Customer Reviews

Sputnik Sweetheart

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The first novel I read by Murakami was Hard-boiled Wonderland', followed by Dance Dance Dance, Wild Sheep Chase and Wind-up Bird Chronicles, all of which I enjoyed immensely and found well-written (translated) and intriguing. I found many of the elements he used - young girls, wells, cooking, bars ' to be interesting devices, almost symbols or metaphors, and his themes to be refreshing and, at times, brave. I have just read Sputnik Sweetheart ' a little late, because I have been growing tired of the repetition and self-indulgence I am finding in later novels ' I found Kafka on the Shore disappointing ' I am not personally aware of, nor able to believe in, another realm of consciousness that operates in the physical world in which I live (for example). To be concise, at page 80 I asked myself when is this self-indulgence and repetition of characters, motifs etc going to end and the novel start? I think Murakami has grown tired and is getting stale. Time for a rest. In many ways I wish I had stopped reading him after the first four novels, which I still love and admire.

This is the second novel I have read by Haruki Murakami, and Sputnik Sweetheart has many of the key ingredients of his other works. The narrator is a benign twenty-something male. The girl he is sweet on disappears without a trace. An enigmatic older woman, with a bizarre past, helps him look for her. Greek islands, the idea of escaping into wells and several cat stories make an appearance.
But what made this book different was the real feelings of the characters. They were raw, vunerable and exposed. The three main characters made up a loose love triangle. They were each in love, concerned and anxious about it. Wondering if they should make a move. Confused about their identities and the meaning of life. Living with the thought "if only........"
This book stirred up a lot of thought in me. The discussion of themes like identity, happiness, and purpose in life was really moving. If this is your first Murakami book, you will love it. For those who are familiar with his work, you may have to simply ignore the fact that Murakami uses a character template to display his brilliant themes.

Don't get me wrong - I love Haruki Murakami. I have noticed, however, in reading his works, that the style and tone and themes are often too much alike, and this grows slightly tiresome after a while. How many books can a person write about people disappearing without a trace? In short, the narrator of Sputnik Sweetheart, a schoolteacher, is in love with a strange girl called Sumire who only desire to be a writer. Sumire realizes early on that she has fallen in love with a sophisticated older businesswoman, Miu. Miu gives Sumire a job, and that is where the changes and complications ensue.

Interesting ideas in this book include Murakami's brief exploration of the idea of being "attentive". When the main character/narrator had an affair with an older woman earlier in his life, he was "instructed" in how to go about being with a woman when the woman used the analogy of being a good driver versus an attentive driver. The woman insists that being a good driver does not matter as long as the driver is "attentive" and alert. The narrator began to see the connection to his sexual being... being alert and attentive to the things around him. "Not prejudging things, listening to what's going on, keeping your ears, heart and mind open."

Another interesting idea is the idea of your existence being split into two parts. One of the main characters, Miu, felt herself split in half one night... one side had all her sexual desire, her youth. The part the character in the book was left with was a woman with no sexual desire, who held everyone at arm's length and whose hair had turned white overnight. The narrator explores the idea of what is on "the other side"... can people cross over between these two existences?

Finally, Murakami writes, "So that's how we live our lives. No matter how deep and fatal the loss, no matter how important the thing that's stolen from us-that's snatched right out of our hands-even if we are left completely changed, with only the outer layer of skin from before, we continue to play out our lives this way, in silence. We draw ever nearer to the end of our allotted span of time, bidding it farewell as it trails off behind. Repeating, often, adroitly, the endless deeds of the everyday. Leaving behind a feeling of immeasurable emptiness."

I have given these ideas a great deal of thought. No matter the impression we have left nor how intense the experiences we shared with someone, when circumstances change, you lives are separate and you go on like nothing has happened. This is a theme that re-emerges in life multiple times.

In his sparely-told novel, Sputnik Sweetheart (2001), Haruki Murakami gives a compelling picture of loneliness. The novel has three major characters. First, there is the nameless young male narrator of the story who has recently graduated from college and is teaching school. The second major character is Sumire, a young woman who has dropped out of college and is struggling to become a writer. She is under the influence of Jack Kerouac and the American beats. The third major character is Miu, a woman in her late 30's who appears when the tale begins to be a polished, highly successful career woman.

The story is based upon a love triangle. The young man narrating the story has long been in love with Sumire. But Sumire views him as a friend and a confidante. She is not interested in a physical relationship with him or, apparently, with any man. When Sumire meets Miu, the two become friends and Sumire develops a strong physical attraction to Miu. The plot of this story develops and then disentangles this love triangle.

