Pathway to Japanese Literature
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The Stroller in the AtticAuthor: Edogawa Ranpo
| Original Title | 屋根裏の散歩者 |
|---|---|
| Author | 江戸川 乱歩 |
| Genre | Detective & Mystery |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | Saburo Gouda, a man numbed by life’s monotony, drifts through occupations and pleasures with hollow indifference—until a chance encounter with amateur detective Akechi Kogoro ignites a dangerous obsession. Crime stories, once mere entertainment, consume Saburo’s fractured mind, driving him to stage elaborate “mock crimes” in Tokyo’s shadowy corners. But when he moves into the newly built Tōeikan boarding house, a hidden attic becomes his labyrinth of voyeuristic thrills. Peering through ceiling gaps, he unravels secrets of fellow lodgers, their private lives laid bare like grotesque theater. Among them is Endo, a man whose repulsive charm sparks Saburo’s darkest impulse: a meticulously planned murder, executed through a knothole with chilling precision. Yet as Saburo revels in his flawless crime, an unsettling truth looms—Akechi’s sharp intellect lingers like a specter. Between attic beams and poisoned droplets, a cat-and-mouse game unfolds, blurring obsession and consequence. What begins as a bored man’s diversion spirals into a psychological abyss where curiosity becomes compulsion, and the line between spectator and monster dissolves. |
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