Share This! Part romance, part detective story, Sputnik Sweetheart tells the story of a tangled triangle of uniquely unrequited love. Sputnik Sweetheart-- as you can read elsewhere in the review, it's about Sumire, a 20something would-be writer, who feels friendship for our narrator, K, a slightly older teacher, though he adores her and desires her. Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books. There are the halves containing our deepest, primal desires, which we purposely bury; and the boring selves that go about daily routines. Buy a cheap copy of Sputnik Sweetheart book by Haruki Murakami. LOve your header graphic, btw! Sputnik Sweetheart By Haruki Murakami (Vintage Books, Paperback, 9780099448471, 2006, 224pp.) It is usually all too easy to say why a piece of fiction doesn't work. The author's characters seem so human, so universal, that I sometimes can't believe I'm reading about a Japanese man or woman on the other side of the world. Sputnik Sweetheart is a story of unrequited love, desire and loneliness. Buy Sputnik Sweetheart New Ed by Murakami, Haruki (ISBN: 8601416944043) from Amazon's Book Store. This 1999 story of love, loss and sexuality follows the narration of a character only referred to as K. As K finds himself in love with his friend Sumire, she finds herself in love with an older… June 23, 2011 March 13, 2013 / Udita Banerjee ‘Must we conform?’ is the question. Julie Myerson salutes the indefinable magic of Haruki Murakami's new novel Sputnik Sweetheart. Like real and distinct, affecting your mood sort? She dresses better, travels more widely, eats and drinks well, and learns Italian. Magical Realism at its best! Miu is a … But go in further, relax and slide beneath that prose, and the result is like peeking over the edge of a precipice: dizzying and rather frightening. Free delivery on qualified orders. Sumire quickly learns that she has intense physical feelings for Miu, who's married (and heterosexual, though she stopped having sex a decade ago due to a frightening incident). There are references to cats and wells and music. Have you ever felt as if a book started touching your reality? It explores that notion of existential crisis and the question of “Who am I?”. A love story combined with a detective story, Sputnik Sweetheart ultimately lingers in the mind as a profound meditation on human longing. Read "Sputnik Sweetheart" by Haruki Murakami available from Rakuten Kobo. Do books have energy? She is an aspiring writer, and holds part time jobs along with the stipend she receives from her family to sustain her livelihood till she finishes her novel. As soon as I finished the abstract and incredibly thought-provoking, Kafka on the Shore, I immediately started this month’s Murakami pick, Sputnik Sweetheart. Sputnik Sweetheart is a melancholy love story, and its deceptively simple prose is saturated with sadness. 7 talking about this. Haruki Murakami, Author, Philip Gabriel, Translator Alfred A. Knopf $23 (224p) ISBN 978-0-375-41169-4 "There was nothing solid we could depend on," the reader is told. Murakami has given us a work so much larger and more pungent than the sum of its parts. Read Sputnik Sweetheart book reviews & author details and more at Amazon.in. Tongue-in-cheek lyrics are used to explore an array of themes; from gender equality, to the impacts of technology on relationships. This is a review of the paperback Sputnick Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami2001 edition by Vintage International. But this is most truly a novel about doppelgangers: the author explores how our selves split in two. Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2010. The way he conveys his message is truly unusual but always amazing. Magical Realism at its best! It is beautifully written. In 2019, Sputnik Sweetheart released their debut EP, Growing Pains, which is best described as a collection of songs inspired by growing into adulthood. Helpful. She begins working part-time for Miu because of her physical feelings for her, and at this point Sumire begins to change. 4.5 out of 5. Verified Purchase. I'm a giant fan of Murakami's work, and this is one of my favorite books of his that I've read lately. By the end it is unclear what if anything he had in mind. I can only talk about my feelings while reading it. I'll be up-front: this isn't the best of Murakami's novels. K is madly in love with his best friend, Sumire, but her devotion to a writerly life precludes her from any personal commitments. Hard-Boiled Wonderland. But this is no straightforward will-they-won't-they-get-it-on story. Sputnik Sweetheart is a sweet story of a student who has fallen in his best friend, who on her turn is head over heels with an 18-years older woman. The imagery of the Greek villiage is enticing. About Sputnik Sweetheart. In 1983, Bob Dylan had just ended his infamous “Born Again” phase, during which his suddenly new approach towards life, religion, and music had managed to alienate many fans and additionally had resulted in several of his most questionable albums. Sputnik Sweetheart is not about Laika the space dog who went into orbit without food or water and literally barked from hunger, loneliness and baked to death. This page works best with JavaScript. Initially, I was drawn to the idea that this book would focus on romance, something that is often only hinted at in Murakami’s works. Wondering whether this is the real thing - and does it mean she's lesbian? All too rarely, a different sort of novel altogether comes along. The book is almost a literary equivalent of David Lynch's cinematic exploration of doppelgangers and twinning. By the end, all of the characters are irrevocably changed, yet K manages to go on with his life as before. The Short of It: In true Murakami fashion, all of the elements are here. by Haruki Murakami. Shorter than the sweeping Wind-up Bird Chronicle, less playfully bizarre than A Wild Sheep Chase, the author's seventh novel distills his signature themes into a powerful story about the loneliness of the human condition. Sumire loves talking with K--they are deeply connected as friends--but she has no romantic feelings for him. I am ending my review with this passage from the book: “And it came to me then. I would’ve given this five stars but the ending felt abrupt. In doing so, he surely accomplishes the best, most unnerving job of fiction: to force you to look hard at the parts of yourself you never even suspected were there. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The use of language is wonderful, credit to translator Phillip Gabriel, but the authorship is not that of a writer who knows where he is going. Sputnik Sweetheart was originally going to be my pick, but I needed something shorter to finish by Dec. 31, so opted for the short stories. Before buying any book I love to read some reviews and I was looking for a review on Sputnik Sweetheart. Geschreven bij Sputnik Sweetheart. That said, it's well worth reading. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. Next Section Character List Previous Section About Sputnik Sweetheart Somehow I missed this wonderful gem, "Sputnik Sweetheart." K is madly in love with his best friend, Sumire, but her devotion to a writerly life precludes her from any personal commitments. Buy a cheap copy of Sputnik Sweetheart book by Haruki Murakami. 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