Norwegian Wood made Murakami a cult figure in Japan, but I prefer Sputnik Sweetheart, I understood, related and feel for the characters more. Why they thought, acted, and loved the way that they did. I didn’t want to read another Murakami so close to my birthday, scared of the possibility that I’d get depressed again after the romantically morbid Norwegian Wood. But this was a nice surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed the first half but started getting worried when it started to get a little too mystical for me, it was only until the very end that I understood the metaphors and loved the book as a whole.

It kind of reminded me of Lost a little bit, getting lost on an island, wanting to go to the other world. After watching an episode of Lost, I like to surf the internet for reviews, their take on the new book that Sawyer or Ben was reading. I find myself doing the same thing after reading Murakami. I enjoy reading the theories as much as I enjoy reading the book.

My only criticism would be Sumire’s letters. I understand that Murakami needed to change his ink to a slightly different shade, we were after all being addressed by a different narrator. Sumire is supposedly a talented aspiring novelist, I just couldn’t help but feel let down.

Despite my complaint, the ending left me feeling satisfied. I absolutely love his understated writing, it is never anticlimactic, it seemed like everything was mentioned in passing.