Haruki Murakami Review Part Four- Sputnik Sweetheart

This story follows Sumire, a young woman with pretensions to be a novelist, her male friends; who fancies her, whilst she neglects his advances, and her fascination with a successful older woman. Sumire takes a job with Miu, and moulds to her boss and the corporate culture, but on a break with the boss she fancies, she disappears. Sputnik Sweetheart deals with defection or change and the extent to which the old person then exists when this new person or change happens. This is shown by Miu's experience of viewing herself having sex with a man she finds sexually repellent. The interaction between K and Sumire is engaging, with it revolving around late night phone calls, and that warm feeling independent charcters with local cafes and independent bookshops types engender. There are continuities with the Murakami body of work; the appearance of cats, the lead girl wearing glasses, angular facial features, the telephone giving communication from an inaccesible place. Equally, isolation is examined clearly. The dog floating alone in Sputnik first, then K is alone, then Miu, and finally Sumire lost on her trip. The story is hauntingly written and K provides an excellent narrative. The only downside is the conclusion which moves towards a very open surreal piece of philosophising, after starting more in the vain of After Dark and South of the Border/West of the Sun. However, the ending wasn't too annoying in its surreality because it has its basis in a philosophical discussion between the two main characters early on, and encourages me to re-read the work, as many of Murakami's works require. On the other hand there is a problem with this sort of ending where you are unsure whether all the charcters exist any longer, but they engage with real world characters. It is slightly frustratingly open, but still fits with the wider text in an acceptable way. Ultimately, Sputnik Sweetheart is an excellent work, with minor flaws, that will take its place among the higher ranking Murakami works.