Reviews
"Hypnotically fascinating. . . . A journey of immense magnitude, both physically. . . and, of course, metaphysically, as Tazaki attempts to make sense of his own inner world and the dreams that shape his other dimension. There are always other dimensions in Murakami's novels, and while they can seem impenetrable, they eventually feed into and help vivify the powerful personal dramas taking place on a purely human level. In the end, Murakami writes love stories, all the more tender and often tragic for their exploration of the multiple realities in which his lovers live." -- Booklist (starred review) "Murakami devotees will sigh with relief at finding his usual memes - the moon, Cutty Sark, a musical theme, ringing telephones, a surreal story-within-a story (this time about passing on death and possibly six fingers). That the novel sold over one million copies its first week in Japan guarantees - absolutely, deservedly so - instant best-seller status stateside as well." -- Library Journal (starred review) "One of Murakami's more memorable protagonists . . . a testament to the mystery, magic, and mastery of this much-revered Japanese writer's imaginative powers. Murakami's moxie is characterized by a brilliant detective-story-like blend of intuition, hard-nosed logic, impeccable pacing, and poetic revelations. . . . [He] reveals Tazaki's pilgrimage through stunning psychologically and philosophically charged passages that are alternately all too real and almost hallucinatory. . . Tazaki's quest restores him to the cycle of love, loss, and resurrection that is time's eternal flow in surprising, delightful, and sometimes frightening ways, none of which will be lost on lucky readers of this new masterpiece." -- Elle "A return to the mood and subject matter of the acclaimed writer's earlier work. . . . A vintage Murakami struggle of coming to terms with buried emotions and missed opportunities, in which intentions and pent up desires can seemingly transcend time and space to bring both solace and desolation." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Another tour de force from Japan's greatest living novelist. . . . Murakami writes with the same murky sense of time that characterized 1Q84 , but this book, short and haunting, is really of a piece with older work such as Norwegian Wood and, yes, Kafka on the Shore . The reader will enjoy watching Murakami play with color symbolism down to the very last line of the story, even as Tsukuru sinks deeper into a dangerous enigma. . . . A trademark story that blends the commonplace with the nightmarish in a Japan full of hollow men." -- Kirkus (starred review)
