Sumire and Miu, who is innocent of Sumire’s infatuation, go on a business trip together and end up on a Greek island for a holiday. Unfortunately, K has to suffer as Sumire needs his help in figuring it all out. She also develops writer’s block and can’t create one original sentence. Sumire questions her sexuality and wonders if these feelings are real. One day, Sumire tells K that she believes she has fallen in love for the first time in her life, with an enigmatic older woman called Miu who wants to give her a job as her assistant in her wine company.

K loves Sumire but she wants to keep the relationship platonic. Despite her literary ambitions and hours of completed work, Sumire struggles to create a coherent novel. She smokes too much, dresses in bizarre clothes such as “an oversized herringbone coat from a second-hand shop” and has a serious fascination with Kerouac. His best friend Sumire, a college dropout who marches to the beat of her own drummer, is bent on becoming a serious novelist. He is your typical Murakami protagonist as he is a well-meaning but unambitious young man. The narrator is known as K, a lonely and kind teacher living in Tokyo. All I can say is that the magic works.That’s the wonder of Murakami. Although it works in that it is captivating and energizes you as the reader, it is frustrating to try and explain its themes, its story, or even what the true meaning actually is.Sometimes it’s hard to explain why a novel is wonderful: although you can see what the writer is doing with narrative and style, it is nearly impossible to explain a book is so pleasurable. Despite being a faster read, I found this novel to contain many of the same themes that made my previous read so enjoyable.ĭescribing what makes a Murakami novel work is a difficult undertaking. Sputnik Sweetheart is the opposite at around 200 pages, easily one of his shorter works. My last Murakami review was 1Q84, his longest novel to date. I have several of his books on my shelves, all of them actually read. Since I first read The Windup-Bird Chronicle and Norwegian Wood a few years ago, I’ve had a rather deep fascination with Murakami.

When I see a particular work that I haven’t read from Haruki Murakami, it does generate this overwhelming need to have it by any means necessary. However, there are a select few that elicit excitement from yours truly. I’ve never liked the question who is my favorite author, mostly because it’s one I can’t answer.

Sputnik sweetheart book review