“Discovering well, women and wonder
An epic novel, a feat in itself for any fantastical fiction writer, this is a must-read for every Murakami fan. Starting off with the disappearance of a pet cat named after the protagonist Toru Okada’s brother-in-law – Mr Wataya (who will play a mjor role later on), this story is a journey through tales and lives and minds of many captivating characters.
From the mysterious Malta Kano and her sister Creta to the teenage weirdness of May Kasahara or even Mr. Okada’s wife Kumiko (who is seemingly too upset over the lost cat); the women in Okada’s life seem to get him into excellent and troubling adventures.
Just the two chapters on the letters of Lieutenant Mamiya would be worth the retail price of the book. The description of the Japanese warfare in Mongolia and China is graphic. Later on the details as described by the protagonist himself is also a page-turner.
As you keep going through this grand book, you learn more and more as how every one of these characters have been intertwined into the life of Toru Okada. A mysterious lady on the phone, a generous old lady calling herself Nutmeg, a really intriguing hotel room, letters from the weird May Kasahara about duck people (and many other things); this saga is as wild a fantasy as anybody could ask for.
I loved the anecdote on the monkeys on sh*tty island. Murakami comes up with great background for all these characters and an entire history of a neighbourhood house that has attracted Okada’s attention.
Okada goes through mysterious journeys, meets strange and stranger people, hears horrific tales of war and Soviet/Mongolian torture, he battles through his strange life and as the year passes, the climax of the novel delivers an unmatched end.
For those who can’t digest such fantasy and metaphysical elements, a good start would be “The Elephant Vanishes” a collection of Murakami’s short stories. If you love those (as I did) then reading this grand novel would not be intimidating. ”
udey wrote this review Sunday, September 16 2007.
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