Asian

BOOK REVIEW . In the Miso Soup

Although I’ve been a fan of Haruki Murakami for roughly the past five years, I still hadn’t checked out Ryu. The “other Murakami”, writer of such bleak novels as Coin Locker Babies and director of Tokyo Decadence, is arguably more popular, and substantially less surreal. Anyways, on to the ultra-quick review of In the Miso Soup.

In the Miso Soup concerns Kenji, a Tokyo teen turned Kabuki-cho guide for foreign tourists (for those that don’t know, Kabuki-cho is essentially Tokyo’s Red Light district). His latest customer is a large, pasty American, with more than a few strange quirks. When reports of a series of brutal murders hit the news, Kenji begins to suspect his customer is the perpetrator.

Being that the narrator is just a teen, Murakami’s prose is fairly rudimentary in nature, providing an exceedingly quick read. Unfortunately the simple and straightforward approach is also employed in conveying the various socioligical critiques and ideological lessons Murakami wishes to impart. Every item is delivered straight, though either external or internal character monologues. There is no real use of symbolism, metaphor, or even allegory for that matter. As such, there’s really nothing left to interpreation. While some of the societal problems are uniquely Japanese in nature (the culture of isolationism, compensated dating, suicides from overwork), most items addressed are also problems found in America and around the world. Take rampant consumerism, cultural and historical ignorance on the part of a nation’s own citiens, and the prevalence of spoiled youth. They’re all valid points, but the simplistic treatment of the arguments presented tend to rob them of their significance. This being the first Ryu Murakami book I’ve read, I cannot say whether or not this is typical of his writing, but it did make me feel as if I was doing a bit of literary slacking. When considered as a thriller I must say In the Miso Soup is closer to a work of Stephen King than an Brett Easton Ellis style American Psycho.

In closing, In the Miso Soup is an enjoyable read, but a little too simplistic for anything other than vacation time reading.

About the Author:

Chris Nelson is a rabid reader, usually tackling three books at once. His favorite authors include Kobo Abe, Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, and Haruki Murakami. He is currently reading The Face of Another, by Abe, The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova, and Speaker for the Dead, by Orson Scott Card.