Book Review | ‘Almost Transparent Blue’ by Ryu Murakami

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Anthony Swofford, book review, Coin Locker Babies, Haruki Murakami, in the miso, japanese, Japanese literature, Miso Soup, ryu murakami

Almost Transparent Blue by Ryu Murakami

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is a story about a bunch of disaffected Japanese youths who waste their time with gratuitous sex, drugs and violence. ‘Almost Transparent Blue’ is the other Murakami’s debut novel which was received to critical acclaim and won the coveted Akutagawa prize. It is also one of the must read books on the 1001 list. This is not an easy book to read and I’m sorry to say that it’s not as good as ‘In the Miso Soup’, although it has its moments. Favourite bits include the opening chapter and the bit where they are at the American air base during the thunder and lightning sequence.

The strongest aspect of the book is its gross imagery and the unfathomable sadness of lost youth. The characters (of which the narrator shares the same name as the author) are all stuck in their own desolate vacuum of apathy, moving from one moment to the next in a haze of indifference. Murakami’s image of post-war Japan drags the reader down the dark alleyways of an insular and unyielding culture. His characters allow us to penetrate the stereotypical lacquerwork of strong Japanese moral values and gaze at the ‘other japan’, the one that lives side-by-side with Western ideals. This drug-like cocktail is at once fascinating and repulsive.

Maybe it’s just me, but there were times when this novel didn’t make any sense, but then again this is a ‘mood heavy’ book, and there is not a pronounced plotline, so the narrative sort of echoes the tumultuous lives of decadent Japanese youths. This book reminds me of ‘Exit A‘ by Anthony Swofford which had a better storyline and is also set around an American airbase in Japan. Both novels contain a central theme of degeneration and crime, but ‘Almost Transparent Blue’ is decidedly more corrosive and far more bold than Swofford’s offering.

This is an R-rated book so beware. There are many alarming scenes but nevertheless it is a daring exploration into wordsmithery by Murakami. Considering it was his first novel, (and written when he was still only a student!) it deserves some applause for its pluck. Can’t wait to read ‘Coin Locker Babies‘!

For more on Ryu Murakami, see my review of ‘In the Miso Soup’.

Rating: 2/5 stars.

View all my reviews

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Book Review | ‘In The Miso Soup’ by Ryu Murakami

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Bret Easton Ellis, Frank, Haruki Murakami, in the miso soup, japanese horror story, Patrick Bateman, ryu murakami, Tokyo

In The Miso Soup by Ryū Murakami

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“Murakami channels Brett Easton Ellis in this Japanese psycho-thriller with his version of Patrick Bateman. Stockholm syndrome never felt so creepy!” – Zee, The Observer

Haha, only joking. If I were a hip, well-paid reviewer for say, The Guardian or The Times (I know, I know, delusions of grandeur!) this is what I’d want the publishers to display on the back-cover. What I’d also demand is that the book should come with a warning label; the kind they put on CD’s for explicit language. Not that anyone would actually heed it. If anything, it would serve as a homing beacon for spotty emo-goth teenagers to revel in this ‘Japanese’ blood-fest.

I decided to read this after I discovered it was Haruki Murakami‘s favourite author (no relation) but quickly realised that Ryu Murakami had little influence over the former’s writing. ‘In the Miso Soup’ is more in the calibre of Ellis’s ‘American Psycho’, but without the density of long, tedious descriptions of designer-wear. In fact, I’d like to call this a Japanese view on the dangers of Western people; Americans in particular. Murakami seems to have taken the classic American horror elements and placed them in a Japanese setting. Ryu then goes on to create some non-judgmental characters like Kenji and his girlfriend, and just lets the whole thing play out on the garish, neon-lit underworld of Tokyo’s red-light district.

The story centres around Kenji, a ‘tour-guide’ for foreigners aiming to make their way through the sleazy night-life of the city. One night he happens upon American tourist Frank, who hires Kenji for this purpose. But right off, Kenji knows that something is amiss. His feelings only grow stronger as Franks strange behaviour leads Kenji to assume that he might be the serial-killer-at-large that’s been rocking Japanese headlines for the past few days. It all comes to a head when Kenji realises the only way to deal with a man like this, is to try to understand him, and even sympathise.

