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abbyluvsfrogs444's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was a hard book to rate and review. I've been off and on reading this for almost two years. It's not that I didn't like it, I just always found something better to read. This was such a complicated book. I have complicated feelings about it. Toru was duller than a butter knife. And I hated how the only thing he seemed to like about Naoko was her body. I don't believe that he loved her. He lusted her. Big difference. It felt very objectifying whenever he talked about Naoko. The way mental health is talked about is...interesting. I'm not sure Murakami gets it. And I don't think he understands women either. Stick to writing about your dull, little men, sir and leave women out of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, and Grief
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Vomit, and Alcohol
samchase112's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Media — especially books and movies — about grief have hit me quite hard, affected me a lot, in the past year, and this novel is absolutely no exception. Intimate, nostalgic, it's a dreamy exploration of living and living with death. I'm not quite sure how exactly I feel about it, but I know that I do feel because of it. I've pasted some quotes below that I couldn't help dog-earing, but beyond that there's nothing more to say.
Death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life… Death exists — in a paperweight, in four red and white balls on a billiard table — and we go on living and breathing it into our lungs like fine dust.
Death was not the opposite of life. It was already here, within my being, it had always been here, and no struggle would permit to forget that.
I miss you awful sometimes, but in general I go on living with all the energy I can muster.
And I'm just going to keep on getting stronger. I'm going to mature. I'm going to be an adult. Because that's what I have to do. I always used to think I'd like to stay seventeen or eighteen if I could. But not anymore. I'm not a teenager anymore. I've got a sense of responsibility now. I'm not the same guy I was when we used to hang out together. I'm twenty now. And I have to pay the price to go on living.
By living our lives, we nurture death. True as this might be, it was only one of the truths we had to learn.What I learned from Naoko's death was this: No truth can cure the sorrow we feel from losing a loved one. No truth, no sincerity, no strength, no kindness can cure that sorrow. All we can do is see it through to the end and learn something from it, but what we learn will be no help in facing the next sorrow that comes to us without warning.
And when I awoke I was alone, this bird had flown…
Death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life… Death exists — in a paperweight, in four red and white balls on a billiard table — and we go on living and breathing it into our lungs like fine dust.
Death was not the opposite of life. It was already here, within my being, it had always been here, and no struggle would permit to forget that.
I miss you awful sometimes, but in general I go on living with all the energy I can muster.
And I'm just going to keep on getting stronger. I'm going to mature. I'm going to be an adult. Because that's what I have to do. I always used to think I'd like to stay seventeen or eighteen if I could. But not anymore. I'm not a teenager anymore. I've got a sense of responsibility now. I'm not the same guy I was when we used to hang out together. I'm twenty now. And I have to pay the price to go on living.
By living our lives, we nurture death. True as this might be, it was only one of the truths we had to learn.
And when I awoke I was alone, this bird had flown…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Rape, Vomit, and Medical content
dugfromthedirt's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Alcohol
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cancer, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Outing, and Abandonment
nadia's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I really liked the writing and was intrigued by the characters and their interactions with one another the whole way, but parts of this felt off and made me feel a little uncomfortable, especially the parts relating to women and sex. I've struggled to decide on how I want to rate this book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Vomit
bhagya's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, and Lesbophobia