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Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche
 
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Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche (Paperback)

by Haruki Murakami (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 18.95
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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

On March 20, 1995, followers of the religious cult Aum Shinrikyo unleashed lethal sarin gas into cars of the Tokyo subway system. Many died, many more were injured. This is acclaimed Japanese novelist Murakami's (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, etc.) nonfiction account of this episode. It is riveting. What he mostly does here, however, is listen to and record, in separate sections, the words of both victims, people who "just happened to be gassed on the way to work," and attackers. The victims are ordinary people bankers, businessmen, office workers, subway workers who reflect upon what happened to them, how they reacted at the time and how they have lived since. Some continue to suffer great physical disabilities, nearly all still suffer great psychic trauma. There is a Rashomon-like quality to some of the tales, as victims recount the same episodes in slightly different variations. Cumulatively, their tales fascinate, as small details weave together to create a complex narrative. The attackers are of less interest, for what they say is often similar, and most remain, or at least do not regret having been, members of Aum. As with the work of Studs Terkel, which Murakami acknowledges is a model for this present work, the author's voice, outside of a few prefatory comments, is seldom heard. He offers no grand explanation, no existential answer to what happened, and the book is better for it. This is, then, a compelling tale of how capriciously and easily tragedy can destroy the ordinary, and how we try to make sense of it all. (May 1)Forecast: Publication coincides with the release of a new novel by Murakami (Sputnik Sweetheart, Forecasts, Mar. 19), and several national magazines, including Newsweek and GQ, will be featuring this fine writer. This attention should help Murakami's growing literary reputation.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The deadly Tokyo subway poison gas attack, perpetrated by members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult on March 20, 1995, was the fulfillment of every urban straphanger's nightmare. Through interviews with several dozen survivors and former members of Aum, novelist Murakami (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle) presents an utterly compelling work of reportage that lays bare the soul of contemporary Japan in all its contradictions. The sarin attack exposed Tokyo authorities' total lack of preparation to cope with such fiendish urban terrorism. More interesting, however, is the variety of reactions among the survivors, a cross-section of Japanese citizens. Their individual voices remind us of the great diversity within what is too often viewed from afar as a homogeneous society. What binds most of them is their curious lack of anger at Aum. Chilling, too, is the realization that so many Aum members were intelligent, well-educated persons who tried to fill voids in their lives by following Shoko Asahara, a mad guru who promised salvation through total subordination to his will. For all public and academic libraries. Steven I. Levine, Univ. of Montana, Missoula
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Customer Reviews

27 Reviews
5 star:
 (13)
4 star:
 (12)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, April 11 2004
By William Black "buddman921" (La Vergne, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
A book of interviews that interviews the survivors of the 1995 Tokyo gas attacks. This book interviews people on the trains, doctors, family members, and cult members to get to the bottom of what actually happened. Eventhough this book recaps alot of the same scenerios from different perspectives, it never gets boring. In fact, the opposite is true. I walked away from the book wanting more views, hoping maybe that I could make some sense of this tragedy. This book will deaply affect you and make you think of things a little differently. I have been a fan of Murakami's fiction for some time and was unsure of picking this title up. I am very glad that I did. Read this Book!
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4.0 out of 5 stars fascinating, Jun 26 2003
By Moses Alexander (Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews
Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, profoundly disturbed by the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway by religious cult Aum Shinrikyu, set out to discover not only why it happened, but what elements of the Japanese psyche "allowed" it to happen.

Murakami readily admits not being a social scientist, and the brief analytical sections make that abundantly clear. Not that he does a bad job in summation of the interviews, it is just that the interviews largely speak for themselves.

In addition to roughly 60 interviews with survivors of the gas attack, there are a dozen or so interviews with former or current members of Aum Shinrikyu. The combination of testimonies by these two groups of people (victims and cult members) makes for incredibly compelling reading.

Murakami's esteem as a writer is surely what even allowed this project to get off the ground. Most people would've probably ignored an average journalist or more likely, the average journalist wouldn't have been able to spend the time and financial resources necessary for a project of this magnitude.

