This book was a little disappointing. I’ve read a few books from Murakami now and this one felt similar, almost in the sense that you’ve read one you’ve read them all. The fantastical mystery of the dream city and the ambiguous meaning of the book didn’t scratch the itch the same way it did in Kafka by the Shore. The relationships between the main character and his romantic interests felt very similar to that in Norwegian Wood.
The book was presented in three parts, and short chapters often less then 10 pages. The first part told two stories, the first of the main character’s teenage romance and the second of the main character’s entry into an imaginary world. I was worried that the fragmented narrative of the this first part would carry through the book and be difficult to piece together, however thankfully the rest of the book reverted to a more linear narrative years after the events of part 1.
The rest of the story followed the main character’s journey to a rural town where he encounters a ghost, a love interest and a strange boy. The book presents this later part almost in reflection to the story in the first part. The dream library mirrors the later real library, the urge for reclaiming the past is mirrored by characters unable to escape theirs.
I really enjoyed the wooden doll dream which was the only real moment that viscerally hooked me. Overall, this book was fine, but it was understandably an airport purchase forced by lack of other tempting options by someone sort of burnt out by reading.
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