Sputnik sweetheart is a novel of almosts, where liminal spaces overlap. The sputnik sweetheart 1999 this novel grew out of the 1991 short story maneating cats. Because sputnik sweetheart is a poetic journey through the strange orbits of solitary pieces of metal, each inhabited by a traveler who barely understands his passion. Part romance, part detective story, sputnik sweetheart tells the story of a tangled triangle of uniquely unrequited love. The characters in sputik sweetheart hope for a while that love. Buy sputnik sweetheart book online at low prices in india. Buy sputnik sweetheart by haruki murakami online at alibris.
Which is your favourite haruki murakami book and why. Rather, i think it is a place the characters go to when something traumatic occurs, something akin to ptsd. Questions for murakami about kafka on the shore haruki. From the back cover murakami is a worldclass writer who has both eyes open and takes big risks. An english translation by philip gabriel was published in 2001. Sputnik sweetheart haruki murakami, trans philip gabriel 229pp, harvill. While ive not read the complete works of murakami, i would list the favorites amongst the ones that i have read. K is madly in love with his best friend, sumire, but her devotion to a writerly life precludes her from any personal commitments. For the characters in sputnik sweetheart by haruki murakami discover that desire, love, and loss can break more than your heart. Sputnik sweetheart the ending showing 150 of 53 goodreads. The lonely sputnik satellites orbiting earth serve as an ongoing piece of. Sputnik sweetheart by haruki murakami overdrive rakuten. And so the theme of the dissembled person the two mius, one feeling and the other not is very much about the writers condition.
I just finished reading sputnik sweetheart by haruki murakami, and i cant decipher the ending. Mar 27, 2017 as soon as i finished the abstract and incredibly thoughtprovoking, kafka on the shore, i immediately started this months murakami pick, sputnik sweetheart. This is a little novel that is read in a match and murakamis trick to grab the reader is to reconcile the simplicity of writing with the thickness of the characters. Spanning 25 years of murakamis career the oldest story was originally written in 1980, while several were penned in 2005, the stories in bwsw show off murakamis amazing skill and versatility. Thoughts on sputnik sweetheart by haruki murakami tolstoy. It is usually all too easy to say why a piece of fiction doesnt work. It follows the lives of three main characters through the eyes of one of them, and is largely concerned with the themes of love, loneliness, selfidentity and the meaning of friendship. In russian, sputnik means traveling companion, and that is what sumire becomes for mui. The manmade satellite streaking soundlessly across the blackness of outer space. At least, that is, until she meets an older woman to whom she finds herself irresistibly drawn. Sputnik sweetheart vintage international kindle edition.
Sputnik sweetheart shows the depth of haruki murakamis words. Sputnik sweetheart is a novel by haruki murakami, published in japan, by kodansha, in 1999. Sputnik sweetheart deals with the inability of japanese women, today, to love intimately, because of their identification with the wwii korean sex slaves, juxtaposed with the ongoing denial of the atrocity by the malecentric mainstream of japanese culture. An english translation by philip gabriel was then published in 2001. Feb 19, 2018 murakamis work is endlessly quotable, and if you still have somehow missed the haruki murakami bus, its time to get on board. So weve decided to keep guardian journalism free for all. Sexual desire is a word that brings confusion to the mind of sumire in haruki murakamis sputnik sweetheart. Sputnik sweetheart, book by haruki murakami paperback.
Listen to sputnik sweetheart by haruki murakami at. Oct 08, 2019 this past weekend, i read sputnik sweetheart by haruki murakami. Many of the events may seem disconnected, but i trust in their meaning even if it might take me a while to unpack it. At home and abroad, many regard him, at 52, as japans finest living novelist. My fellow murakami readers have recommended it a dozen times over and, after having had just finished three months and 5,200 pages of the game of thrones book.
Review sputnik sweetheart traveling companion the reveter. Sputnik sweetheart is it was a humid,still antipodean january night where you knew sleep would not come easily. Its slippery, slithery, and refuses to be pinned down to a theme or a plot. Blind willow, sleeping woman bwsw is an amazing collection of short stories. Sputnik sweetheart, suputoniku no koibito is a novel by haruki murakami, published in japan, by kodansha, in 1999. Ironically enough, my favorite murakami novel is the one that seems to defy his ouevre, the outlier as it were, i. We believe every one of us deserves equal access to factbased news and analysis. Simply put, if you buy a book i recommend, a very small percent.
