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ficteon's review against another edition
2.5
This book is a rollercoaster and I have very mixed opinions of it. I'll try to keep it spoiler free.
This book would've been amazing! If Murakami kept his weird fetishes, opinions about women and periods and weird view points to himself.
I went from crying to cringing and thats very bizar. I've given other books by Murakami such great ratings (as there he kept his dumb outdated ideas to himself.) Very ironic is that one sentence in the book is on how another book is outdated... which made me laugh, as look at yourself
One thing I loved about this book is how Murakami writes death. He made me sob about characters I've only known for 1 or two sentences. He is a great writer! Just this book has pages after pages with just misinformation and cringeworthy sex.
Can this man stop talking about periods and talk to his wife about them to learn how they work???? Its just embarrassing.
'Im not like other girls'? plenty
Rape fetish? included.
Victim blaming? Yup.
Unconsentual sex? Yesss
No we women don't scream at strangers or friends and become uncontrollable monsters on our periods. Thanks murakami for seeing your wife this way.
The last pages I went from absolutely sad and loving the words to cringing as the mc cums in a women without consent. Not that the women minded ofc, they never do as women are sexdolls in this book.
Some quotes to show the problematic writing:
"Know what I did the other day?" Midori asked. "I got all naked in front of my father's picture. Took off every stitch of clothing and let him have a good long look. Kind of in a yoga position. Like, "here, daddy, these are my tits, and this is my cunt."
"Ok, I'll wear a hat for a couple of days after my period starts. A red one. That should work," she said with a laugh. "If you see me on the street and I'm wearing a red hat, don't talk to me, just run away."
"Great. I wish all girls would do that."
The mc and a girl are going to a porn movie in an adult cinema (its the 70s) and they are watching a s&m rape kidnap fantasy movie where two sisters get kidnapped and raped and ofc like it as porn.
"If I were the younger sister, I wouldn't get worked up so easily" said midori. "I'd keep watching"
Oh people are looking up my skirt??? Mmmmmh I love to be seen as a sex object anyway so idc. Well one thing is right though! The women in this book are not like other girls!! As no real women would react like the women do in this book.
I think from page 100 to 200 it was only bad page after bad page. And then after it kept returning as well again and again but those 100 pages were cruel.
And don't get me started on the pedophilia!!! As the age of consent was (since recently was) 13 Its not seen as pedophilia to mr Murakami that one character had sex with a 13 year old. Yes!! The character was raped by this child. Thats bad! But if you read that part the woman thats raped by the girl is not upset about it being a child, she was actually into it!!! She only rejected having sex WITH A CHILD because it was cheating on her husband. Was she raped - yes! Was she attracted to this 13 year old - Also yes!!! It was absolutely gross.
Again the writing is absolutely stunnningggg. He is just an outdated male writer which is a flaw. It's not all his books and ill keep reading them as they do have a lot to them. Just this one wasn't it at allll. Still it has amazing moments it in it as well so I'm not completely hating it either. See complex relationships with the book.
The emotional writing is stunning. Murakami can make you feel big emotions (even if he ruins that with cringe shit after but ok) His words and way of writing is amazing and in his other two books I read he really does it soooo well.
When it wasn't about the cringeworthy stuff the mc really had some good things to say. It just always got ruined by him saying something bad a second after.
Tw for suicide.. as lots of people kill themselves in this book. You could say its almost the whole plot.
I look forward to reading his other work. But again.. this was not it for me. Even if there is a reason for the grossness (which I don't think so. He is just an old guy born in a conservative society.) The reading experience really got ruined.
This book would've been amazing! If Murakami kept his weird fetishes, opinions about women and periods and weird view points to himself.
I went from crying to cringing and thats very bizar. I've given other books by Murakami such great ratings (as there he kept his dumb outdated ideas to himself.) Very ironic is that one sentence in the book is on how another book is outdated... which made me laugh, as look at yourself
One thing I loved about this book is how Murakami writes death. He made me sob about characters I've only known for 1 or two sentences. He is a great writer! Just this book has pages after pages with just misinformation and cringeworthy sex.
Can this man stop talking about periods and talk to his wife about them to learn how they work???? Its just embarrassing.
'Im not like other girls'? plenty
Rape fetish? included.
Victim blaming? Yup.
Unconsentual sex? Yesss
No we women don't scream at strangers or friends and become uncontrollable monsters on our periods. Thanks murakami for seeing your wife this way.
