Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

this book left me wondering why Murakami is such a celebrated author.

It focuses on Tsukuru Tazaki who was completely cut-off from his friend group. Years later he asks them why they cut him off: a false rape accusation. One of the girls in the group accused Tsukuru of raping her and while none of them believed that Tsukuru did that, they still abandoned him. He was depressed because they cut him off and had frequent and vivid sex dreams of the two girls in the group. The false rape accusation is what ultimately killed this book for me. Not only was it not necessary for the plot, it was also established that none of the other three friends believed that Tsukuru had done this. They cut him off nonetheless in order not to hurt her feelings. What does that tell a reader? That even if no one believes a woman, men have to suffer terrible consequences? I truly cannot think of another reason for this storyline.

The characters are stereotypical (a beautiful girl not knowing she’s beautiful, a chubby but funny girl that had full breasts at 16, a jock and a nerd) and flat with no development. The plot is basically over once we learn the reason they cut him off. All that is left then is a weird fixation on breasts and graphic sex dreams.

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namizaela's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

At first I didn't really care about any of the characters, especially Tsukuru Tazaki, because I was getting pretty tired of the classic Murakami protagonist (an emotionless 30 year old man who seems to have a taste for teenage girls). However, once the plot got going, I ended up wanting to find out more and naturally got drawn into the story. It ended up being pretty emotional, and I really liked the whole premise of this group of friends that got broken apart. Overall, not my least favorite Murakami book, but it's pretty low on the list.

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fraboo's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Okay, me rating a Murakami book 5 stars? Who would have thought? Why is no one surprised?
Yes, I may be a bit obsessed with his books, but like it's totally fine guys, it's fine.
So, I read another Murakami book and loved it, what's new? The new thing is that little (not so little, but bear with me) Colorless Tazaki Tsukuru built his little home in my heart, and lives there rent-free with Sara. And I don't mind.
In all honesty, I REALLY enjoyed this book, I had very high expectations going into this, and it did not disappoint. I actually sprinted through most of the book in two days, which for a Murakami book is quite a weird thing, but I felt so connected and drawn to this story that I couldn't help myself.
Honestly, it was self-care, and I don't regret it. Murakami is self-care for the soul. So if you haven't read anything by him yet, give him a try, it'll be worth it, I swear.

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raireads's review against another edition

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Got through the first three chapters and was finding it rather slow and without direction. Looked up the synopsis and plot summary elsewhere to see if it might improve but it did not sound particularly gripping.

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sketchbook's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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