Strange Tale of Panorama Island

Strange Tale of Panorama Island

Rating

8.0

The Pequod Review:

The plot of Strange Tale of Panorama Island is simple: an extremely wealthy man (Genzaburo) passes away, and his look-alike acquaintance (Hitomi) digs up the body, disposes of it, and then claims to be Genzaburo risen from the dead. This provides Hitomi the money needed to fulfill his grand vision of Panorama Island, which is something of an early 1900s Fyre Festival — a hedonistic pleasure paradise with circus performers, waterfalls, and sexual orgies. The book has the feel of a faraway fantasy tale, which allows Ranpo’s outlandish plot to kind of work, and his description of the island and its spectacles is one of the highlights of the book.