The Pinch Runner Memorandum Book

I didn't think Oe would ever write a straight up whacky story. His writing usually takes a very agitated and grave tone, which follows the equally serious theme of having a retarded son. I expected more of the same since the back of the book claims it picks up from "A Personal Matter."

My response: are you kidding?!

Yes, it loosely follows "A Personal Matter" in the sense that Oe and his son make a return. The story begins as if it's the expected continuation of the previous book then somehow gets twisted into a completely outlandish story about a different father and his retarded son. At first there's a sense of betrayal--"Hey, this isn't what I signed up for!"--then you get captured in the madness tornado.

The story is about a father, ex-nuclear researcher, who meets Oe at the school for retarded children. This eccentric man takes his son out of the school because he fails to convince the teachers and parents that the children should be trained in combat for when society inevitably decides to kill all the retarded children in Japan. Shortly after storming out, he contacts Oe through a series of letters and convinces him to ghostwrite the record of him and his son.

What follows is a experimentally written story based on the letters received and Oe's occasional reactions. Mori-father and Mori experience a metaphysical transformation that sets them on a divine mission concerning warring student political factions, an atomic bomb, terrorism, and a shadowy mastermind named Big Shot. Their adventure is absolutely absurd, a demented dark comedy. Yet Oe uses his profound ability to write with dire seriousness, which results in a total mind-fuck of a story.

The book is highly satirical, making a total mockery of the die-hard student movement in Japan along with eastern metaphysics. There's a subtle element of American pulp that works so good. Oe's cynical attitude does masterfully what Chuck Palahniuk constantly tries to achieve. This is one book that is definitely flying under the radar.

So far this is the only funny story I've read from Oe, which kills me because he's hilarious. It's as if he decided get silly just once to get over the urge. But this book isn't just chaos. Oe stay in control all the way to the climatic finish, which still gives me chills. Man, I wish he'd do follow-up to this underground bombshell.