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thaggstrom50's review
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
grubbygabby's review against another edition
slow-paced
3.25
oh man this one was a lot. incredible writing style, fascinating story BUT i could not get over the weird sexual elements throughout the whole book. it made it uncomfortable to read. best character? tamaru
erickibler4's review against another edition
5.0
Okay, so there's this young woman, Aomame, who's caught in a traffic jam on the freeway. She's late for an important appointment. She exits the cab and descends an emergency stairway. Then there's Tengo, who teaches math at a cram school, but who has ambitions of becoming a writer. A publisher acquaintance admires his prose and engages him to rewrite a story by Fuka Eri, a barely literate seventeen year old girl who has nevertheless dictated (to another girl) a story which is a diamond in the rough. Add an elderly, rich woman who is an avenger of domestic violence, a shadowy religious organization, and a misshapen investigator, and you have the ingredients for a cloak and dagger caper, which this book is. But it also contains fantasy and science fiction elements. And metaphysical concerns.
I really enjoyed this book. On more than one occasion I found that it affected my dreams, which is always a sign that my mind has entered the world the author has created. The major problem with it, though, is that it could have used a rewrite to make it tighter. There are far too many recaps of characters' histories, situations, and relationships. Also, although the main characters get closure, there are a lot of unanswered questions and unfulfilled plot points revolving around minor characters. Of course, the latter ambiguities are the province of literary discussion and could make for a kickass round table at our book club. Some of these questions appear below.
Edit: Thinking back to how this book has lived on in my memory and imagination, I'm upgrading it from four to five stars.
SPOILER:
1. Is Nurse Kumi the reincarnation of Tengo's mother?
2. Who strangled the young policewoman? I'm pretty sure this wasn't a Sakigake hit.
3. Who was the man who strangled Tengo's mother? Was he the same man who strangled the policewoman? Was he Tengo's biological father?
4. Was the Fuka Eri we met the real deal? Or was she the dohta, or replica? Is it a characteristic of dohta that they have no uterus, and therefore can't become pregnant? So, rather than destroying the uterii of young girls by violent sex, is it possible that Leader, while paralyzed, was having sex with dohta, who never had uterii to begin with? What happens to Fuka Eri?
5. Who are the Little People? What's their game?
6. Maza and Dohta sound like Japanese pronunciations of Mother and Daughter. Are the maza and dohta always female?
7. Why did Tengo's father's spirit choose Aomame's apartment and harangue "Ms. Takai"?
I really enjoyed this book. On more than one occasion I found that it affected my dreams, which is always a sign that my mind has entered the world the author has created. The major problem with it, though, is that it could have used a rewrite to make it tighter. There are far too many recaps of characters' histories, situations, and relationships. Also, although the main characters get closure, there are a lot of unanswered questions and unfulfilled plot points revolving around minor characters. Of course, the latter ambiguities are the province of literary discussion and could make for a kickass round table at our book club. Some of these questions appear below.
Edit: Thinking back to how this book has lived on in my memory and imagination, I'm upgrading it from four to five stars.
SPOILER:
1. Is Nurse Kumi the reincarnation of Tengo's mother?
2. Who strangled the young policewoman? I'm pretty sure this wasn't a Sakigake hit.
3. Who was the man who strangled Tengo's mother? Was he the same man who strangled the policewoman? Was he Tengo's biological father?
4. Was the Fuka Eri we met the real deal? Or was she the dohta, or replica? Is it a characteristic of dohta that they have no uterus, and therefore can't become pregnant? So, rather than destroying the uterii of young girls by violent sex, is it possible that Leader, while paralyzed, was having sex with dohta, who never had uterii to begin with? What happens to Fuka Eri?
5. Who are the Little People? What's their game?
6. Maza and Dohta sound like Japanese pronunciations of Mother and Daughter. Are the maza and dohta always female?
7. Why did Tengo's father's spirit choose Aomame's apartment and harangue "Ms. Takai"?
mabel63's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
rsmo666's review against another edition
I cannot get into this. There is a lot of unnecessary exposition unrelated to the plot/characters, there is a weird focus on bodies, sex, attractiveness, etc that is out of place, and the pace is just too slow.
I may return to it later, but it is not holding my interest enough to plow through. It's like a more convoluted David Mitchell novel.
