Review: Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami

Goodreads rating: 3.83/5

My rating: 3/5

Synopsis: Narrated by K, he tells the story about Sumire's and his unrequited love. Sumire is in love with a married woman that she works for that happens to be seventeen years older than her, named Miu, while K is in love with Sumire. When Sumire and Miu go on a business trip, Miu calls K despite never having met him before. Miu tells K that Sumire is missing and that he should travel to a small Greek island immediately to help with the search.

I almost don't want to write this review because I know I'm going to receive a lot of hate from Haruki Murakami fanatics. I don't have much to say about this book so I will break it down to, "What I liked about the book", "What I did not like about the book", "Would I recommend it?".

What I liked about the book:

This is my first Murakami read and I have no idea why but I expected his writing style to be complicated. I've heard only good things about him and I thought there must be something unique about his writing. I was wrong. I'm not saying his writing is not unique, just that it was so straightforward, I was able to listen to the 7-hour audio book whilst doing other tasks like playing a game on my phone or having a meal. It was so easy to understand and I particularly appreciated that after having read some dense books by Stephen King, whose writing style is quite advanced for me. Murakami's writing was also pleasant, it felt like I was listening to someone tell the story. I mentioned this to a friend, it felt like the book was written to listen to rather than to read because there were parts of the narration that went something like, "I'm getting the series of events mixed up, let me get back to...", something like that. It just sounded like someone getting confused in his own story-telling, it was so natural. I also liked the character development, I could feel how much K cared for Sumire, to the point that he'd answer her nonsensical questions when she'd call a little before dawn after a long and tiring day, while he was already asleep. That too, without any irritation. I also got a good sense of Sumire's insanity. Yes, she seemed insane to me while Miu exuded finesse. Another odd thing that I liked about this book was that the story was not about anything particularly important but it still kept me interested throughout.

What I did not like about the book:

I did not like the mystery behind K's identity, why couldn't he at least have a name? At one point, I wondered if he was Murakami himself. Also, the suspense was overdone and annoying. The part when Miu called K to tell him about the missing Sumire, it took such a long time for Miu to get around telling him about what happened. I literally screamed while listening, "JUST TELL HIM ALREADY!!!". I think that's probably because it was the only element of mystery in this book, other than one other event that happened to Miu in her past. Speaking of which, the significant incidents were very other worldly or maybe psychological, I can't expand on this without spoiling the story for people who haven't read it but for example, the life altering accident that happened to Miu had no explanation for it later on. And there's the ending, there was no report for what happened. I utterly hate books that leave the reader thinking, "So what the hell happened?". If you're gonna dish up mystery, at least serve it up with dessert, don't just leave me hanging.

Would I recommend this book?

Sumire's and K's unrequited love is like a triangle with corners that don't meet. Other than the hapless love story, there was a hint of erotica. I have no aversion toward erotica but I obviously can't recommend it to young readers. At the end of the story, I questioned, "What the hell did I just read?". Other than the story being about a fruitless romance, it was about a missing girl with no explanations as to what happened to her. So what exactly did I read about? The story felt incomplete, I didn't hate it completely but I would not recommend it. I'm sorry, Murakami fans. Would I read another Murakami book? Yes, I want to know what the hype is all about, perhaps by reading something rated higher on Goodreads.