What the f*ck? I slogged my way through slightly over 100 pages of this 436-page book before throwing it across the room. I had been willing to wanderWhat the f*ck? I slogged my way through slightly over 100 pages of this 436-page book before throwing it across the room. I had been willing to wander aimlessly from one baffling subplot to another because Murakami's brilliance is unconventional and he's one of my favorite writers. But on page 100-something, when he starts torturing cats in excruciating detail, that's when I had to call it quits. I'm pissed off. I'm sure if I could get past that inconvenient scene, Murakami would reward me again with a wild, philosophical, open-ended exploration of everything that matters. But I couldn't get past torturing the cats. Blah....more
What I enjoy so much about this book is also what I feel like complaining about. Its mystery and surrealism reads a lot like our daily experience鈥攖he What I enjoy so much about this book is also what I feel like complaining about. Its mystery and surrealism reads a lot like our daily experience鈥攖he version of it where we pay attention to our uneasiness and dare to probe. As always, Murakami explores existential questions with the simple, direct prose and galloping plot we find in the best detective stories. Our sense of the characters' psyches comes from observation of peculiar details, as if we are co-authors. We seem to put the pieces together by ourselves. What frustrates me about Sputnik Sweetheart in particular, and Murakami in general, is that these fearsome everyday mysteries of existence are explored so boldly, so surprisingly, and from so many angles, but in the end, the mystery remains intact. That's life, right? Frustrating as hell, but a helluva ride. ...more
Only made it through the preface and first essay. Do we eventually get tired of being so tirelessly inspired? Lamott is such a wonderful character, alOnly made it through the preface and first essay. Do we eventually get tired of being so tirelessly inspired? Lamott is such a wonderful character, always so warm and flawed and funny and utterly lovable鈥攃ertainly that hasn't changed. But neither has anything else changed, there's no sense of progression or challenge. There are totally quotable, marvelously written blurbs, but what holds it all together just reads like a lot of filler....more
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