Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Read of the month: "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his years of pilgrimage"


Murakami can never disappoint. At least not me.

I've been waiting for his latest novel ever since I finished 1Q84. I found London marketslavender fields and weekend burritos a bit more exciting than reading, but somehow managed to fit this brilliant 300-page story into my busy schedule. Murakami is that good.

You cannot pass a book called "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his years of pilgrimage", even if you're not a Murakami fan. The title is mysterious and inviting - and you know that the story would be just as weird. But leave the title - you cannot pass a book that looks like that. A true piece of art.

The story tells of an ordinary "colourless" Tsukuru Tazaki whose friends one day mysteriously announce that they no longer want to see him or talk to him or be friends with him any more. His life then stops. He doesn't know how to react, what to feel, how to handle the situation. As time passes, the wound grows deeper. Two decades later - he's never been able to understand exactly what went wrong. One day, with the help of someone, Tsukuru decides he can no longer live without knowing the whole truth. He tries to collect all the pieces of his past in order to carry on with his present.

Colorless Tsukuru's mystery is solved towards the end, but - as usual - a greater mystery remains unsolved. The novel feels like a puzzle and only when you read it you'll find out that there's a 
missing piece. 

Brilliant Murakami, as always. Easy to read - not so easy to understand.

P. S. - the limited english edition comes with a bunch of stickers inside. Could this get any more awesome?

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