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

mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

  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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