Ever since that day, sumires private name for miu was sputnik sweetheart. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. His books and stories have been bestsellers in japan as well as internationally, with his work being translated into 50 languages and selling millions of copies outside his native country. Murakamis work certainly isnt intended to have one perfect interpretation. Murakami treads new ground with sputnik sweetheart. In the spring of her 22nd year, sumire fell in love for the first time in her life. Clunky writing, glaring credibility gaps, predictable storylines all are a cinch to detect, dissect and generally rail against. There was nothing solid we could depend on, the reader is told. The presidents science advisory committee and cold war america by professor zuoyue wang aug 4, 2009. It isnt a happy image though, when the narrator goes on to say, and it. How to understand the end of murakamis sputnik sweetheart.
About midway through sputnik sweetheart, while miu and sumire are in greece, murakami starts adding layer upon layer to the text until every detail hums with significance. Download sputnik sweetheart pdf ebook free your pdfs. Sputnik sweetheart is my first murakami novel, so maybe i am wrong in my interpretation of going to the other side as not being about death. Maybe in an order where the magical realism gets intense as i go on. My partner, less accomodating of the heat than i am, nevertheless went to bed around 11 leaving me to late night reading. It is our intent and purpose to foster and encourage indepth discussion about all things related to books press j to jump to the feed. Apr 20, 1999 sputnik sweetheart is it was a humid,still antipodean january night where you knew sleep would not come easily. Murakamis work is endlessly quotable, and if you still have somehow missed the haruki murakami bus, its time to get on board. My interpretation of the ending is that sumire killed herself.
Buy sputnik sweetheart new ed by murakami, haruki isbn. Fiction is a genre everyone like to read if you are not into the fiction books then you are going to be a fan of the fiction genre after reading the book for sure. A novel by haruki murakami and philip gabriel apr 9, 2002 sputnik and the soviet space challenge by asif a. Haruki murakami, the internationally bestselling author of norwegian wood and the windup bird chronicle, plunges us into an urbane japan of jazz bars, coffee shops, jack kerouac, and the beatles to tell this story of a tangled triangle of uniquely unrequited loves. Sumire is an aspiring writer who survives on a family stipend and the creative input of her only friend, the. Sputnik sweetheart is about an odd love triangle where the love is either platonic or something a bit stronger yet unfulfilled. Sputnik sweetheart by haruki murakami books the guardian. When sumire disappears from an island off the coast of greece, k is solicited to join the search party and finds himself drawn back into her world and beset by ominous, haunting visions.
This led me to sputnik sweetheart, which appeared to be a. This led me to sputnik sweetheart, which appeared to be a story about love. I dont know if youll find this helpful, but here is a theory i came up with that everyone seems to have left unnoticed. It doesnt have the grandness of norwegian wood or the windup bird chronicle. Falling out of love with murakami books the guardian. Earlier in the book, k explains to sumire that she doesnt actually have to kill an animal to slit the dogs. Sumire is an aspiring writer, but stops being able to write when she falls in love. Thankfully with sputnik sweetheart the author has found the right blend of the surreal and the romantic. Shorter than the sweeping windup bird chronicle, less playfully bizarre than a wild sheep chase, the authors seventh novel distills his signature themes into a powerful story about the loneliness of the human condition. Best novel imho sputnik sweetheart fine japanese author of urban magic realism.
On reading sputnik sweetheart, haruki murakami the. K mean by i spread my fingers apart and stare at the palms of both hands, looking for bloodstains. Haruki murakami, murakami haruki, born january 12, 1949 is a japanese writer. One of alastair campbells top five books of all time but dont let that put you off it really is rather good i think the extra length of norwegian wood is a strength because sputnik sweetheart never seems to achieve the same dramatic weight as that novel. The book ends with the theme of the telephone, which appears in numerous books by murakami, usually when telephoning from a faraway place, whose.
