The Friends

The summer before they must take the school entrance exams that will determine the course of their lives, Kiyama and his friends Kawabe and Yamashita are overwhelmed with curiosity about death when Yamashita's grandmother dies. What is it that distinguishes the moment before death from the moment after? What does a dead body look like? Does the dead person become a ghost? Determined to see death firsthand, the boys make a decrepit old man in their neighborhood (who they think will probably die soon) the subject of their constant surveillance. But as they watch the old man, he watches them, until the focus of their attention begins to shift, and satisfaction of their initial curiosity is the last thing they desire.Translated from the Japanese by Cathy Hirano.Narrated by Jeff Woodman.Recommended for listeners ages 10 and up.4 audiocassettes (approximately 5 hr.) : analog.