heart of Tokyo, with a group that seems to be a cult led by a charismatic guru with a revisionist Buddhist scheme of life, death, and society. Narazaki plunges into the secretive world of the cult, ready to expose himself to any of the guru's brainwashing tactics if it means he can learn the truth about Ryoko. But the cult isn't what he expected, and he has no idea of the bubbling violence beneath its surface.

Inspired by the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, Cult X is an exploration of what draws individuals into extremism. This multi-faceted novel is nothing less than a tour de force, capturing the connections between astrophysics, neuroscience, and religion. It is an invective against predatory corporate consumerism and exploitative geopolitics, and it is a love story about compassion in the face of nihilism.

©2014 Fuminori Nakamura; 2018 Kalua Almony (translation) (P)2018 Recorded Books

Weird but Solid

Cult X is a novel that is both intense and lyrical and has a very clear message about not repeating the past. It flowed well but sometimes the philosophical portions can be slow for some folks but I enjoyed it.

The story was good but sometimes it was jarring when it switched to another character but one gets used to it.

Definitely a rated R novel it’s brutal and weird and very Japanese.

Many Japanese novels end on a sort of weird note where not everything is resolved but it’s still very good.

One of the few books I didn't finish

I really disliked this book. I would not recommend it to anyone. The plot was confusing. I could not tolerate reading about the rape and treatment of women in the book. It was an awful experience to stick with it as long as I did.

Confusing and boring

The story was so confusing, I felt like I couldn’t connect with any characters, the sex scenes in the book felt like a bad porno and the ending was anticlimactic. It took all I had to forcibly make myself finish this book.