The last pages I went from absolutely sad and loving the words to cringing as the mc cums in a women without consent. Not that the women minded ofc, they never do as women are sexdolls in this book.
Some quotes to show the problematic writing:
"Know what I did the other day?" Midori asked. "I got all naked in front of my father's picture. Took off every stitch of clothing and let him have a good long look. Kind of in a yoga position. Like, "here, daddy, these are my tits, and this is my cunt."
"Ok, I'll wear a hat for a couple of days after my period starts. A red one. That should work," she said with a laugh. "If you see me on the street and I'm wearing a red hat, don't talk to me, just run away."
"Great. I wish all girls would do that."
The mc and a girl are going to a porn movie in an adult cinema (its the 70s) and they are watching a s&m rape kidnap fantasy movie where two sisters get kidnapped and raped and ofc like it as porn.
"If I were the younger sister, I wouldn't get worked up so easily" said midori. "I'd keep watching"
Oh people are looking up my skirt??? Mmmmmh I love to be seen as a sex object anyway so idc. Well one thing is right though! The women in this book are not like other girls!! As no real women would react like the women do in this book.
I think from page 100 to 200 it was only bad page after bad page. And then after it kept returning as well again and again but those 100 pages were cruel.
And don't get me started on the pedophilia!!! As the age of consent was (since recently was) 13 Its not seen as pedophilia to mr Murakami that one character had sex with a 13 year old. Yes!! The character was raped by this child. Thats bad! But if you read that part the woman thats raped by the girl is not upset about it being a child, she was actually into it!!! She only rejected having sex WITH A CHILD because it was cheating on her husband. Was she raped - yes! Was she attracted to this 13 year old - Also yes!!! It was absolutely gross.
Again the writing is absolutely stunnningggg. He is just an outdated male writer which is a flaw. It's not all his books and ill keep reading them as they do have a lot to them. Just this one wasn't it at allll. Still it has amazing moments it in it as well so I'm not completely hating it either. See complex relationships with the book.
The emotional writing is stunning. Murakami can make you feel big emotions (even if he ruins that with cringe shit after but ok) His words and way of writing is amazing and in his other two books I read he really does it soooo well.
When it wasn't about the cringeworthy stuff the mc really had some good things to say. It just always got ruined by him saying something bad a second after.
Tw for suicide.. as lots of people kill themselves in this book. You could say its almost the whole plot.
I look forward to reading his other work. But again.. this was not it for me. Even if there is a reason for the grossness (which I don't think so. He is just an old guy born in a conservative society.) The reading experience really got ruined.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Child death, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Mental illness, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Rape, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
kiinhi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
so beautifully written...its almost hard not to get sucked in and transported into the world that murakami writes. There are definitely some parts of the book that I don't like--and I'm still on the fence about the way he writes naoko / midori / reiko, but the book overall felt like a dark, rainy april night. It's melancholic, lonely, and feels like a dull heart ache that never fully goes away.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
soni1597's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
LOL only good thing was the descriptive language but even that
Content Warnings
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Rape, Pedophilia, and Death
bexdot's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
3.5 ⭐️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Death
Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Chronic illness, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
dugfromthedirt's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Mental illness
Moderate: Ableism, Vomit, Death, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Sexism
Minor: Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Outing, Cancer, and Abandonment
culown's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, and Sexual content
hilom's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Murakami sucks at writing women characters but at the same time the way he describes the atmosphere and environment is so beautiful??? It makes you want to continue reading the book despite some very uncomfortable scenes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Misogyny
Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
lovelupin's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I opened this book with astonishingly high expectations, and frankly, for me, it fell flat on its face. I've heard wonderful things about Murakami, but I am quite disappointed with the first work of his that I happened to come across.
This book is a normal love story, with no real plot attributes to be spoken of. Toru Watanabe is maybe one of the least interesting protagonists I have ever read about, with the personality of a white paint chip. The frankly alarming way women are seen throughout this entire book is disgusting, with Nagasawa and Watanabe being allowed to sleep around and cheat on their partners with no repercussions.
