Sure, there's an element of suspense in the closing chapters (a crime fiction author just can't help himself) but to repeat for emphasis: Winter Sleep is a novel about artists and their art, the foremost artist, of course, is Nakagi, but there's also Akiko and Oshita. Kenzo Kitakata frames of his tale thusly - clean and simple, not a trace of complexity or mystery hovering around the edges, a most befitting frame since (and this is the critical point about Winter Sleep) the real fire, the sweet juice, the Dionysian core of the novel revolves around the creation of art. But Oshita got off from going to prison due to the testimony of a psychiatrist pronouncing him 'incompetent'. And another thing about Oshita: like Nakagi, he's also a murderer. On one of his visits to the cabin, Nomura brings along Oshita who is much more than just another thirty-year-old art student - Oshita claims to have come from Nakagi's heart. If he can extract what he needs, Nomura might even be able to write more than just an article - he'll have enough material to write a book. Conveniently, Akiko is renting a mountain villa not too terribly far from Nakagi's cabin.įorever the man with questions, writer/journalist Nomura seeks to solve the puzzle that is Nakagi in order to discover what it takes to be both great artist and unrepentant murderer. Art dealer and all around business sharpie, Natsue has definite plans for Nakagi, both professional and deeply personal.Īkiko is an eighteen-year old beauty who addresses Nakagi as sensei since she's an aspiring artist who wishes to learn from the master. Topping the list, there's stunning Natsue pulling up in her white Mercedes.

However, being a famous artist comes with a price - as if he's the blue ribbon strawberry pie at the county fair, a string of men and women all want their slice of Nakagi. Nakagi also serves as the tale's narrator, thus we follow the artist in his daily routine of morning run, painting, eating, drinking and occasional sex during his stay at a secluded cabin up in the mountains. Since Nakagi paints mostly abstracts, we might think of him as we would Jackson Pollock or Clyfford Still or Hans Hofmann. Winter Sleep centers on Masatake Nakagi, age thirty-nine, an internationally renowned artist who has recently spent three years in prison for killing a man during a bar brawl. Winter Sleep, the author's fourth book translated into English, is a world away - this is a novel about artists and their art. You want gangsters and the underworld? Read Ashes, The Cage and City of Refuge.

Kenzo Kitakata from Japan has made a career of writing hardboiled crime fiction.

Winter Sleep by Kenzo Kitakata