These fascinating accounts should interest any student of religion, history, psychology or Japan.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Moving and informative, but lacking background, April 12 2003
By Uncle Al "Al" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
First, I must state that I am a huge fan of Murakami and consider some of his novels to be among the greatest literature of the twentieth century. "Underground" is a departure from his unique brand of fiction and is a unique brand of non-fiction. It recalls the Tokyo subway attacks of 1995 and the cult behind the attack, all from the point of view of victims and cult members.

My problem with the book is that I read it without enough knowlege of the attacks and the cult, Aum Shinrikyo. Victim's accounts mention names and events that meant nothing to me. A preface would have been helpful; perhaps to preserve the tone of the book, it could have been culled from different press accounts or trial testimonies.

What is excellent about this book is that Murakami's interviewing style is not like a reporter--he allowed all interviewees to review and edit their testimonies and if in the end any decided they didn't want their piece printed, he honored their wishes. What results is not lacking in impact.

The victim stories, particularly the woman who is partially paralyzed and brain-damaged, are moving.

The accounts of Aum members, on the other hand, are chilling. Even after all that happened (and the sarin attacks were only one of many of Aum's crimes), many of them still belong. Most of them just don't get that they were/are part of a destructive cult that used them as worker ants after robbing them of all their money.

The book also gives insight into the Japanese mindset. As an American with no close Japanese friends, I was a little taken aback at some of the common reactions and beliefs stated in the book, such as people who have breathed sarin and can barely see or walk, and yet their only thoughts are "I have to get to work."

A very good book, moving and informative. Two stars demerit because there is way too much that the author assumes the reader already knows. My guess is that the book was written for Japanese readers.

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 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A touching departure from Murakami's usual fare
I admit I was a bit hesitant to read non-fiction from this author because of my fondness for his fictional style, but a few pages in I found there was nothing to fear. Read more
Published on Oct 28 2002 by kalla0069

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sad book that Ends the Way Murakami Writes His Fiction
I was looking down my "to buy" list of books, mostly composed of just Murakami, Mishima, DeLillo and stuff like that, when I came across Underground. Read more
Published on July 16 2002 by Joseph Sanchez

4.0 out of 5 stars The Underground in All of Us
If you are looking for the end-all account of the sarin gas attack, you're not going to find it here. Read more
Published on May 30 2002 by vanishingpoint

4.0 out of 5 stars Two disparate perspectives, one remaining question . . .
Haruki Murakami's UNDERGROUND is a document of the people on both sides of Aum Shinrikyo's sarin gas attacks in the Tokyo subways in March 1995. Read more
Published on May 4 2002 by Christopher Nieman

4.0 out of 5 stars Real Japan
Like many readers, I bought this book because I was a fan of Murakami's fiction. His voice appears only in snippets (and no one smokes Hope Regulars), but I was still drawn in by... Read more
Published on April 9 2002 by Michael A. Cohn

4.0 out of 5 stars Not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this
I first heard about this book when NPR's This American Life read excerpts from it in one of their shows. It sounded fascinating. Read more
Published on Mar 17 2002 by Matthew O. Nugent

5.0 out of 5 stars Gas in the Subway
I'm a big fan of Haruki Murakami. I have read all of his translated novels except Sputnick Sweetheart. Read more
Published on Jan 10 2002 by Daitokuji31

4.0 out of 5 stars What does it mean to be alive?
I was surprised to learn that Murakami pondered this question when writing Underground because he did not explicitly ask the "Big Question" in this collection of... Read more
Published on Dec 21 2001 by Boris Bangemann

5.0 out of 5 stars Confusing, Horrific, Enthralling, Wondrous
Reading the accounts, I found myself confused. I didn't think this is what it would be like. Many interviews horrified me. Many moved me. Read more
Published on Nov 16 2001 by Stephen M. Vakil

4.0 out of 5 stars Particularly insightful in the post-9/11 world
Murakami's 'Underground' is really two collections of interviews, first of the victims of the Sarin attack, then from various cult members. Read more
Published on Oct 11 2001 by Matthew Phillips

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