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Almost Transparent Blue
 
 
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Almost Transparent Blue (Paperback)

by Murakami (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)

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2 new from CDN$ 65.75 9 used from CDN$ 3.01

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Product Description

Newsweek

"A Japanese mix of A Clockwork Orange and L'Etranger."


Washington Post

"Bugs and mucus, cheesecake and semen, rain and runways--all lovingly described."
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Front Cover | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

23 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (8)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most helpful customer reviews

 
4.0 out of 5 stars The unreal world of drugs, Jan 31 2004
By Neri "Neri" (Himeji, Japan) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Almost Transparent Blue (Paperback)
What happens when forms of escapism become one's whole exisitance. Takes one into the insipid world of a Japanese drug addict the group he flocks with, and the depraved world he lives in. Shows modern Japan the escapism pervading much of its culture today. The main character becomes so lost it takes a symbol of nature to see how hopeless ever being found is and the unnaturalness of his life. Drugs are boring but hard to escape which is why there are so many avid salesmen selling their foray into quicksand. What they can't return to is the natural world. A trip.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Poignant and disturbing, Jan 21 2004
By DONALD G. FOX "Santee Sioux" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Almost Transparent Blue (Paperback)
I found this story to be very sad but a great story about despair and the quest to find meaning in one's life. I'm not sure that the characters in the story ever find stability, but they do glimpse at authenticity at moments. The story is a bit disturbing by its sense of hopelessness and consistent passivity, but then most good existentialist (nihilistic?) tales are like that. I recommend this book because of the author's great ability to show us the inner emotions (or lack thereof) of his characters. It is a fast read (I read it in a night), but readers will most likely reread the ending a couple times and still won't be sure of it.
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2.0 out of 5 stars makes sex & drugs seem as boring as hell, Nov 20 2003
this book is monotonous, just scene after scene of drugs and puking and sex. it's shocking for the first page or two, then just banal.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars sex & drugs, sex & drugs, ... Japan as you never knew it
'Almost Transparent Blue' is very difficult to review. Although a translation, the book is well-written and the prose, such as it is, flows well. Read more
Published on Oct 24 2003 by lazza

4.0 out of 5 stars Trippy
When Almost Transparent Blue came out in the late seventies, it was an important piece of literature and an important milestone in Japanese fiction. Read more
Published on Oct 21 2003 by Charles E. Stevens

4.0 out of 5 stars I read it by mistake...and was pleasantly surprised...
Somebody told me I should read a book by Haruki Murakami...At the book store all of his works looked long and menacing...Then I saw Almost Transparent Blue... Read more
Published on Aug 8 2002 by Chris Boone

5.0 out of 5 stars Quiet Down!
You could skip the first half of this book and enjoy it much more. The beginning is basically just awkward sexuality. Read more
Published on Mar 21 2002 by R. Slattery

1.0 out of 5 stars not even transparent blue
If you enjoy books about ..[drugs], ...drinking too much ...and their friends buy this book.
Published on Jan 27 2002 by Craig Angus

2.0 out of 5 stars Really not very good
I couldn't finish it...I just hated everything about it, except the cover, which was very cool.
Published on Oct 12 2001 by H. J. Spivack

5.0 out of 5 stars Beware the Black Bird
I have read this book three times, and find something new about it every time I read it. I am also a fan of William S. Burroughs and Hunter S. Read more
Published on Sep 18 2001 by Daitokuji31

2.0 out of 5 stars Almost Transparent Blue
Very Bad translation - the problem with most Japanese and Latin American books are that most of the beauty is lost in the poor translation. Read more
Published on Feb 11 2001 by Pinaki Ghosh

3.0 out of 5 stars cool but done before
This is a cool book. I found his descriptions of his feelings towards the end of the novel more interesting than the sex and drugs. Read more
Published on Jan 8 2001 by blizzard

4.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Eastern Literature
Through the course of Almost Transparent Blue, Ryu whirls the reader into the Japanese subculture of the sixties. Read more
Published on Aug 27 2000 by Bill Smith

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