Reviews - Sputnik min elskede

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3.97k reviews for:

This book was definitely… something. It definitely had some amazing moments and lines that completely blew me away! However this book is also so confusing and definitely feels drawn out in my opinion.

I am new to Murakami’s work and I definitely don’t think I properly grasped the themes or the actual meaning behind all the confusing and cryptic story telling. The ending left me confused and honestly disappointed, the end would have been better in my opinion if Sumire didn’t show up and it was just the main character (forgot his name) just left there in bed alone and waiting.

The way Murakami described Greece was truly amazing, and his look into existence was truly amazing. The way the women are viewed in the story was gross at times. The book is very much through the male gaze (of course), but the savage and grotesque details of his erection and what he wanted to do to Sumire was foul. Maybe that scene was meant to represent a deeper meaning that I failed to realise but, yeah.

That concludes my thoughts of the book. I did enjoy the first 2/3 of the book a lot, but the end really let me down.

joelslinn's review against another edition

3.5

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

bibliolucinda's review against another edition

4.0

“I have this strange feeling that I'm not myself anymore. It's hard to put into words, but I guess it's like I was fast asleep, and someone came, disassembled me, and hurriedly put me back together again. That sort of feeling.”

bulb's review against another edition

4.0

well, it was interesting to put simply. the story followed k, a man who longs for this one girl, called sumire, who longs for this much older woman (17 years older) called miu. for the most part, it’s told of a story of sumire from k’s perspective.

apparently, this kind of book is called “magical realism”. it’s where it’s realistic but there’s this tad magic in it. i guess it’s interesting. it’s been so long since i’ve read books like that.

it was telling about many shape of loneliness. k, who longs for this girl. the longing in the shape of sexual as well as romantic feelings. sumire, who longs for miu, a longing/attraction she never felt her whole life, also in a shape of romantic & sexual feelings. meanwhile, miu, seemingly the one having upper-hand, longs for something else. something that no longer existed. something she believed she’d lost a long time ago, along with her desires and such, things that make her feeling fully human.
the three of them are seeking for something out of their grasp. unreachable and unrealistic. quite endless too. at the end of each of their journey, none of them get what they want. not k, not sumire, and definitely not miu.