For me, the strongest part of the story was the portait of the narrator's love for Sumire, together with the attendant emotional and physical pain resulting to him from Sumire's lack of interest in a sexual relationship. The characters in this book, the primary characters as well as the secondary characters, are fragmented and lonely. Given that deep intimacy with another person generally involves a physical, sexual component and a component based upon friendship and interests, the characters in this book exhibit at most one or the other. They seem unable to combine both. They also don't know what they want and don't understand themselves very well.

In my opinion, a story such as Murakami's begs for a spiritual understanding. The novel addresses the nature of loneliness, of desire and frustration, of rejection, and self-knowledge. It shows, I think, how individuals need to develop compassion for themselves and for others, an understanding of desire and of loss, and self-awareness. I think these themes are implicit in the book althought Murakami does not preach or push them. The reader is left to think them through from the story.

The characters in the novel don't fully bear the weight Murakami places upon them. I felt disengaged, particularly from the two women, Miu and especially Sumire. I had trouble with the relationship between the narrator and Sumire in that it is predicated upon Sumire's physical rejection of the narrator and her attraction for a woman.

I particularly enjoyed the role of music in this story. Murakami displays a love and knowledge of music which I found inspiring. We are told that Sumire was named after a Mozart song set to a Goethe poem after her mother heard a recording of it by Schwartzkopf and Geisking. The song is set to beautiful music but tells the story of a callous young woman. It is a symbol of the story as a whole. (The book also discusses the nature of symbolism.) The discussion of this song, made me want to go out and find the Schwartzkopf-Giesking performance, which I did.

Music also plays a role in Miu's life. She had aspired to be a concert pianist but abandoned the piano after a serious emotional shock. There are moving discussions in the book of piano music and the joy of piano playing. There is more than a suggestion that the joy of making music is somehow tied closely with the joy of partaking in human sexuality.

This book is painful at times. It reads quickly and well and I found myself reflecting upon it long after I had finished the novel.

Haruki Murakami's "Sputnik Sweetheart" (2001) is a novel with themes of rejection, frustration, and lack of self-knowledge. There are three primary characters, a nameless young man who is the narrator, Sumire, a young woman who aspires to be a writer, much taken with Kerouac and the beats, and Miu, an apparently successful and polished career woman in her late 30's. The novel involves a romantic triangle between these three characters. The narrator is in love with Sumire, but Sumire is romantically uninterested in him or in any man. Sumire instead finds herself deeply attracted to Miu, whom she meets at a party. The plot of the novel consists of the working out of the triangle between Sumire, Miu, and the narrator.

The slender,spare story of this novel is greatly enhanced by the many ways in which Murakami uses musical themes. Sumire was named after a song by Mozart with a text by Goethe which her mother heard on a recording by Elizabeth Scwartzkopf and Walter Giesking. This song, I found, is Mozart's "Das Veilichen", K. 475 (the violet) the only song Mozart set to a Goethe poem. It tells the story of a beautiful young woman who does some callous things. I think the song is a symbol (another key concept in this novel) of the story as a whole. It is good to read a book that can make creative and appropriate references to Mozart and music -- not to speak of Charles Peirce's philosophy of signs and symbols.

Miu aspired to be a concert pianist before an event occured which changed her life. There are outstanding discussions in this book of music and of the joy of playing the piano. The love of music is tied closely in this book to the welcoming and acceptance of one's human sexuality.

There is a spiritual theme I find implicit throughout this book which might have been more fully developed. The book led me to think about the nature of human desire, about the relationship between sexuality and intimacy, and about frustration and unhappiness resulting from the lack of self-knowledge. The characters in this book are all lonely and all exhibit deep sexual frustration. The exploration of these issues suggests a consideration of the nature of desire, sexuality, change, and self-awareness that are profoundly explored in many religous traditions.

I didn't find the characters in this book fully bore the weight Murakami put upon them. The male narrator for me was the only appealing character in the book. Even here, I had trouble getting involved with a young man who remains deeply obsessed with a woman who rejects him physically in favor of a woman. Miu left me cold, and I didn't like Sumire. The book reads quickly and well, and is highly evocative in its spare prose. The book stayed me and stimulated by thought and reflection long after I had finished it.

Huruki Murakami is one of the best authors out today. If you haven't read anything by him then I suggest Norweigan Wood. I think it is his best although all his novels are great including this one. You won't be disappointed with this purchase.

A weird and wonderful tale told by a narrator we later find who is known only as "K". His friend Sumire, meets an older woman, falls in love with her, then vanishes from a Greek island. It's unusual and leaves the reader with "What just happened?" question in his/her mind.

