Reviews

Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami

ohwretchedme's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious reflective fast-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? Yes

5.0

kanyay_'s review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

strange, dark, and beguiling. not much happens, mostly the day to day of the MC, but murakami's prose makes even that an interesting read. this was darker than the previous books i've read by him. 

would have been a 5 star read if not for the pedophilic undertones between the mc and a thirteen year old girl, which made me pretty uncomfortable. 

quite a bit of commentary about capitalism. as typical of murakami novels, loneliness is captured and depicted in a beautiful, sad way.

guywhelon's review against another edition

5.0

Capitalist society operates in Japan on a mega scale, much like any other advanced economy. The protagonist meets many in this book who fall peril to this and greed consumes their lives, he instead decides to pursue an abnormal life free from judgement from others... The book is pretty fascinating and very easy to read. That being said, understanding it, like any other Murakami, is a different story entirely !

moralalec's review against another edition

3.0

The book was a solid wrap up to an eclectic series. My biggest gripes were more on the relationship between the titular character and Yuki, which at times felt odd and didn’t sit right (to say the least). Otherwise, the story was captivating and the novel nicely wrapped up the intricate plot it was weaving together between the books for this series. A decent end which could’ve been a lot better with some different character choices.

felicity26's review against another edition

mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

telmahdus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

flelix's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

biblio_creep's review against another edition

3.5

3.5/5 ⭐’s | PUB DATE:  1988 

 

Read if you're looking for: 

• A story of a man searching for a woman who has mysteriously disappeared
• A strange hotel that has places that both exist & don’t exist
• The uncanny
• People who are not what they seem
• Some returning characters from Murakami’s other books

This is one of Murakami’s earlier novels, and it’s the fourth book in The Rat series. To be honest, all of these books in The Rat series are kind of blending together for me. This is the last one, and in it the unnamed main character returns to The Dolphin hotel, in Hokkaido, where he previously spent time with a woman named Kiki. He’s looking for her, as she has mysteriously gone missing, and when he arrives at the Dolphin, he finds that it has been completely rebuilt into a modern and beautiful hotel, but that it has retained the name. He starts a relationship with one of the front desk clerks, and they begin to find that there are places in the hotel that are not quite in the same world as ours. Our main character also befriends a famous actor, who was one of the last people to see Kiki before she disappeared. As he spends more time with this seemingly caring man, he starts to learn about his dark past.
 
As usual in Murakami novels, the characters are not completely distinct, you don’t get a deep feel for their motivations, but the dialogue is interesting and well written, and the main character’s sense of restlessness comes through. You can tell you are reading Murakami. One usually reads Murakami for the vibes, at least in my experience. I’m looking for that very bizarre and unsettling feeling that something is not quite right. This seems to be prevalent in Murakami’s later work. While this novel does have a touch of magical realism and  some discomfiting imagery, it’s not as strange as his newer writing. I am reading all of Murakami’s books in, roughly, publication order, but I think, if you only want his hits, you can probably skip this one.
 
CW:  Death, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Sexual assault, Animal death, Infidelity, Alcohol

bjor6n's review against another edition

5.0

"What would happen to the world if there was no friction? Everything would fly into space from the centrifugal force of revolution."

kinnimomo's review against another edition

lighthearted slow-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

4.0

Strange, surreal rants and dreamy daily account of a writer listening to and following its inner turmoil.