Tag Archives: Ryu Murakami

Book Review: In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami

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In the Miso Soup   

Author: Ryu Murakami

Publisher: Penguin Books

American release date:  March 28, 2006

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Psychological Fuctuib/224 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

 

Twenty-year-old Kenji works as a guide for tourists who come to Tokyo and wish to enjoy the seamier side of the city. He knows the “best” places to go to get the most bang for your buck and which places to avoid, no matter what it is you’re looking for. He knows what women do what for how much, and he is also a translator, speaking English pretty well.  But there’s something about this tourist, the American named Frank, that is frankly off-putting, although Kenji can’t put his finger on just what it is. On the surface, he seems like a regular guy. But then, at times, there is… the Face.

Frank is… for lack of a better word, different.

Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but Kenji has been reading about the recent deaths of young women. A serial killer is on the loose. Could Frank be the guy they’re looking for? And is Kenji in more danger than he’s ever been in before?

This is one heck of a ride, a great read from beginning to end. I was never sure how this one was going to turn out until the very end. Murakami is great at digging into his characters’ very souls, and making us question what is normal and what is not. Horror does not have to be in the form of a chainsaw-wielding maniac or a guy in a strange mask carrying an axe or knife. Horror can look like an average Joe. And it’s all the scarier for it.

I am really enjoying getting to know this author’s works and look forward to more. I recommend this to anyone who appreciates a good horror story.

Book Review: Audition by Ryu Murakami

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Audition     

Author: Ryu Murakami

Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company

American release date:  June 7, 2010

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Psychological Thriller/192 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

 

After seven years of being alone, widower Aoyama decides, after being prompted by his fifteen-year-old son Shige, to consider marrying again. However, Aoyama doesn’t know just how to go about looking for a wife, as he confides to his close friend, Yoshikawa. Wanting to see his friend happy, Yoshikawa hits on the perfect solution—he’ll announce an audition for a romantic movie (which may  never get made, but that’s show business, right?), and Aoyama can look through the resumes that are submitted and select about thirty or so for the two men to audition for the “role” of Aoyama’s future wife.

 

One resume in particular catches Aoyama’s eye, and he barely gives any of the other applicants the time of day, so intent is he on meeting Yamasaki Asami. And when he does, she is even more than he could have hoped for. Of course, he has to let her know she didn’t get the part, and hope that she won’t be too disappointed.

 

Is she Aoyama’s next great love… or a nightmare waiting to happen?

 

This is my second book by this author, the first being Piercing. Both are psychological thrillers which take us deep into the protagonist’s psyche. Audition is slow-paced, but well worth the time it takes to come to a boil. I’ve seen the movie, as well, and have to say I like the book just a little bit better, although the movie is good too. It’s a good read, and well done, and I plan to read more of this author’s books. The ending may be too graphic for some, so know that going into it. This story is not for everyone, but I really liked it.

 

 

Book Review: Piercing by Ryu Murakami

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Piercing     

Author: Ryu Murakami

Publisher: Penguin Books

American release date:  March 27, 2007

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Psychological Thriller/192 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer:  Julie Lynn Hayes

 

New father Kawashima Masayuki stands beside the bed of his infant daughter every night, in the still of the night, and tells himself he will not stab her with the ice pick he holds in his hand.

His wife has no idea of his thoughts, and would naturally be horrified if she only knew. Kawashima has to do something to rid himself of this urge. Better a complete stranger than his child, right? Not like he hasn’t done that before.

Kawashima is a very methodical man, as is very evident in the way he goes about making plants to inflict his urges on a prostitute he intends to hire. Nothing can be left to chance, and nothing can ever lead back to him. It won’t, not if he plays his cards right. And when he succeeds, his baby and wife will be safe, right?

This psychological thriller by Ryu Murakami explores the thought processes in this man, who otherwise appears to be normal, but beneath it all is filled with personal demons he struggles to control. Namely the impulse to cause harm with an ice pick. And then there is the prostitute he hires through an agency, Chiaki, who has demons of her own. A woman bold enough to pierce her own nipple.

This is my first book by this author, but it won’t be my last. I am currently reading Audition, also by him. I honestly had no idea what was going to happen, as we explore the minds of these two people, brought together by chance, both of whom struggle with painful pasts. I hope the movie is half as good as the book.

This book is very well written and flows smoothly, one of those hard to put down books you are too anxious to find out what happens next. I highly recommend it.