The Thief
by Fuminori Nakamura
- Percentage of approved critics who have given this book a positive review.
Critic Rating
59%
Critic Reviews: 16
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- User rating from iDreamBooks & iTunes
Reader Rating
70%
Reader Ratings: 30
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Synopsis
A literary crime masterpiece that follows a Japanese pickpocket lost to the machinations of fate. Bleak and oozing existential dread, The Thief is simply unforgettable. The Thief is a seasoned pickpocket. Anonymous in his tailored suit, he weaves in and out of Tokyo crowds, stealing wallets from strangers so smoothly sometimes he doesn't even remember the snatch. Most people are just a blur to him, nameless faces from whom he chooses his victims. He has no... more
About Fuminori Nakamura
- All Critics: 16
- Positive: 10
- Negative: 6
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The Washington Post | 2 Mar 2012
Plot, that guiltiest of literary pleasures, is in short supply here.
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Opinions of a Wolf Blog | 2 Apr 2012
It all felt a bit too sudden to me. I wanted to know the narrator and his relationship to his teacher better.
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Time Out Chicago | 5 Apr 2012
...a breath of fresh air for readers looking for something beyond the procedural.
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Crime Segments Blog | 26 Mar 2012
...the author amps up the pace without using any gimmicky literary devices, letting the suspense build until you have to keep turning pages just to find out what's going to happen.
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Kirkus Reviews | 15 Feb 2012
A spare but otherwise routine two rounds of larceny and betrayal fleshed out by the narrator’s reflections on the Zen of picking pockets.
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International Noir Fiction | 2 Mar 2012
The drily philosophical tone and the noir atmosphere combine perfectly, providing a rapid and enjoyable "read" that is nonetheless cool and distant, provoking the reader to think about... the tale.
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Publishers Weekly | 9 Jan 2012
Nakamura’s memorable antihero, at once as believably efficient as Donald Westlake’s Parker and as disaffected as a Camus protagonist, will impress genre and literary readers alike.
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Examiner | 3 Apr 2012
The chapters are quick and the simplicity of the story is brilliant.
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Tzer Island | 21 Mar 2012
The Thief is a Japanese version of noir, a dark psychological thriller that builds suspense rapidly
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Bestsellersworld | 6 Apr 2012
In the end, there seems to be a lot of things left unanswered for the reader to maul over.
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Richmond Times-Dispatch | 8 Apr 2012
Nakamura's prose is cut-to-the-bone lean, but it moves across the page with a seductive, even voluptuous agility. I defy you not to finish the book in a single sitting.
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Book Reporter | 6 Apr 2012
Those who like their stories served up dark and grim will hail THE THIEF as the classic it is.
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Dead Ink Blog | 7 Feb 2012
There are so many dimensions to the novel that the author could have explored that he chose not to... All of these dimensions could have been explored but, sadly, they weren’t.
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Gumshoe Review
Thriller and mystery readers are unlikely to find the novel enthralling or puzzling enough.
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The Wall Street Journal | 16 Mar 2012
"The Thief" concludes with an either-or ending that robs readers of a clear-cut resolution—without making them feel in any way cheated.
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