Pages: 400
Received: Received a copy from Random House of Canada in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: August 12, 2014
Buy From Chapters.ca / Buy From BookDepository.com
Goodreads Synopsis:
Tsukuru Tazaki had four best friends at school. By chance all of their names contained a colour. The two boys were called Akamatsu, meaning ‘red pine', and Oumi, ‘blue sea', while the girls' names were Shirane, ‘white root', and Kurono, ‘black field'. Tazaki was the only last name with no colour in it.
One day Tsukuru Tazaki’s friends announced that they didn’t want to see him, or talk to him, ever again.
Since that day Tsukuru has been floating through life, unable to form intimate connections with anyone. But then he meets Sara, who tells him that the time has come to find out what happened all those years ago.
My Review:
This book came to me as a surprise, and I cannot express how excited I was when I found out that I received it. Murakami has been a favourite author of mine for awhile and I actually started my blog reviewing one of his earlier books (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle). I am still working through his backlist but learning that there was a new story coming out, I really had trouble holding off and waiting a little bit to really dig into it because I really wanted to devote all my time to reading it. I'm happy that this book has finally come out, I remember being excited about it when I heard he wrote a new one and I was eagerly waiting for it to be translated.
What I have loved about every Murakami book I have read is that his stories really make you think, they are the type of story that you need to devote your time to because you don't want to miss any little thing. This story really takes the idea of how your past affects your future to another level. Tsukuru had this very close group of friends when he was in high school, their lives revolved around one another and then one day he is excommunicated without knowing why. This event has really affected him in his life, as he moves away and attempts to make connections with other people. This is a story of going back and working through some past issues to help Tsukuru get his life back together where something as big as this event is not hanging over his head anymore.
I really enjoyed following Tsukuru's journey as he goes back to find his old friends and find out what happened. It is interesting to see what has happened to these other characters after everything happened, and to truly find out what the cause of the event was. I always wondered why Tsukuru never dug deeper when everything blew up, but as you learn more about his character you see that he just seems to have something happen and just lets it go even though it kills him on the inside. Sara is a great character who brings Tsukuru out of his somewhat introverted personality and really pushes him to confront the past to fix his future.
The only small thing that got me about this book was the ending, there is so much left open-ended, I wanted to know what happened with Tsukuru and know if this journey into the past really does help his future. I felt like there is more to this story and it just abruptly ended on me. Yet even though this bugs me, it also makes me think that Murakmi is ending his book like this to let his audience come up with their own ending, and I do have my own ideas of what happens. I believe it is in how you read the story to how you will decipher the ending.
Honestly, despite this one little issue, Haruki Murakmi will always have a spot on my shelf because his books are so intriguing and very deep, making readers truly think about what is going on in this world. If you do pick up any of his books, I advise you to dedicate a lot of time because you will not want to stop in case you forget or miss something that will affect your reading of the story. Definitely check out any of his books if you haven't yet.
Release Date: August 12, 2014
Buy From Chapters.ca / Buy From BookDepository.com
Goodreads Synopsis:
Tsukuru Tazaki had four best friends at school. By chance all of their names contained a colour. The two boys were called Akamatsu, meaning ‘red pine', and Oumi, ‘blue sea', while the girls' names were Shirane, ‘white root', and Kurono, ‘black field'. Tazaki was the only last name with no colour in it.
One day Tsukuru Tazaki’s friends announced that they didn’t want to see him, or talk to him, ever again.
Since that day Tsukuru has been floating through life, unable to form intimate connections with anyone. But then he meets Sara, who tells him that the time has come to find out what happened all those years ago.
My Review:
This book came to me as a surprise, and I cannot express how excited I was when I found out that I received it. Murakami has been a favourite author of mine for awhile and I actually started my blog reviewing one of his earlier books (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle). I am still working through his backlist but learning that there was a new story coming out, I really had trouble holding off and waiting a little bit to really dig into it because I really wanted to devote all my time to reading it. I'm happy that this book has finally come out, I remember being excited about it when I heard he wrote a new one and I was eagerly waiting for it to be translated.
What I have loved about every Murakami book I have read is that his stories really make you think, they are the type of story that you need to devote your time to because you don't want to miss any little thing. This story really takes the idea of how your past affects your future to another level. Tsukuru had this very close group of friends when he was in high school, their lives revolved around one another and then one day he is excommunicated without knowing why. This event has really affected him in his life, as he moves away and attempts to make connections with other people. This is a story of going back and working through some past issues to help Tsukuru get his life back together where something as big as this event is not hanging over his head anymore.
I really enjoyed following Tsukuru's journey as he goes back to find his old friends and find out what happened. It is interesting to see what has happened to these other characters after everything happened, and to truly find out what the cause of the event was. I always wondered why Tsukuru never dug deeper when everything blew up, but as you learn more about his character you see that he just seems to have something happen and just lets it go even though it kills him on the inside. Sara is a great character who brings Tsukuru out of his somewhat introverted personality and really pushes him to confront the past to fix his future.
The only small thing that got me about this book was the ending, there is so much left open-ended, I wanted to know what happened with Tsukuru and know if this journey into the past really does help his future. I felt like there is more to this story and it just abruptly ended on me. Yet even though this bugs me, it also makes me think that Murakmi is ending his book like this to let his audience come up with their own ending, and I do have my own ideas of what happens. I believe it is in how you read the story to how you will decipher the ending.
Honestly, despite this one little issue, Haruki Murakmi will always have a spot on my shelf because his books are so intriguing and very deep, making readers truly think about what is going on in this world. If you do pick up any of his books, I advise you to dedicate a lot of time because you will not want to stop in case you forget or miss something that will affect your reading of the story. Definitely check out any of his books if you haven't yet.
Ahh I can't wait to read this. I have a few blog tour books I need to get to but then as soon as they're done I am locking myself away with this book.
ReplyDeleteThe only Murakami book I have read is 1Q84. It was beautiful, strange, and definitely made me think! The plot of his new book sounds pretty interesting! I think I'll have to check it out for myself.
ReplyDeleteI SO agree with every word of your review! I am so glad I've read this book. Maybe it's not perfect, but still was worth every minute spent reading it :)
ReplyDelete