It also seemed that whenever Toru thought about any women, he was never thinking about their personality or their ideas and opinions, but about their bodies or the way they felt in bed. It was unashamedly disgusting, the way Toru remembered no more about Naoko than her appearance and "flesh" in the way he put it. It was honestly quite tiresome how he never had an arc anymore than thinking about the girl he slept with in school and wondering if she had forgiven him! I mean really? Nothing about the way he tossed her aside without explanation, and seemingly used her only for sex. He really only thinks about one thing! I mean he and Reiko are mourning their dear friend and he suddenly has to do it with her? She's nineteen years older than him! I understand that she was into it and everything, but he really seems to sleep with whoever is closest then goes back to the person he "loves" with no consequences. There was no need for him to sleep with Reiko, and the way it was foreshadowed before, the comparison of her body with Naoko's, and the fact she was wearing Naoko's clothes, was sickening! He even says he felt like he was violating a 17 year old while they were doing it! That's a bad sign! It was thoroughly horrifying all the way through. It was very sad as the only character I truly liked was Reiko.
It really made no plausible sense to me that women were falling all over him, even though he has no real personality traits, and he merely views them as objects, as he can just remember their bodies throughout his life and choose through sex appeal!
While this book leans heavily on philosophy and introspection, the topics of death and grief, and love that it cover were put in a very trite way. The ideas all seemed very repetitive and not very new. "Death is part of life", "love is complicated" blah blah blah. I liked the theme of loyalty although Watanabe didn't do a great job of that either, saying he would stay loyal to Naoko then kissing Midori and letting her give him a hand job- saying It WaSnT TeChNicAlLy SeX and pretending to stay loyal! Not very fair on either of them I say. but that was done in a very cliche way too, and not executed properly.
I honestly don't want to say anymore about this book, and although this was basically a rant, I do want to stress that I may come back to read Murakami's more fantastical books, and see what I think of those.
This book is a normal love story, with no real plot attributes to be spoken of. Toru Watanabe is maybe one of the least interesting protagonists I have ever read about, with the personality of a white paint chip. The frankly alarming way women are seen throughout this entire book is disgusting,
It also seemed that whenever Toru thought about any women, he was never thinking about their personality or their ideas and opinions, but about their bodies or the way they felt in bed. It was unashamedly disgusting, the way Toru remembered no more about Naoko than her appearance and "flesh" in the way he put it. It was honestly quite tiresome how he never had an arc anymore than thinking about the girl he slept with in school and wondering if she had forgiven him! I mean really? Nothing about the way he tossed her aside without explanation, and seemingly used her only for sex. He really only thinks about one thing! I mean he and Reiko are mourning their dear friend and he suddenly has to do it with her? She's nineteen years older than him! I understand that she was into it and everything, but he really seems to sleep with whoever is closest then goes back to the person he "loves" with no consequences. There was no need for him to sleep with Reiko, and the way it was foreshadowed before, the comparison of her body with Naoko's, and the fact she was wearing Naoko's clothes, was sickening! He even says he felt like he was violating a 17 year old while they were doing it! That's a bad sign! It was thoroughly horrifying all the way through. It was very sad as the only character I truly liked was Reiko.
It really made no plausible sense to me that women were falling all over him, even though he has no real personality traits, and he merely views them as objects, as he can just remember their bodies throughout his life and choose through sex appeal!
While this book leans heavily on philosophy and introspection, the topics of death and grief, and love that it cover were put in a very trite way. The ideas all seemed very repetitive and not very new. "Death is part of life", "love is complicated" blah blah blah. I liked the theme of loyalty
I honestly don't want to say anymore about this book, and although this was basically a rant, I do want to stress that I may come back to read Murakami's more fantastical books, and see what I think of those.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Mental illness, and Sexual content
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis
savvyventer's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide
dizzymissliz's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
what an odd, depressing little book.
the writing was genuinely beautiful and the translation had a reflective flow that demonstrated the author's way with words. the only reason my rating is so low is because the book was a bit boring TO ME. i think it was a good book, and i liked the way that toru changed throughout the years. but the treatment of women was really nauseating and the story didnt go anywhere! it was just depressing- in a thoughtful way, ill say that, - and i felt no empathy with any of the characters.
the writing was genuinely beautiful and the translation had a reflective flow that demonstrated the author's way with words. the only reason my rating is so low is because the book was a bit boring TO ME. i think it was a good book, and i liked the way that toru changed throughout the years. but the treatment of women was really nauseating and the story didnt go anywhere! it was just depressing- in a thoughtful way, ill say that, - and i felt no empathy with any of the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, and Abandonment
Moderate: Toxic relationship