Quote:
Originally Posted by apr
I've already read Gosicks 1 and A Lollypop or a Bullet. 
Lollypop was very good, and I'll try to get a hold of her award-winning book eventually. I disagree with it needing illustrations, though. It really doesn't feel like a book that should have pictures.
Spoiler for Lollypop 'review' from a mail conversation I had (with SPOILERS):
I just finished Satougashi no Dangan wa Uchinukenai, and what the
FUCK? That was written by the same person as GOSICKs? How? What? Huh?
A strange read, really. I find it absurd that they published it with
illustrations, and no doubt it's better off in the current format,
clean and naked. Reading up on it on Wikipedia I also found out
there's a goddamn manga of it, which seems ridiculous. If ever there
was a light novel that wasn't a light novel, surely this is it? It's
everything but light. How do you get out of that story without a heavy
heart?
It's tragic and depressing and it just goes on and on. I kept thinking
there would be a twist eventually, that the girl was really a mermaid,
that there would be a happy end somehow, but suddenly I ran out of
pages, and she was still dead. Where's the "light" in that?
No wonder she went on to write regular novels. Lollypop and Gosick are
miles apart, and the former is clearly superior. If the book that won
the Naoki award is even better, I'm going to have to get a hold of it
some day. Feels like I owe her that.
I'm going to spend the rest of the week gloomy, though.
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I share your sentiments, and I also found the discrepancy between the illustrations and content very unnatural. But in retrospective I think those illustration in a way helps to magnify the shock given to the readers
.
Also, remember that it was not easy for light novel writers to switch to the general literature industry, given the prejudice towards light novels in Japan (kind of like anime) by the literature elites and the public. That is why Sakuraba had to work within the limitations (i.e. publish in light novel format with illustrations randomly planted by the editors) even if she attempted to break out of them. Lolypop not only drastically changed her career, but also helped to improve the perception of the general public towards light novels. It also gave a whack to the light novel publishers and let them realize the need to expand the genre instead of staying in the comfort zone.
If Lolypop didn't exist or was just published by a traditional publisher, I highly doubt that you would be able to see dark and non-conventional works like Mimizuku and Sugar Dark being ever published, let alone securing major light novel awards. The original version with sugary drawings let you feel the conflicts in the industry beyond the story, and appreciate its value as a milestone in the modern development of light novels. The new version is simply a good story among thousands published, memorable but nothing beyond that.
As for manga, it's variety in terms of topics is as wide as books and movies. There is no reason to ridicule a manga before even reading it by simply asserting that it is dealing with a wrong genre, given that there are good manga on Kani-kousen, quantum physics and any Greek mythological tragedy. Dark themes on abuse is by no means a rarity in the manga industry.
The manga of Lolypop is certainly not a masterpiece that everyone on earth should read, but at least it has done a good job in retaining the atmosphere and emotions in the novel. The character design is also less sugary and easier for the readers to feel attached to. The overwhelmingly positive reviews of the manga to a certain extent reflects its quality.
I haven't read Gosick though, so no comment on that. But I find the afterwords of every book highly amusing (Sakuraba can make a novel out of them and I will gladly buy it, seriously). My advice to everyone interested in Gosick is to go to your local bookshop, skip the content and read the afterwords only.