「すぐ死ぬんだから」内館牧子 Soon I'll be dead," Makiko Uchidate

この著者の本を読むのは「終わった人」という定年後の男性を描いた本以来、2冊目だ。

今回の主人公はなんと78歳の女性。しかも、姿勢から食べ物からファッションに至るまで、若くいようとする努力を続けている人だ。

不思議に思ったのは、著者ご本人はこの本を書いた段階では70歳前後のはずだから、実にリアルな感じで、78歳の女性の心情や身体について描写している。

経験がなくても、取材と想像力で物語を書けるのが、小説家だと言われると返す言葉がないが、そのあたりは凄いと感じた。

物語はどんでん返しやほっこりする部分もあり、一気に読み終えた。

中高年と呼ばれる人は後期高齢者になった時の自分がどうなっていたいかを考えるために、一度読んでみたらどうだろうか？

This is the second book I have read by this author since "The Finished Man," a book about a post-retirement man.

This time, the main character is a 78-year-old woman. And she is a person who continues to make efforts to stay young, from her posture to her food to her fashion.

What struck me as strange is that the author herself must have been around 70 years old at the time she wrote this book, so she describes the feelings and body of a 78-year-old woman in a very realistic way.

I have no words to reply when people say that it is a novelist who can write a story with interviews and imagination without any experience, but I found that amazing.

The story has some unexpected twists and turns and some heartwarming parts, and I finished reading it in one sitting.

I suggest that those who call themselves middle-aged or older should read it once to think about what they would like to be when they reach the later stages of life.