I just finished reading this book recently. It was recommended to me by my wife, who
knows that I like Haruki Murakami and thought that this book or writer was a
big influence on him.
I wasn’t sure about the book in the first few chapters. It seemed that every character behaved in a
way that was very strange or creepy.
There was the doctor who laughed inappropriately when discussing the
main character’s new-born disabled baby.
There were other doctors who light-heartedly asked for permission to
examine the baby’s dead body before it had died. There was the abortionist with “an egg-shaped
head.”
One or two interesting or creepy characters make a very
interesting book. If every character is
creepy then I start to wonder if this is meant to be set in the real
world. It seems to be 1960s Japan, but a
dark version of 1960s Japan, seen through a dark window.
In any case, by the end of the book I accepted the strange
world and was hooked. It is the story of
a father whose wife gives birth to a seriously disabled baby. He is not sure whether he wants the baby to
live or die and he wrestles with his conscience and tries to escape the
dilemma.
I can see why this writer won a Nobel Prize. The creepy world Oe has built is heading
towards the magical realism of Garcia Marquez or the later Murakami. It is certainly not afraid to ask difficult
questions. And it is not afraid to lead
the main character, Bird, down some pretty dark paths.
If, like me, you are a keen follower of Haruki Murakami’s
work then this is an interesting insight into where his dark, creepy world came
from.
Important or difficult vocabulary:
To be creepy – To be frightening or disgusting. For example, “Last night I saw a creepy guy
standing outside my window.”
To be disabled – To have a medical problem which means that
you cannot do something that most people can do. For example, if you cannot walk or if you are
blind then you are disabled.
An abortionist – A kind of doctor who helps women to end
their pregnancies before the baby can be born
To be hooked – To be addicted. When reading a book, if you are hooked then
you cannot stop reading.
To wrestle with your conscience – To struggle to make a good
or moral decision.
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