I may return to it later, but it is not holding my interest enough to plow through. It's like a more convoluted David Mitchell novel.
ryliereadss's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This was a great first read of Murakami's work. I really liked Tengo and Aomame, they were great characters, Aomame especially. It's crazy that their love lasted so long. I liked that not all the questions were answered at the end. The magical realism aspects were cool and kind of scandalous, kind of made me uncomfy at one point. The plot was good but I wasn't itching to pick it up to see what happened. The parts where Tengo went to see his dad in the nursing home were pretty slow and not as entertaining, kind of just waiting for something to happen that never did. But for the majority of the book I felt like the pacing was slow but not without reason and I didn't feel like it dragged. I hated all the mentions of boobs, so unnecessary and annoying. Would still recommend tho.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Sexual content
mmoshier's review
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I honestly have no idea why i stuck this one out.
davechua's review against another edition
2.0
Finished Book 1. Not quite engrossing and shares many similarities with other Murakami books. Main female character is an assassin with a fondness for bald men (!!). Will take a break and get back to it in 2012.
Done with Book 2. Story seemed tighter but gradually gave way as well. Female characters seemed to be build from manga archetypes. There are some some lovely moments, such as a mini-story about the town of cats, but so much fluff to wade through with typical Murakami characters that are just full of longing. The two main characters pine for each other after a brief encounter when they were 10. Highly self-conscious writing, such as when characters talk about how a gun is used after it's introduced because of dear Chekov. Worst of all, only tangentially related to Orwell's 1984.
Book 3 was even more disappointing. The book now adds another viewpoint; a suspicious character who we are constantly reminded looks ugly and it not accepted in Japanese society. Also, the plot slows to a crawl, as both characters seem content to hideout. Plot threads are left dangling, and the prime focus is the supposed relationship between the two main characters, who held each other's hand briefly when they were 10.
I really wanted to like this book. Anybody who devotes their time to read such a huge tome would. In fact, there were interesting components; a doomsday cult led by a charismatic leader, a mysterious alternate Japan, shady gangster types, a matriarch determined to take revenge for the cause of abused women but Murakami drifts off to focus on the thin love affair between the two leads. There are wonderful moments, such as the story about a town of cats, or Tengo's Sundays wandering with his father to collect television subscription money, and bits of wonderful description, but those are few and far between. Instead what we get is some fairy tale about little people, and characters that are two-dimensional and quite unconvincing. Naturally, this being Murakami, there are little snippets of information, often utterly unconnected to the main story, but placed just to hopefully keep the reader interested. (I imagine these segments being read by Stephen Fry on QI; it helps).
I wanted to know more about the cult and I thought they would play more of a part in Book 3, when the threads started to come together. But sadly, they stay apart, and the whole book just drifts off towards a cringe-inducing conclusion. Overall, a vast disappointment.
Done with Book 2. Story seemed tighter but gradually gave way as well. Female characters seemed to be build from manga archetypes. There are some some lovely moments, such as a mini-story about the town of cats, but so much fluff to wade through with typical Murakami characters that are just full of longing. The two main characters pine for each other after a brief encounter when they were 10. Highly self-conscious writing, such as when characters talk about how a gun is used after it's introduced because of dear Chekov. Worst of all, only tangentially related to Orwell's 1984.
Book 3 was even more disappointing. The book now adds another viewpoint; a suspicious character who we are constantly reminded looks ugly and it not accepted in Japanese society. Also, the plot slows to a crawl, as both characters seem content to hideout. Plot threads are left dangling, and the prime focus is the supposed relationship between the two main characters, who held each other's hand briefly when they were 10.
I really wanted to like this book. Anybody who devotes their time to read such a huge tome would. In fact, there were interesting components; a doomsday cult led by a charismatic leader, a mysterious alternate Japan, shady gangster types, a matriarch determined to take revenge for the cause of abused women but Murakami drifts off to focus on the thin love affair between the two leads. There are wonderful moments, such as the story about a town of cats, or Tengo's Sundays wandering with his father to collect television subscription money, and bits of wonderful description, but those are few and far between. Instead what we get is some fairy tale about little people, and characters that are two-dimensional and quite unconvincing. Naturally, this being Murakami, there are little snippets of information, often utterly unconnected to the main story, but placed just to hopefully keep the reader interested. (I imagine these segments being read by Stephen Fry on QI; it helps).
I wanted to know more about the cult and I thought they would play more of a part in Book 3, when the threads started to come together. But sadly, they stay apart, and the whole book just drifts off towards a cringe-inducing conclusion. Overall, a vast disappointment.
dmnqd_94's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
geonox's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0