69 (Kodansha Modern Writers)

Ryu Murakami, when not called “the other Murakami”, is usually called the enfant terrible of Japanese literature.

This was the third of his books I've read, after Coin Locker Babies and In The Miso Soup. I loved Coin Locker Babies, but didn't like In The Miso Soup quite as much - I think I generally have quite a strong stomach for violence in novels, but even for me it was a difficult book to read that made me feel quite queasy.

69, on the other hand, couldn't be more different from either of those books, being a lighthearted, semi-autobiographical story set in the author's small hometown at the end of college in 1969 (when the author is 17). It touches on how Western culture (rock music, jazz, films, etc) was a breath of fresh air to Japanese youth at the end of the sixties, but mostly it's just a very funny, quite often laugh-out-loud funny story of coming of age, of being at that precious and difficult age where you're influenced by everything, but haven't figured out yet, or had the experience to be able to figure out, who you are.

Really enjoyed this one.