Book Review “Sputnik Sweetheart”

I have just finished the book “Sputnik Sweetheart” by Haruki Murakami. This book is the most moving book I have every read.

Publishing

This book is written by Haruki Murakami and translated from Japanese by Philip Gabriel. I was originally sceptical that a translated book would loose a lot of feeling and context. Especially since the Japanese culture is so different from the our western culture I was afraid that the prose would be lost in the translation. I could not have been more wrong!

Synopsis

This book touches on true friendship, homosexual awakening, extra marital affairs and self awareness.

The narrator, who does not name himself, is in love with a long term friend Sumire. Sumire is a compulsive writer, poring out her thoughts, emotions and ideas in written form all the time. However she can never complete a novel, never able to create a beginning or end. Just events written in beautiful, thoughtful prose. However Sumire sees the story teller as a true friend and has no desire for him.

During a wedding reception Sumire fell in love. “An intense love, a veritable tornado sweeping across the plains – flattening everything in its path, tossing things up in the air, ripping them to shreds, crushing them to bits….. In short, a love of truly monumental proportions.” He goes on to tell us that the object of her desire was a woman 17 years her senior, called Miu.

Sumire ends up working for Miu and travelling through Europe with her on a business trip. On an Island in Greece Sumire disappears like “a puff of smoke”. Mui invites the narrator to Greece to assist her in locating Sumire. While there we learn more about Mui, Sumire and the narrator, this is done through a series of events and conversations in the most clever and beautiful way.

I will not tell you more, or if they find Sumire, but I can tell you that they find out a lot about themselves.

Impression

This is a small book, less than 230 pages, but no lightweight when it comes to depth of story and impact on your emotions.

As I said this is the the most moving book I have ever read. I started reading this book last week and finished it on the plane back down to Canberra. I had the lady on the plane ask me if I was alright as I actually shed tears towards the end of the book. This is not usual for me, just ask my wife, such was the strength of the emotion in this book.

I enjoy Japanese movies, both animated and live action, and am very used to the practice of introspection that many Japanese movies revel in. I enjoyed the authors ability to show us the inner mental workings of all the characters, without stopping the story or loosing you in detail.

Truly I would recommend this book to anyone, it is a wonderfully crafted piece of prose that tugs at your heart strings and introduces you to three people you will not soon forget. I am going to buy additional novels from Haruki Murakami.