luke

Haruki Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart is a novel that encapsulates many ideas and concepts at once. The story (for the sake of this review, this is referring to the version translated by Philip Gabriel) is a patchwork mixture of mystery, drama, romance, and even part confession. Told through the narration of the main character (only ever referred to as K) and the occasional document or journal entry, the story largely revolves around K and his relationship with Sumire, his best friend.
The story of Sputnik Sweetheart begins with K's rambling introduction of Sumire's character. He details everything about her, from her family and education, to their friendship and his infatuation. Through this tirade, he also inadvertently introduces himself. They are both huge fans of novels, with Sumire spending her time as an insufferably unsuccessful writer and K drifting to whatever opportunity he's presented (at the time, this was a job teaching elementary school) and seemingly following no other motive or passion. The main conflict of the book is introduced with the third and final main character, Miu. Miu serves as the end point to the story's love triangle; K loves Sumire, Sumire has never felt love before Miu, and Miu doesn't seem to desire anyone at all, despite being near 40 years old and married. The rest of the novel follows K's perspective of Sumire and Miu's relationship, coming to a head with a disappearance and a surreal mystery based around the three character's pain, desires, and shortcomings.
Of this book's strengths, there are many. Despite having a relatively uneventful story for the majority of the novel, Murakami keeps the reader enthralled through incredibly compelling dialogue and character development. This book remains very accessible while also offering a bountiful amount of literary elements and character choices to analyze and enjoy. The surrealist nature of the second half also lends itself to allowing the reader to really pick apart every little detail to forge their own understanding of the events presented. This is also not to say that the book requires a ridiculous amount of analysis, as Sputnik Sweetheart is still very enjoyable when taken at a face value.
In an unfortunate ironic twist, Sputnik Sweetheart's biggest weakness also comes from the characters and their interactions. Murakami is somewhat known for having misogynistic themes within his writing and this novel is no exception. K has a tendency to treat women more like sexual opportunities than full people and many of the women in this book respond as he expects, falling for a man that offers them next to nothing and sees himself as intellectually above him. The sexual imagery depicted in Sputnik Sweetheart is also a bit unnecessarily grotesque, with K describing in full detail having to ‘suppress his urges' around Sumire, something framed as the feelings of a tortured romantic but actually just being a gross lack of respect for the woman he claims to love. While it is unclear if this is a reflection of Murakami himself or just the result of having a very flawed character being the sole narrator and viewpoint of the story, it casts an upsetting shadow over an otherwise really great story.
Overall, Sputnik Sweetheart is a very compelling look into the experience of human desire and unrequited love. It offers much to the reader in terms of analysis, both good and bad. Its a great read for someone looking for a more surrealist and psychological take on the romance genre and if one is willing to confront its occasional harsh flaws with a critical mindset.