July 31, 2024

Not easy, but interesting

At the beginning I had a hard time picking the book up, by the end I had a hard time putting it down.

Things I liked less: It was hard to read the book at the beginning because it is taxing emotionally to be reading the depictions of the events, with the descriptions of actual people dying and of how it also affected the other victims' lives. Sometimes it was hard to follow what they were talking about due to the reference of other events that happened around that time, as the events themselves are not explained in details. But looking up things on wikipedia was enough for me to clear that up. This is a non-fiction book and sometimes I found it a bit hard to want to read it because of the lack of "plot", but it's a really nice format if you want to only read a little bit everyday.

Things I liked more: I loved all the trivia I learned from reading about so many different people's lives. With talking to more than 60 people, it gives an interesting insight of how was life in Tokyo in 1995. I also really enjoyed whenever it was Murakami writing at the beginning of those sections (the conclusion was harder to read, difficult for me language wise and I am more of a fiction person I guess, had trouble focusing on an essay-like text)

It's quite a long book, so be prepared for a long time investment, unless you don't want to read the whole thing, which I guess is also possible as it's a collection of interviews.

Gradings:13
2
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Akashelia graded
on May 16, 2025
Akashelia graded
on April 16, 2025
Akashelia graded
on January 11, 2025
harder than桜の樹の下にはL34
Akashelia graded
on January 5, 2025
harder than容疑者Xの献身L32
Akashelia graded
on December 6, 2024
Akashelia graded
on December 2, 2024
Akashelia graded
on September 29, 2024
Akashelia graded
on September 2, 2024
harder than鋼の錬金術師 1L29
Akashelia graded
on July 31, 2024
Akashelia graded
on July 31, 2024
harder than蛇にピアスL31
Akashelia graded
on July 31, 2024
Akashelia graded
on July 31, 2024
similar in difficulty to阪急電車L35