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hnkakukiyo 's review for:
In the Miso Soup
by Ryū Murakami
Murakami tries to blend multiple themes in his novel— there’s the most iconic and most prominent of ero-guro (erotic-grotesque) that permeates Japanese crime literature, but also of the plight of the immigrant and the outsider in Japan (i.e. the homeless, the destitute, the child of divorce who happens to stand out in a society that often proclaims “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down”), of the disconnect and miscommunication between foreigners and native Japanese, of the psychological damage and subsequent coping of being witness to violent crime, of standards of worth and worthlessness, etc., etc.
While I felt that all of these, individually, were poignant themes and were each in their own regard explored quite well, at times they feel jumbled and meshed together haphazardly. As other reviews have mentioned, this novel is not apologetic about violence and gore, nor does it brush away from the topic of sex work and sexual outlets. For people familiar with Japanese crime and mystery novels, ero-guro is a way for authors to explore the dark side of humans (or what Kenji might even call ban-no!) that isn’t often culturally acceptable to flaunt otherwise. Often times authors who use ero-guro do so unflinchingly, and in gruesome detail, at gruesome length. It’s because this novel dove into this material head-first that I actually felt as though the other themes were devalued. The initial build-up of the novel had set the foundation for exploring these topics in greater depth, but I think over-excessive use of gore and violence ended up shadowing what were probably meant to be interesting social commentaries.
I will say that I enjoyed Murakami’s rhythm and simplicity. This book took me a whopping single evening to work through, and I can’t say that it wasn’t a fun read. I’m not familiar with his other works, but hopefully I can read them soon enough and compare!
While I felt that all of these, individually, were poignant themes and were each in their own regard explored quite well, at times they feel jumbled and meshed together haphazardly. As other reviews have mentioned, this novel is not apologetic about violence and gore, nor does it brush away from the topic of sex work and sexual outlets. For people familiar with Japanese crime and mystery novels, ero-guro is a way for authors to explore the dark side of humans (or what Kenji might even call ban-no!) that isn’t often culturally acceptable to flaunt otherwise. Often times authors who use ero-guro do so unflinchingly, and in gruesome detail, at gruesome length. It’s because this novel dove into this material head-first that I actually felt as though the other themes were devalued. The initial build-up of the novel had set the foundation for exploring these topics in greater depth, but I think over-excessive use of gore and violence ended up shadowing what were probably meant to be interesting social commentaries.
Spoiler
The other thing that sort of “held me up” on giving this book a fantastic rating was the flatness of the primary antagonist. His introduction is chilling, and up until the climax of the novel, I think he’s quite intriguing. But for me, the revelation of why he is so disturbed is lackluster. Unfortunately, his whole story makes him seem like an old slasher movie villain. Murakami mentions a past of black magic in addition to brain surgery, and I started to feel as though Frank was a piecework-villain made of different parts, like Frankenstein’s monster. His interactions with Kenji are redeemable, but only because Kenji shows greater depth of character in suspecting, fearing, and finally relinquishing to him. Really, it is Kenji’s perspective that saves Frank from becoming just another half-baked whacko serial murderer.I will say that I enjoyed Murakami’s rhythm and simplicity. This book took me a whopping single evening to work through, and I can’t say that it wasn’t a fun read. I’m not familiar with his other works, but hopefully I can read them soon enough and compare!