Sputnik Sweetheart

Adam Sims projects the unrequited desire of the male narrator of this novel, featuring a love triangle of unfulfilled longing. Sims's narration is melodic, dreamy, and wistful, characteristics that are all suitable, even necessary, for a first-person point of view that meanders through recollections of love gone awry. Die-hard Murakami fans may be distracted by the pronounced American accent used to portray the cast of Japanese characters. Interestingly, Sims doesn't affect Asian-accented English for this volume as other narrators may have done; his choices likely will highlight the universal nature of love for the majority of listeners. He treats female characters with the same steady tone he gives the male protagonist, rendering this an overall even performance. M.R. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

April 1, 2001
Murakami's seventh novel to be translated into English is a short, enigmatic chronicle of unrequited desire involving three acquaintances the narrator, a 24-year-old Tokyo schoolteacher; his friend Sumire, an erratic, dreamy writer who idolizes Jack Kerouac; and Miu, a beautiful married businesswoman with a secret in her past so harrowing it has turned her hair snowy white. When Sumire abandons her writing for life as an assistant to Miu and later disappears while the two are vacationing on a Greek island, the narrator/teacher travels across the world to help find her. Once on the island, he discovers Sumire has written two stories: one explaining the extent of her longing for Miu; the second revealing the secret from Miu's past that bleached her hair and prevents her from getting close to anyone. All of the characters suffer from bouts of existential despair, and in the end, back in Tokyo, having lost both of his potential saviors and deciding to end a loveless affair with a student's mother, the narrator laments his loneliness. Though the story is almost stark in its simplicity more like Murakami's romantic Norwegian Wood than his surreal Wind-Up Bird Chronicles the careful intimacy of the protagonists' conversation and their tightly controlled passion for each other make this slim book worthwhile. Like a Zen koan, Murakami's tale of the search for human connection asks only questions, offers no answers and must be meditated upon to provide meaning. (Apr. 30) Forecast: Long the secret delight of connoisseurs, Murakami has been steadily and quietly acquiring a wider readership. His latest offering breaks no new ground but is packaged in a striking manner and should attract a few newcomers.