A review by bbrassfield
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

5.0

Reading a Murakami novel is one of life's simple but great pleasures and Colorless Tsukuru is no exception. Throughout this book reminded me of his earlier South of the Border, West of the Sun (and to a lesser extent the beautiful Norwegian Wood) in that there is a tone of deep melancholy that runs through the story as we find Tsukuru in the present deeply scared from events in his adolescence that he scarce understands. It is only at the behest of a girl he cares deeply about that he decides to go in search of answers by revisiting those once closest to him from his past, for the first time in sixteen years. What follows is a voyage of discovery that will see Tsukuru journey from Tokyo to his hometown of Nagoya and then on to Finland. What he discovers is both heartbreaking and liberating, both for the character and for the reader. Along the way we are treated to some wonderful reflections on swimming (as a swimmer myself I really enjoy these) and the ephemeral nature of life, death and time itself. The name Tsukuru translates to build things or to create and in our story Tsukuru is an engineer who builds train stations and one of my favorite passages finds Tsukuru going to Shinjuku Station just to watch the whole thing function with the precision of a well-made timepiece. This passage made me wish we had a rail system in the US that could rival that of Shinjuku Station and others, not to mention a comprehensive rail system throughout the country that would make travel much easier for those who choose not to or cannot afford a car. I'm guessing Japan doesn't have the number of politicians bought and paid for by the oil and auto industry as we do here in the States, but I digress. As with all of Murakami's work, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage is not to be missed.