Although marketed as literary fiction Id definitely categorize this as fantastic realism. Murakami is definitely influenced by Kafka, but has a very Japanese perspective and a distinctive style all his own.
As the novel opens we are introduced to Toru Okada and his wife Kumiko a seemingly average young married couple. Mr. Okada has recently quit his job at a legal firm to try to decide what he really wants to do with his life but Kumiko has a good job, so overall, their biggest worry seems to be that their cat has gone missing. Okada isnt doing much he looks for the cat, does domestic chores, becomes acquainted with a teenage neighbor, May Kasahara, who is recovering from a motorcycle accident. His wifes unpleasant brother, Noboru Wataya, puts him, indirectly, in touch with a weird couple of sister psychics with the unlikely names of Malta and Creta Kano, ostensibly to help find the cat. It seems strange, but the Wataya family is known to consult psychics, as a matter of fact, they had encouraged the couple to see one before, the elderly WWII vet Mr. Honda, who always told more war stories than he made prophecies
But then, Kumiko goes missing. The evidence seems to indicate that she left her husband for another man but this just doesnt ring true to Okada. His brother-in-law, Noboru Wataya, now a rising star in politics, seems to take on a much more sinister aspect, as allegations against him surface. Dark family secrets are hinted at Okada is definitely a go-with-the-flow kind of guy, but he cant help feeling that Kumiko is being kept from him, that she has not chosen to leave him. Following vague and subject-to-interpretation statements from psychic advice, he sits down in a well on a neighboring property that is rumored to be haunted or at least ill-omened to think. The well seems to gain a sort of compelling force over him. A weird mark appears on his face, which in turn attracts another weird psychic team the obsessively fashionable Nutmeg, and her mute son Cinnamon, who recruit Okada into their lucrative business. But still the well calls him back Okada seems to believe that he is getting close to something self-revelation? A way to discover the truth? A way to get Kumiko back?
The book meshes realistic depiction of modern Japan, surreal psychic phenomena, astral travel, and tales of WWII and its aftermath its heavily symbolic, and effectively evocative in its creation of atmosphere Ill be looking out for more of Murakamis books.
As the novel opens we are introduced to Toru Okada and his wife Kumiko a seemingly average young married couple. Mr. Okada has recently quit his job at a legal firm to try to decide what he really wants to do with his life but Kumiko has a good job, so overall, their biggest worry seems to be that their cat has gone missing. Okada isnt doing much he looks for the cat, does domestic chores, becomes acquainted with a teenage neighbor, May Kasahara, who is recovering from a motorcycle accident. His wifes unpleasant brother, Noboru Wataya, puts him, indirectly, in touch with a weird couple of sister psychics with the unlikely names of Malta and Creta Kano, ostensibly to help find the cat. It seems strange, but the Wataya family is known to consult psychics, as a matter of fact, they had encouraged the couple to see one before, the elderly WWII vet Mr. Honda, who always told more war stories than he made prophecies
But then, Kumiko goes missing. The evidence seems to indicate that she left her husband for another man but this just doesnt ring true to Okada. His brother-in-law, Noboru Wataya, now a rising star in politics, seems to take on a much more sinister aspect, as allegations against him surface. Dark family secrets are hinted at Okada is definitely a go-with-the-flow kind of guy, but he cant help feeling that Kumiko is being kept from him, that she has not chosen to leave him. Following vague and subject-to-interpretation statements from psychic advice, he sits down in a well on a neighboring property that is rumored to be haunted or at least ill-omened to think. The well seems to gain a sort of compelling force over him. A weird mark appears on his face, which in turn attracts another weird psychic team the obsessively fashionable Nutmeg, and her mute son Cinnamon, who recruit Okada into their lucrative business. But still the well calls him back Okada seems to believe that he is getting close to something self-revelation? A way to discover the truth? A way to get Kumiko back?
The book meshes realistic depiction of modern Japan, surreal psychic phenomena, astral travel, and tales of WWII and its aftermath its heavily symbolic, and effectively evocative in its creation of atmosphere Ill be looking out for more of Murakamis books.
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