Scan barcode
A review by trin
Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami
4.0
Incredibly powerful account of the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. Murakami tells the story very simply, using mostly Studs Terkel-style first person accounts. It’s fascinating to see different people’s versions of the same events, especially since many of the survivors interviewed were in close proximity to each other (such as, on a tiny subway car) when the attacks took place, and yet their perspectives will often deviate from one another in interesting ways.
In the second half of the book, Murakami interviews former members of Aum Shinrikyo, the cult that perpetrated the attacks. This section is likewise compelling, and horrifying, though in different ways. I find the cult mentality somewhat difficult to grasp, so my reaction to the second section contained an element of bafflement to it as well, but that sort of works, as in a way the book is about trying to make sense of the insensible. It’s a wonderful work as a piece of history, and as an introspective look at everyday human action in the face of tragedy.
In the second half of the book, Murakami interviews former members of Aum Shinrikyo, the cult that perpetrated the attacks. This section is likewise compelling, and horrifying, though in different ways. I find the cult mentality somewhat difficult to grasp, so my reaction to the second section contained an element of bafflement to it as well, but that sort of works, as in a way the book is about trying to make sense of the insensible. It’s a wonderful work as a piece of history, and as an introspective look at everyday human action in the face of tragedy.