Though, even if you don’t find an answer to that question, this work is filled with enough evidence to answer another question: should we have any faith in humanity? Based solely on this book, I'd say we do. The clues are there if one is sharp and crafty enough to find and decipher them. Of course, ever the coy and cunning marksman, Murakami leaves it to the reader to decide. But can someone who is no longer a part of our reality ever really be found? The narrator is left to make sense of her disappearance as much as help in the effort to locate her. Instead, she falls for another, one who will never connect with her the way she would like. The narrator pines for a girl who will never fall for him. And even though the events are plainly laid out, they hit with the sudden and bludgeoning blow of a wrecking ball. It’s a simple story told with honesty - as much as a fictional work could ever muster. Sputnik Sweetheart is one that lands at the top of the heap. But this is also what allows his work to transcend the ordinary and push it into a philosophical rumination that sticks with the reader long after the story has ended. There are entire chapters of Murakami ethereal writing but taken together it is hard to tell if this is one completed story. Often times, there’s a supernatural, surreal element that allows him to bypass the natural order of reality, and in a sense, cheat his way out of providing an answer for any of the events that preceded. This is a review of the paperback Sputnick Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami2001 edition by Vintage International. Most of them revolve around love, longing, loss, and eventually moving on. I’ve read enough Murakami now to realize that his books deal with a lot of the same themes.

Sputnik sweetheart review