A review by trin
Audition by Ryū Murakami

3.0

Ryu Murakami (who I always think of in my head as “the other Murakami”—sorry, dude) certainly has talent as a shock artist. This book is brutally effective—in an intrinsically ridiculous, Fatal Attraction kind of way. I can’t even bother getting offended as a woman or, well, a person because the concept is really so dumb—and yet, it’s expertly paced, with (the other) Murakami evoking a sense of dread even when nothing explicitly frightening had so far taken place. That’s some skillful storytelling. And maybe you can rightly claim that it’s wasted on this idiocy (women are crazy! they will seduce you with their beauty and then do freaky-ass shit to you with a saw!), but on the other hand, I can’t and don’t begrudge anyone the need for the occasional doofy horror novel. I mean, I even kind of liked it: I laughed, I shivered, I rolled my eyes. It served its purpose. Well played, other Murakami. Well played.