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A review by justinkhchen
In the Miso Soup by Ryū Murakami
5.0
5 stars
Totally unhinged but with purpose, In the Miso Soup most definitely fulfilled the horror quota, with a pivotal sequence that would for sure leave readers gasping at its outrageous perversion and brutality.
For me, the story was sitting at a solid 4 stars in its first 2 sections, while I enjoyed the gradual build, the candid cultural reference, and the unnerving tension of something horrific about to spill over; it felt like a straightforward 'serial killer on rampage' story that was meant to be just a sensorial experience (seeing how gross the book could get), and nothing more. Then Part 3 started and the narrative took a turn, very much echoing the sentiment of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (I MEAN, the killer's name was FRANK, so that had to be intentional!), where 'monsters' of our world were due to our failing as a society, and perhaps they were living more earnestly than many of us who were just numbly drifting through. I was quite moved by this section, and couldn't believe the book actually made me felt sympathetic towards its 'monster' (especially considering what he had done in the previous section). And the closing paragraphs were perfection with its use of symbolism.
In the Miso Soup was completely worthwhile — I went in expecting disgusting gores, but got so much more in return, this is a thought-provoking one!
Totally unhinged but with purpose, In the Miso Soup most definitely fulfilled the horror quota, with a pivotal sequence that would for sure leave readers gasping at its outrageous perversion and brutality.
For me, the story was sitting at a solid 4 stars in its first 2 sections, while I enjoyed the gradual build, the candid cultural reference, and the unnerving tension of something horrific about to spill over; it felt like a straightforward 'serial killer on rampage' story that was meant to be just a sensorial experience (seeing how gross the book could get), and nothing more. Then Part 3 started and the narrative took a turn, very much echoing the sentiment of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (I MEAN, the killer's name was FRANK, so that had to be intentional!), where 'monsters' of our world were due to our failing as a society, and perhaps they were living more earnestly than many of us who were just numbly drifting through. I was quite moved by this section, and couldn't believe the book actually made me felt sympathetic towards its 'monster' (especially considering what he had done in the previous section). And the closing paragraphs were perfection with its use of symbolism.
In the Miso Soup was completely worthwhile — I went in expecting disgusting gores, but got so much more in return, this is a thought-provoking one!