The Boy in the Earth

In Fuminori Nakamura's Akutagawa Prize-winning novel, a Tokyo taxi driver grapples with a fractured psyche as he succumbs to dark daydreams of suicide and unsettling blackout episodes. His partner, Sayuko, battles her own demons, turning to alcoholism after the trauma of a miscarriage. As he reconnects with the director of his childhood orphanage, he is forced to confront painful memories of an abusive family, leading him to a pivotal decision about his future.