After "Kafka on the Beach" and "Men without Women", this is only the third work by Murakami that I 'read' - this time via an audiobook. The closest reason for me to select this to read at this point of time was an online discussion by a reader-friend, for which I wanted to be present - hence the quickest way to read a book, when it is not one's plan. To be honest, I was not overly eager to read a Murakami novel at this point, although the short story collection was indeed a great read. But read this novel I did, and here's what I felt.
"Be what you wanna be
See what you came to see
Been what you wanna be
I don't like what I see
Like the coldest winter chill
Heaven beside you, hell within
Like the coldest winter will
Heaven beside you, hell within
And you think you have it still
Heaven inside you"
( Heaven Beside you - Alice in Chains )
The main characters in this book - from Toru Watanabe, to Naoko, Midori, Reiki and even the absent Kizuki battle various degrees of their own version of hell. Some are determined to overcome it ( Midori), some wander and find that they overcome after a trying ordeal ( Watanabe ), and unfortunately some succumb into that hell. There is a confession by Midori, of the kind of girlish love that she expects, which is filled with vanity, which says a lot about her, and possibly suggests an essence necessary to survive, when one's life is full with ordeals.
"No, even I know better than that. I'm looking for selfishness. Like, say I tell you I want to eat strawberry shortcake. And you stop everything you're doing and run out and buy it for me. And you come back out of breath and get down on your knees and hold this strawberry shortcake out to me. And I say I don't want it anymore and throw it out the window. That's what I'm looking for.”
Then we have the talented Nagasawa, who is never riddled with any guilt for the way he conducts himself, least of all the way he treats a most wonderful girl with whom he has been in a long term relationship. Nagasawa can be compared with Midori's first boy friend, in certain ways that they treat their girls. While Midori is in a position to know what she wants, the kind of love she wants, Naoko and Hatsumi fall in love with a person, and are unable to come to terms with the hell within. Midori manages to get the "heaven beside her", into her.
If one analyses the novel, from an existential perspective too, I saw a semblance of the couple Jof and Mia of "The Seventh Seal" in Midori ( the expression of the happiness of Jof and Mia is something I won't forget for sometime ), whereas Block and Jon could be compared in their outlook to those who question their place in life. It suggests that those who are not burdened with a constitution of questioning deeply the essence of everything, are more likely to enjoy life.
I had a problem in placing Watanabe among this array of characters, from the outgoing Nagasawa to the introvert, Naoko. Watanabe seems to be a man, who finds himself in the midst of these chaotic characters, with hardly any studied opinions himself. Although he has a sense of deep routed values, and an unwavering truthfulness about him, he is aimless and without ambition. In a sense it could be said that Midori and Watanabe save each other.
By 50% of this book, I was glad that I had only invested an expendable time slot that of my daily commuting for this book. However the book grows in its depth as it nears its conclusion, and is enjoyable enough to leave an impression on the mind of the reader. This suggests that the book was a success overall.
My Rating: ****
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