I am still uncertain I grasped all the underlying meanings and intentions of Haruki Murakami in this poetic story but know that this was a unique read; one which requires time and thought in order to really "get into" and enjoy. The story takes several turns and its focus shifts between its three characters.
The story starts with the description of Sumire, a bit of a lost soul who wants to become a writer. Sumire writes all the time, but something is lacking. Her male friend, the narrator of the story whose name is never revealed, encourages her that "a story is not something of this world. A real story requires a kind of magical baptism to link the world on this side with the world on the other side..."
what he really means is that Sumire needs more time, more life experience, maybe more pain in order to breath life into the story; Sumire however, seems to remain on the search for the "other side". When Sumire falls in love with Miu, a much older business woman, her life undergoes a tremendous change and suddenly she is no longer able to write. As if somehow the focus of her life has shifted... The voice of the narrator who has been telling us about Sumire changes its tone and we now understand that he is an active participant in the story - he is in love with Sumire but understands that his love for this meaningful and special soul companion will not be returned. This is the pain he has to suffer.
The story reaches its climax in the Greek island where Sumire and Miu have gone for vacation. One night the narrator receives a telephone call from Miu who begs him to come to the Island at once.
It is never clear who is the real hero of the story as the tale shifts from one character to another and all characters are endearing in the same tender vulnerable way. Maybe the male narrator, speaking in its own voice is the one who touches your heart the most but you can feel the pain and lonliness of all characters and their endless search for something which is impossible to get.. at least not on this side.
The story is definitely surprising - starting from its special name and characters and follow its intriguing tale, touching the real and the supernatural in a way that is in total harmony and agreement with all the book.
Sputnik Sweetheart deals with the presence and absence of people and how absence can be present in every nuance of ones life. I think this is also intended in the name of the story and the explanation given in the preface to the term "Sputnik" ending in the words: "but the satellite was never recovered"...which should have given me the first clue to what is about to happen, one of the many clues and signs that Murakami will give along the book. The book by the way is not depressing as it may sound. Sad and poetic yet you can feel a life force running underneath.

I am still uncertain I grasped all the underlying meanings and intentions of Haruki Murakami in this poetic story but know that this was a unique read; one which requires time and thought in order to really "get into" and enjoy. The story takes several turns and its focus shifts between its three characters.
The story starts with the description of Sumire, a bit of a lost soul who wants to become a writer. Sumire writes all the time, but something is lacking. Her male friend, the narrator of the story whose name is never revealed, encourages her that "a story is not something of this world. A real story requires a kind of magical baptism to link the world on this side with the world on the other side..."
what he really means is that Sumire needs more time, more life experience, maybe more pain in order to breath life into the story; Sumire however, seems to remain on the search for the "other side". When Sumire falls in love with Miu, a much older business woman, her life undergoes a tremendous change and suddenly she is no longer able to write. As if somehow the focus of her life has shifted... The voice of the narrator who has been telling us about Sumire changes its tone and we now understand that he is an active participant in the story - he is in love with Sumire but understands that his love for this meaningful and special soul companion will not be returned. This is the pain he has to suffer.
The story reaches its climax in the Greek island where Sumire and Miu have gone for vacation. One night the narrator receives a telephone call from Miu who begs him to come to the Island at once.
It is never clear who is the real hero of the story as the tale shifts from one character to another and all characters are endearing in the same tender vulnerable way. Maybe the male narrator, speaking in its own voice is the one who touches your heart the most but you can feel the pain and lonliness of all characters and their endless search for something which is impossible to get.. at least not on this side.
The story is definitely surprising - starting from its special name and characters and follow its intriguing tale, touching the real and the supernatural in a way that is in total harmony and agreement with all the book.
Sputnik Sweetheart deals with the presence and absence of people and how absence can be present in every nuance of ones life. I think this is also intended in the name of the story and the explanation given in the preface to the term "Sputnik" ending in the words: "but the satellite was never recovered"...which should have given me the first clue to what is about to happen, one of the many clues and signs that Murakami will give along the book. The book by the way is not depressing as it may sound. Sad and poetic yet you can feel a life force running underneath.

This is the story of a strange love triangle, wherein the main character disappears. There are some nice moments in the book, but it seems as if the writer was short on plot lines and never really finished it, and didn't bother to connect a lot of the narrative to the plot.

He seemed to set up a lot of metaphor and other nice images but never used them to their fullest.

It was meant to be a melancholy love story + a mystery, but it ended up being a complete waste of time and ink.