His story of young love in the 1960s norwegian wood was a sensation when it was published in the 1980s. Mar 30, 2016 sputnik sweetheart tells as story of a young callow writer sumire and an older woman miu she falls in love with. An introductory russian language course, part i by dr. Sputnik sweetheart 2002 read online free book by haruki. Oct 22, 2015 and its kind of a strange coincidence, since long before miu knew the meaning behind sputnik, sumire had had sputnik sweetheart as private name for miu. His books became bestsellers, were translated into many languages, including english, and the door was thrown wide open to murakamis unique and addictive fictional universe. The shock of the century by paul dickson apr 12, 2011 in sputnik s shadow. Dec 01, 2009 and now people started to give me murakami books as presents. Sputnik meaning and origin of the name sputnik nameaning. I just finished reading sputnik sweetheart by haruki murakami as part of the haruki murakami reading challenge hosted by murakamichallenge i will admit, i knew absolutely nothing about this author and i am not a huge fan of asian literature except for the more popularmainstream asian fiction books like memoirs of a geisha and snow flower and. Sputnik sweetheart finds haruki murakami in his minimalist mode. Sumire violet slouches into the novel as the unattainable object of desire for the narrator, but falls in love with miu a woman 17 years her senior.
Oct 01, 2016 i have several of his books on my shelves, all of them actually read. Thats what made me read the following pages of sputnik sweetheart. Enter murakamis world to explore the books, read interviews, discover music, browse image galleries, and much more. It can sweep you away and make you forget yourself, and for sumire in the novel sputnick sweetheart, there is no return. A love triangle sputnik sweetheart melancholy media. Novels such as dance, dance, dance and the windup bird chronicle have made murakami one of the most popular writers in his native country with young people. Sputnik sweetheart by haruki murakami, paperback barnes. A love story combined with a detective story, sputnik sweetheart ultimately lingers in the mind as a profound meditation on human longing. Blind willow, sleeping woman book by haruki murakami.
You mean the first satellite the soviets sent up, in the 50s. Here are twentyfive of the most insightful haruki murakami quotes that see right into your soul. This sexual desire takes a while for sumire to comprehend but as the novel continues it is seen that she comprehends it when it comes to the terms of literature, which is composed by her friend k. Murakami always leave the sign of books that he reads in his writings. Questions for murakami about kafka on the shore haruki murakami. Apr 30, 2011 i just finished reading sputnik sweetheart by haruki murakami as part of the haruki murakami reading challenge hosted by murakamichallenge i will admit, i knew absolutely nothing about this author and i am not a huge fan of asian literature except for the more popularmainstream asian fiction books like memoirs of a geisha and snow flower and the secret fan.
Dont you think that for a character with practically no role in the book, sumires dad was described way too much. The whole middle section is an expansion of that story. An intense love, a veritable tornado sweeping across the plains. The writer is involved in the world and at the same time detached. I have several of his books on my shelves, all of them actually read. This sexual desire takes a while for sumire to comprehend but as the novel continues it is seen that she comprehends it when it comes to. Sputnik sweetheart by haruki murakami vulpes libris. Initially, i was drawn to the idea that this book would focus on romance, something that is often only hinted at in murakamis works. Moreover, i was also curious on how it compares to the rest of murakamis literary repertoire. As soon as i finished the abstract and incredibly thoughtprovoking, kafka on the shore, i immediately started this months murakami pick, sputnik sweetheart. When i saw that some of his books were on the mysticism and supernatural side, my plan was to leave those for last, because it was murakamis ability to give meaning to ordinary life situations that attracted me the most.
I have read some of murakamis books and enjoyed them. There is much more in sputnik sweetheart as compared to the normal books. Sputnik sweetheart by haruki murakami, author, philip gabriel, translator alfred a. Sumires overwhelming first love and powerful desire both unrequited due to a mysterious event that made miu frigid and passionless for life are told through the eyes of sumires unnamed friend, naturally hopelessly in love with her. Sputnik sweetheart by haruki murakami i would rather. If you are interested in the novels then you must have to read this book. A conversation with murakami about sputnik sweetheart. I adore his poetic, metaphysical, and classic musicladen storytelling, and it was about time i finally read this book.