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Title: Sputnik Sweetheart: A Novel by Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel, J. Philip Gabriel ISBN: 0-375-72605-5 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 09 April, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.24
Rating: 4
Summary: For your Murakami fix
Comment: Haruki Murakami is one of those author's who, if you read one of his books, you're hooked and have to read them all. If you're a fan, this book will not disappoint. The narrating character is similar to the man in most of his books. There's nothing extraordinary about him, yet that's exactly why you love the guy and are happy to be let into his life for a little while. This book reminded me a bit of my favorite Murakami book, Hard-Boiled Wonderland. It's the idea of another possible world out there that makes things interesting. The love story wasn't as gripping as say, the one in South of the Border, West of the Sun. I hate calling attention to the love triangle in this story, as most reviews do, but I suppose it is unavoidable. Our narrator must deal with his unrequited love for a unique woman who reminds me of one of the author Banana Yoshimoto's characters. She, in turn, must deal with her unrequited love for the older woman she works with.
The most striking thing to me about this book, was that Murakami actually made me, a woman, understand what it's like for a man to feel love and lust for a woman. I understood all of the narrator's thoughts and feelings. I guess that's what's great about Murakami's books. If you love Murakami, then read this one too. It will be like hanging out with an old friend.
Rating: 5
Summary: Life is just a dream, sweetheart
Comment: "Sputnik Sweetheart" was my first Murakami book, and I am fascinated. There will be more Murakami in my future.
The book reads like the few moments of unreality before settling into sleep. Like something from the comic book "The Sandman," this is a story of dreams, moons, love and cats.
With the title "Sputnik Sweetheart," I was expecting some sort of hard-metal story, where love shatters on technology or maybe something about the fast pace of modern life in Japan. I certainly wasn't expecting this gentle, silent love short story, told to the sound of Brahms and with the flavor of French wines.
Of course, the style of writing and the ideas are the forefront of the novel, with the actual plot taking a supporting role. The characters are wholly unrealized, mere glimpses of caricatures. They love, they live and they do so poetically. They have ideas, and those ideas are worked out in the medium of the written word. Minimalist seems to be thrown around, and maybe that is so, but I don't see it. The words flow, and hold together well. The plot is fleeting, an altogether unresolved, the the half-memory of a dream that made sense at the time, but seems strange in the re-telling.
An excellent book, one best read right before bedtime.
Rating: 5
Summary: Poetic and surprising story - presence of absence
Comment: I am still uncertain I grasped all the underlying meanings and intentions of Haruki Murakami in this poetic story but know that this was a unique read; one which requires time and thought in order to really "get into" and enjoy. The story takes several turns and its focus shifts between its three characters.
The story starts with the description of Sumire, a bit of a lost soul who wants to become a writer. Sumire writes all the time, but something is lacking. Her male friend, the narrator of the story whose name is never revealed, encourages her that "a story is not something of this world. A real story requires a kind of magical baptism to link the world on this side with the world on the other side..."
what he really means is that Sumire needs more time, more life experience, maybe more pain in order to breath life into the story; Sumire however, seems to remain on the search for the "other side". When Sumire falls in love with Miu, a much older business woman, her life undergoes a tremendous change and suddenly she is no longer able to write. As if somehow the focus of her life has shifted... The voice of the narrator who has been telling us about Sumire changes its tone and we now understand that he is an active participant in the story - he is in love with Sumire but understands that his love for this meaningful and special soul companion will not be returned. This is the pain he has to suffer.
The story reaches its climax in the Greek island where Sumire and Miu have gone for vacation. One night the narrator receives a telephone call from Miu who begs him to come to the Island at once.
It is never clear who is the real hero of the story as the tale shifts from one character to another and all characters are endearing in the same tender vulnerable way. Maybe the male narrator, speaking in its own voice is the one who touches your heart the most but you can feel the pain and lonliness of all characters and their endless search for something which is impossible to get.. at least not on this side.
The story is definitely surprising - starting from its special name and characters and follow its intriguing tale, touching the real and the supernatural in a way that is in total harmony and agreement with all the book.
Sputnik Sweetheart deals with the presence and absence of people and how absence can be present in every nuance of ones life. I think this is also intended in the name of the story and the explanation given in the preface to the term "Sputnik" ending in the words: "but the satellite was never recovered"...which should have given me the first clue to what is about to happen, one of the many clues and signs that Murakami will give along the book. The book by the way is not depressing as it may sound. Sad and poetic yet you can feel a life force running underneath.
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Title: South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami ISBN: 0679767398 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 14 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin ISBN: 0375704027 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 12 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami, Alfred Birnbaum ISBN: 037571894X Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 09 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin ISBN: 0679775439 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: September, 1998 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel (Vintage International) by Haruki Murakami, Alfred Birnbaum ISBN: 0679743464 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: March, 1993 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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