Gave it 5 stars because reading this was really enjoyable. The directness and decadence of both the alternate reality Europe and the narrator himself come off as funny, but also poignant and refreshing. At its core, I do really believe that the book is about how the individual is lost without a firm force guiding the individual's life, like a religion, traditional values, strong families etc. “Submission” under something can, of course, be oppressive when taken too far, but total freedom might also be dangerous, something many realist and modernist authors already have expressed their anxiety about through tons of books from over hundred years prior to this one. Huysman is a great device to illustrate this, and also works as a mirror to the book's narrator.
Of course, the book is very satirical, so it shouldn't be read as a doomsday manuscript of our near future (or should it?). The narrator is clearly a hypocrite and in general not reliable nor a bastion of morality. The political situation portrayed in the book is super farfetched. Personally, I'm quite left-leaning politics-wise, and the book isn't really about that anyway. It's simply a funny and no-holds-barred critique that creates debate, and I appreciate that.
Amazingly readable and great characterization, but the ideas, although I relate to them, aren't anything most people in my generation haven't already heard and absorbed or haven't been portrayed more interestingly elsewhere. Enjoyed reading it quite a bit, but don't think it will stay with me for long.
As a big Murakami fan, I can safely say that this (alongside Sputnik Sweetheart) is among my least favorite ones. This novel is considered by fans and critics alike to be one of his best ones, so it obviously has something to it, and I do see the appeal, but I'm guessing that it's just not for me. I was kind disappointed honestly. I found the Sci-fi/Fantasy concepts in the book uninteresting, and I think too much dry exposition (almost three whole chapters in the middle of the book) was used to convey something that really wasn't that complicated. I also think it's one of his novels where the negative Murakami cliches felt the most grating. Sleazy objectification of women, which I wouldn't usually mind if it helps build a certain character or theme or to convey a certain message, but knowing Murakami, it's simple self-insertion without much literary function. This is usual Murakami, but I thought it was notably strong in this particular novel and just enhanced the rest of what I found to be negative.
However, I'm giving the novel a bit of a pass by rating it a 3-star. The Norwegian translation was absolutely horrible, and I wish I had read the English or Japanese one instead. As someone who's worked in translation a bit, it is actually laughably bad at some points. There are numerous grammatical mistakes, weird/outdated choices of translations for lexical words, and unnatural syntax all over the place. I'm sure that the Japanese or even the translated English versions prose is much more natural than in mine.
It wasn't necessarily a bad reading experience. I am a big Murakami fan for a reason, and I did enjoy parts of the novel here and there. I thought it picked up especially towards the end, after the ascent from the “underworld”, in what I'd describe as the novels Act 3. I'm also one of those people who love descriptive passages of cooking and coffee-drinking, and I thought the literary references in this novel was unusually apt (if somewhat quickfire) to be Murakami. Once again he is successful in creating what I call a “cozy atmosphere”. Some of the key themes in the novel are also wonderfully worked into the plot and concepts of the book, so in that sense, it's all well put-together. This guy definitely knows how to write.
It all did simply not appeal to me that much this time around. There was no spark. It's probably me more than you, Murakami, and I still like you, but this date went a bit meh. I'm looking forward to our next meeting!
One of the best books I read this year. Its short length if just right for what is trying to convey, and all the characters are written excellently. Descriptions of the decaying, but industrious harbor of Yokohama is also a poignant frame for the novel overall. On purely formalistic terms, I think this novel is excellent.
This book dealt with nihilism, or as some of the characters in this book expresses it “the emptiness of the world”, in an unsettling, but also in an honest and beautiful way that really speaks to me. Some of the characters find sparks in the emptiness that truly moves them, but they all realize in some way that the sparks are either impermanent, false or unrealistic, and for one of them something one has to give up.
How does one deal with the emptiness: Fill it with blood? Glory in death? Adventure? Living truly honestly? Or perhaps compromising somehow is the only realistic option. As someone who was, and still is to some lesser degree, a disillusioned youth, I appreciate this book for its beauty in its portrayal of dangerous, but honest, nihilism, apathy, and disillusionment.
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