Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
‘Sputnik Sweetheart’ is a novel that works its way quietly through the mind, awakening the senses and forcing you to look at the world through a different window. Like many of Murakami’s characters, we are introduced to a set of young adults, who have somehow made it through the first stages of their life, but seem to be lost as to where they go from there.
Sumire, a young college drop-out with dreams of being a Japanese Kerouac meets Miu, a woman twice her age who she slowly begins to fall in love with. Confused by her reaction to Miu, Sumire turns to K, her college friend who harbours his own secret love for Sumire. Identifying Sumire as a young woman with no definable goal in life, Miu takes her under her wing and introduces her into the world of enterprise. Under K’s watchful gaze, Sumire begins to blossom into a different, more confident woman. This transformation however gives rise to other more serious problems, until one day Sumire mysteriously disappears and in her wake, strange truths begin to disturb the surface of everyone’s past.
Murakami’s chosen leitmotifs, symbols, and stories often seem totally disassociated, but in this novel they manage to fall like tetris-pieces into a beautiful pattern that is both disturbing and beautiful at the same time.
In this novel, the loss of ones soul, the ridding of the pubescent self and the haphazard journey into ‘becoming’ an adult is portrayed as lonely and full of painful sacrifices. We may have friends to keep us company along the way, but what purpose do they really serve? The title ‘Sputnik Sweetheart’ is well-chosen, as the haunting story of Laika (the poor dog who was sacrificed for scientific progression) returns again and again to hammer home how humans often sacrifice their closest life companions in order to understand more about the mystery of themselves.
After reading four Murakami books, I see that his writing stands out from the rest of his peers for its controlled simplicity. The man has a story to tell, and his job is to tell it as clearly as possible. When a person has a story, they don’t waste time embellishing the background. And so it is that everything he writes stands out fresh and bold and strong. I find that this is an advantage, as he never tires his readers, but leaves them with a set of impressions that linger long after the story is finished.
Related articles
- memories … (latenightthought.wordpress.com)
- Miu’s Vanished (ordinaryduck.wordpress.com)
- Crazy, I was crazy for trying… (tellafairytale.wordpress.com)
- sometimes = so me times. (marusakovacic.typepad.com)
- Review: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (therabbitbooks.wordpress.com)
- Let’s talk about sex (tellafairytale.wordpress.com)
I’ve never read any Murakami – I heard Wind-Up Bird Chronicle was a good place to start with his work, but would you say this one is better?
You are a very fast reader….as usual your review is superb!!!!
Hi Lisa,
I’ve not read Wind-up yet… it’s on my list though! I’d say Norwegian Wood (his debut) is his best novel and others think so too. If you do get a chance to read Wind-up I’d love to read your review about it though!
Thanks Selva, I try to read as much as I can and I’m quite surprised I got through about 8 books last month! That’s quite a lot for me. It’s hard to write reviews when you read things so fast. Before you know it, you’re onto the next book!
Pingback: It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? « Zee's Wordly Obsessions
I’m not very familiar with Japanese authors (the one I’m familiar with is Kazuo Ishiguro, and he’s more English than Japanese anyway), and from reading your review, I may be missing out on a really great author just because he never crossed my radar.
I think I’ll be adding this book to my to-do list or would you recommend another book to start with?
Hi there!
Yes, Murakami is an outstanding writer. I urge you to get some of his novels on your reading list. I personally started with Norwegian Wood his debut novel, and it was a dense but beautiful read. There was a lot of subtle ideas that came at you from nowhere, but I suppose that is a good place to start as any.
My favourite so far has to be ‘South of the Border, West of the Sun’. It’s an honest and unflinching account of male a midlife-crisis and the consequences of our own selfish actions. Absolutely beautiful.
If I had to write down a list with my favorite ten writers of the century Murakami will probably have a place in it, I know it’s different from all his other books but Norwegian Wood will always be my favorite because I read it when I was 16 and It left a mark