Summary:
At its center are two sisters - Eri, a fashion model slumbering her way into oblivion, and Mari, a young student soon led from solitary reading at an anonymous Denny's toward people whose lives are radically alien to her own: a jazz trombonist who claims they've met before, a burly female "love hotel" manager and her maid staff, and a Chinese prostitute savagely brutalized by a businessman. These "night people" are haunted by secrets and needs that draw them together more powerfully than the differing circumstances that might keep them apart, and it soon becomes clear that Eri's slumber - mysteriously tied to the businessman plagued by the mark of his crime - will either restore or annihilate her.
My Thoughts:
I stumbled upon this book randomly in my library, and decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did. Murakami's writing style is so unique, and I don't think I have ever read a book written this way before. The narrator of the novel is not only telling the story from a third person perspective, but also talking directly to the reader.
Mari is such an interesting choice for a main character. She's quiet and mostly keeps to herself. Eri is quite literally sleeping her life away. Takahashi is the complete opposite of Mari; he talks a lot and often engages in conversations with people he does not know.
The mundaneness of this novel is oddly refreshing. Pretty much everything that takes place is what people deal with on a daily basis: a prostitute being abused by her own customer, a musician that no longer wants to play his instrument, running into acquaintances, etc. The only thing that was unrealistic was the odd time where Eri got transported into a TV screen? It makes absolutely zero sense and is never acknowledged but it's intriguing.
I kind of want a sequel. The end is not tied up, sort of like real life, and it makes the reader want more. I would also like to see Guo Dongli get justice. Her employers were given a picture of the attacker and they made threatening phone calls, but nothing comes of it by the end of the novel.
I'm definitely going to read more from this author.
My Rating: 5 stars
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