This book is a very slowly told love story about a college age student who has fallen in love with two women. The book is also incredibly depressing, has a dreary outlook on the world, an over abundance of focus on sex, lots of elements of suicide and a confusing ending. Sooooo, I had a real mixed experience with it.
On a positive, this book actually made me think far more about it after I finished it then during. The book is a bit of a slog to read, with nothing extremely exciting for long periods. However, the book is beautifully written and has a great deal of nuance and subtlety. Unfortunately, sometimes the book was so subtle and points made so hard to decipher, that it simply felt boring. Nonetheless, upon concluding and thinking/looking back at what transpired. I was more intrigued than when I was reading. What to make of that? Certainly, it's a good sign the novel was so thought provoking and ending open to interpretation that I continued to mull over various parts but what does it say about the entertainment value of reading it that I continually felt it wasn't moving anywhere? I know one might argue that the novel was supposed to mirror real life, and is most likely Murakami's most "traditional" novel, but when the reader continues feels frustration from the lack of plot movement does that matter? Will I continue asking more questions of myself in this blog?
Well, I'm not sure what to think about Murakami at this point. This book made him a star in Japan and at least three of his books are incredibly well acclaimed, but I really didn't love this one. It was fine but I really couldn't get into the "love" story aspect of it and the dreariness of the tone. However, I definitely want to take one of his more traditional science fiction novels to try to get the full Murakami experience. In the meanwhile, do feel free to check this one but be forewarned about some of the concerns noted above.
No comments:
Post a Comment