I found the narrative to be of a sweet and sour mix that is so intrinsic to Japanese story-telling. There were moments of sheer horror, that were later tempered by humour and even pensive reflection. Frank is portrayed as a lardy, pasty, pale psychotic who, despite all his madness has some sort of coherent method to his murders. Like Bateman, there is a side of him that is completely inaccessible, his kill-zone area that operates outside of his will. Personally, I found him more realistic and relatable than Kenji, but was equally relieved that I couldn’t/ didn’t have access to that part of him. In essence, we realise that Frank’s solitude is probably one of the major factors of his being this way:

“… The type of loneliness where you need to keep struggling to accept a situation is fundamentally different than the sort you know you’ll get through if you just hang in there”

As slimy and repulsive as Frank is (almost reptilian with his dead-pan expression) there is also a very human part to him that Murakami did well to bring out in the end. The chemistry between him and Kenji displays ‘stockholm syndrome’ at its best. In general, the Japanese do not treat horror the same way as the West. Which means they come up with more original material to scare by. The scare factor here wasn’t so much the bloodbath, the disseminated school-girl prostitutes or Frank himself, but the fact that Kenji relates to Frank far more deeply than he, or we, could ever imagine. It brings home the fact that serial-killers aren’t a world away from us. They were, perhaps, once ‘normal’. But sometimes something happens somewhere, the normal becomes singed, burned or corrupted. That plastic layer that is clamped over our sensitivity might become unhinged, and the poison of life gets under it; sullying the way we see the world around us.

Frank comes across as one such tragedy. He knows what he is, and confides in Kenji, tries to tell him what and why he does things. The effort alone is humbling really. What ultimately happens is that the two men learn that they are more similar than they think they are:

“Nobody, I don’t care what country they’re from, has a perfect personality. Everyone has a good side and a side that’s not so good …. What’s good about Americans, if I can generalize a little, is that they have a kind of openhearted innocence. And what’s not good is that they can’t imagine any world outside of the States, or any value system different from their own. The Japanese have a similar defect…”

It is passages like this that really helped gel together what Murakami was thinking about. The divide between East and West, their methods and ways of doing things become a metaphor. Kenji and Frank meet, East and West collide. Like the left and right sides of a brain, the conscious and unconscious, they probe and attack each other until they come to an understanding. The inaccessibility of Japanese culture has been the subject of many novels and movies. ‘Lost in Translation’ is a firm favourite of mine in this respect. Tokyo city could be a major culture shock and a source of alienation if you don’t know what it’s all about. It’s a bewildering place, but not as bewildering as perhaps, the inner world of Frank the killer. Murakami manages to unite two opposing cultures who are both fascinated and terrified of the other, through some impressive role reversals.

In some respects, Kenji was more American than Frank and Frank more Japanese than Kenji. Both characters see their cultural ‘self’ in the other; and to them, it doesn’t make sense. If that’s not pure genius, then I don’t know what is.

View all my reviews

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Hello Japan! November Mini – Challenge…

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After Dark, akira, anime, gackt, ghibli museum, ghost in the shell, hanami, hard boiled wonderland and the end of the world, Haruki Murakami, in the miso soup, japan, okinawa, ryu murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart, Tokyo, tokyo tower, wind up bird chronicles

NOVEMBER MINI-CHALLENGE: Five Questions

Hello Japan! is a monthly mini-challenge focusing on Japanese literature and culture. hosted by ‘In Spring It Is The Dawn’. Each month there will be a new task which relates to some aspect of life in Japan. Anyone is welcome to join in any time. You can post about the task on your blog. Or if you don’t have a blog, you can leave a comment on the Hello Japan! post for the month. Everyone who completes the task will then be included in the drawing for that month’s prize.   

This month’s challenge is a good one. We get to answer five questions relating to Japan and Japanese culture. Here goes!

1. My favourite Japanese tradition is manga because:

I just love art, and manga is probably the first contact I ever had with Japanese culture. A person can learn so much about a country and it’s people by studying its various art forms and manga is so uniquely Japanese that no other culture can copy it. Cult classics like ‘Akira’ made me a firm fan of cyberpunk literature and made me more aware of the dangers of technology, social isolation, corruption and power. This, and a wonderfully complex storyline between Tetsuo and Kaneda led me to look for similar stories like ‘Ghost in the Shell’.   

2. The best Japanese movie I’ve seen this year is:

 

‘Zatoichi’ starring Takeshi ‘Beat’ Kitano. It’s an excellent version of the blind swordsman who comes into a small Japanese town to kick gangster butt. It also stars the awesome Tadanobu Asano. It’s set during the feudal Edo period. It has ronins, geishas and lots of great sword-fighting, so its well worth a look at if you get the chance.

