"I was thirty-seven then, strapped in my seat as the huge 747 plunged through dense cloud cover approach to the Hamburg Airport."And so begins Murakami's most beloved book (at least in Japan). It was this book, which is so unlike his others, that made him a star in Japan (causing him to seek asylum in Europe). Never truly knowing what you are about to embark on, I had no idea that this was a more normal book.
Overall it was compelling. A love story on many levels and a coming of age story. As usual his female characters seem to be a bit extreme in their personalities. When reading this I tried to determine if I knew anyone who had similar characteristics has his characters...I really could not. Although that didn't make the book any less interesting because really what books have memorable characters without these characters being over the top anyway?
The love story is of coursed balanced by plenty of death. At least 4 people pass along. Not for sure but I think suicide rates in Japan are pretty high (wikipedia says in 2008 Japan was 5th overall and first among females). A thoughtful quote, "By living our lives, we nurture death." In the end a good story...it even matches the Beatles song...a little bit...
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