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Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
26 reviews
ambivalentneb's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Hello Ash, I know you are reading this. Colorless Tsukuru was a lot different than his other works, it did not have as much as that feverish liminal feeing as in his other books, but it also felt more defined in clear meaning. I have mixed feelings about this as I love that aspect of Murakami’s books that describe dreamlike environments and symbols but having a clear definition in his own way is good as well. It felt a bit more personal to him as an author but it deviated from his style a bit, but that may just be due to him writing this at a later age.
spoilers now
no really don’t read this
tell your brain to stop automatically reading
last chance
The book follows the life of Tsukuru Takazi and the main event, the splitting of his group of friends: which is defined as a perfect quintet. He is cast away from his group suddenly and without any seeming remorse and he falls into a depression that changes him. He lives a rest of a mostly unfulfilling like until he is 36 and he finds someone he is serious about, but cannot go forward due to all of the conflicting and unresolved feelings within him from years ago, so he sets to find each member of the group and uncover the truth. I don’t want to talk about each individual encounter as this is getting long but ultimately it leads to some introspective eureka of him piecing together why the evened in his life occurred the way they have and how his feelings were not an isolated entities from the diaspora of feelings around him in others. In the end the book leads to compare his life to a subway (his occupation is building railroads) and he reales he has so many paths he could have gone yet he took none after the break of the group, so he decides to chase one last decision with all he has even if it will destroy colorless tsukuru tazaki, as even if he is colorless he has substance.
This sounded a lot better in my head, I like the book b it definitely not in the same regard as his other books or as much. (Why am I like this :skull:)
It was also reminiscent of coming of age stories but it wasn’t cringe so that’s fine.
spoilers now
no really don’t read this
tell your brain to stop automatically reading
last chance
The book follows the life of Tsukuru Takazi and the main event, the splitting of his group of friends: which is defined as a perfect quintet. He is cast away from his group suddenly and without any seeming remorse and he falls into a depression that changes him. He lives a rest of a mostly unfulfilling like until he is 36 and he finds someone he is serious about, but cannot go forward due to all of the conflicting and unresolved feelings within him from years ago, so he sets to find each member of the group and uncover the truth. I don’t want to talk about each individual encounter as this is getting long but ultimately it leads to some introspective eureka of him piecing together why the evened in his life occurred the way they have and how his feelings were not an isolated entities from the diaspora of feelings around him in others. In the end the book leads to compare his life to a subway (his occupation is building railroads) and he reales he has so many paths he could have gone yet he took none after the break of the group, so he decides to chase one last decision with all he has even if it will destroy colorless tsukuru tazaki, as even if he is colorless he has substance.
This sounded a lot better in my head, I like the book b it definitely not in the same regard as his other books or as much. (Why am I like this :skull:)
It was also reminiscent of coming of age stories but it wasn’t cringe so that’s fine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment
Moderate: Eating disorder and Rape
Minor: Homophobia and Miscarriage
catrijn's review against another edition
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Murder
Minor: Miscarriage and Death of parent
saintslimeburger's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, and Abandonment
kathleendayle's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder
Minor: Pregnancy
q_bert13's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I’ve been recommended Norwegian Wood more times than I can count, but I decided to read this as my first Murakami book. A saddening story about loosing friendships- taking time to heal, and eventually returning back home to seek out those past friends. An emotional, reflective story full of complex, colourful characters. Despite how sad the themes could get, Murakami’s writing style is beautiful and warm.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death and Rape
Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
yasaman's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Abortion, and Pregnancy
Minor: Homophobia and Abandonment
kaylamoran's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is such a hard book to rate, as there were things I loved and things I hated. I hated the way the story centered on a fake rape accusation. I really don't think that's a helpful narrative, and it wasn't necessary for the story. Tsukuru could have been shunned for any number of reasons. I also found it a bit frustrating how seemingly cheating wasn't a red flag? Why would Kuro tell Tsukuru to fight for a woman with another boyfriend? Ultimately I related to Tsukuru in many ways, and I was really rooting for him. Usually slow paced books with a ton of descriptors bore me, but that didn't happen here. I do wish Murakami spent a bit less energy describing women's breasts though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment
Moderate: Eating disorder and Murder
Minor: Miscarriage
ardour's review against another edition
very triggering for me, i intend to come back to it when I’m at a more stable place with community/belonging (as it seems really compelling/well written) —please see my trigger information (spoiler-free) if you related to my reason for putting the book down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Abandonment
Moderate: Gaslighting and Toxic friendship
if you currently struggle or have recently struggled with isolation from friendships/community (and some resulting existential grief/depression/meaninglessness, I would shelve this book for now and come back to it at a later date ❤️🩹 if you can relate, I can too and you’re not alone ❤️bumblebee2006's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Very gripping!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Abandonment
googles's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape and Self harm
Minor: Abandonment