SIXTY-NINE PB: Sixty Nine (Paperback)

Murakami (no relation to Wind-Up Bird author Haruki Murakami, by the way) is (or bloody well should be) best known in the west for writing the novel upon which Takashi Miike's most astounding film, Audition, is based. (It has recently been translated into English. Miike fans, rejoice.) He first came to the attention of the horror underground, though, with a book called Coin Locker Babies, which, as it turns out, is very difficult to find these days. In fact, I put in a request for it at the library and instead ended up with this odd, fun, rather beguiling little novel instead. (Coin Locker Babies is still, it seems, missing in action. I put in another request for it. We'll see what happens.)

Obviously autobiographical in nature (set in the town where urakami was born, with a protagonist the same age he was at the time, etc.), but one wonders if any writer this side of Fannie Flagg is capable of writing himself with such a jaundiced eye. Ken Yazaki is seventeen in 1969, utterly bored with school (and horrified at the idea of going on to med school, which he has been studying for), grabbing every attempt he can to latch himself into the American-inspired underground culture, and the most unreliable narrator this side of the guy sitting next to you at the lunch counter telling you about the five-foot bass that got away. In order to facilitate getting laid, he and his best friend, Iwase, decide they want to put on an avant-garde festival (Americans old enough to remember the sixties, think "happening" here); music, film, drama, art, poetry, you name it. To this end, Ken ropes in a serious, diplomatic chap named Adama, and the three of them set out to start making music, film, drama, etc. Along the way, they get caught up in the protest of the Vietnam War, leading to an idea to blockade the school.

Most of the time, you just end up shaking your head and wondering what is going through this kid's mind. But as the novel progresses (and this could be used as a textbook for the writing 101 tenet that in order for a book to work, the lead character must change in some way), we get more insight into what's going on in Ken's head. Whether that's because he's discovering it himself or just more willing to reveal his thoughts is left to the reader to decide. As we get more insight into Ken, the book becomes better, so the first few chapters may drag some. Stick with it, this is fun stuff. The plot is just scatterbrained enough to work (and to his credit, once Murakami gets Ken onto one track, he does tend to hold it to its logical conclusion), the characters are engaging, and the book ends up being a lot of fun. Not your usual coming of age tale. ***