3. What Japanese author(s) or book(s) have you enjoyed that you would highly recommend to others?

Nothing comes close to Haruki Murakami. 2010 has been a good year for reading his books as I’ve got to know him better as a writer. I would recommend ‘South of the Border, West of the Sun’, ‘After Dark’ and ‘Sputnik Sweetheart’ as an introduction to his work. I am currently reading ‘Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World’ and ‘The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles’. So far, they are both turning out to be excellent!  

4. What is something Japanese that you’d like to try but haven’t yet had the chance?

I’d love to try Miso Soup ever since I read the novel ‘In The Miso Soup’ by Ryu Murakami. I would also love to try on the traditional Japanese costume and go through the tea ceremony.  I’m a teaholic, and Japan is THE place to do some serious tea-tasting! Just thinking about it is putting a smile on my face!

5. You’re planning to visit Japan next year. Money is not a concern. What is on the top of your list of things you most want to do?

 

 

This is a VERY long list. First off I’d probably stay a few months (considering how long the journey is) so I’d start off with ‘Hanami’ or the cherry blossom viewing in March. It would be a perfect time to go as I’d also celebrate my birthday there. We’d pack our bento lunches and go sit in the park with all the other watchers. Then I’d visit Tokyo’s various districts: Ginza (shopping), Akihabara (electronics), Harajuku etc and some of the old temples that are located in the capital. Something tells me praying there would do me some good. There is also the Ghibli Museum I’d like to see. It’s very hard to get tickets, but because I’m such a fan of Ghibli films it’s an absolute must. I’d also go and visit the Tokyo Tower. I heard that young couples go there and sit under it. If you stay long enough and the lights go out, then its a sign that you’ll stay together forever.

Finally, towards June (I said I was staying a few months), I’d go over to the Okinawa islands as I’ve heard it’s a sub-tropical paradise. A bit of swimming, some fishing; perfect. Nothing like rounding up my Japan pilgrimage by visiting the birth place of my Japanese rock hero Gackto-san!

That’s my questions answered. What about you?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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fear and loathing, Haruki Murakami, hunter s thompson, in the miso soup, Its monday what are you reading?, liz jensen, meme, rum diary, ryu murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart, steig larrson, the girl with the dragon tattoo, the rapture, wind up bird chronicles

Welcome to ‘It’s Monday, What Are You Reading?’, a weekly meme initially hosted by Sheila at the ‘Book Journey – One Persons Journey Through a World of Books’. This is a great way of letting people know what I’ve been reading over the past week and what I’ve got lined up for this week.

I’m sorry to say it’s been a slow one this past week, but it’s a good thing because I tend to take time over the books I like. So, here’s a list of books I completed, am still reading/ listening to/ look  forward to reading this week:

BOOKS READ:
1. Sputnik Sweetheart – Haruki Murakami

I’m quite surprised by how quickly I get through Murakami’s books. They are so reader friendly! This one took no time at all. I think next up is ‘The Wind-up Bird Chronicles’. Click here to read my review. 

2. In The Miso Soup – Ryu Murakami
Another amazing read, this time by Ryu Murakami, who just happens to be Haruki Murakamis favourite author. Hmm. I wonder why? lol! Again, a quick read, not because I wanted to get through it quickly; but because the suspense was so masterfully engrossing. Review coming soon!

CURRENTLY READING:
1. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A savage Journey into the Heart of the American Dream – Hunter S. Thompson
Taking it easy with this one, nice slow doses, no sudden movements… after all, you must have your wits about you if you are to venture into Gonzo journalism at its finest! One toke over the line…

2. The Rapture (Audiobook) – Liz Jensen
Another one I’m taking my sweet time with. It’s been a while since I listened to a story, and I’m finding it quite enjoyable, if not a bit too tedious at times. WIth books, you can scan a page if nothing worthwhile is happening, but with audio, you have to listen to every single word. It’s a good thing that my version comes with three different narrator speeds. I’m listening to it in ‘Chipmunk mode’. Hilarious! Watch out for the review, it’s going to be one helluva breakdown.

 BOOKS TO READ:
1. The Rum Diary – Hunter S. Thompson
I’m going full-throttle through as many Gonzo books as I can. It’s my version of buying the ticket and taking the ride. I’ll probably end up reading a biography of him too. Anyone recommend a good one?

2. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles – Haruki Murakami
I want to read a fat book by Murakami. I’m fed up with the thin ones. This will give me more food for thought.

3. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson
After reading an excellent description of the main character (a kick-ass girl who’d give Trinity a run for her money) I decided it’s high time I started reading the trilogy. And besides, I saw the movie trailer and it looks absolutely stunning! 

Well, that’s my little list for now, I’d love to hear what other people have been reading the past week and what they’d recommend.