May 24, 2024

Flopped potential

Pinball alternates between the POV of two characters: an unnamed male narrator who lives with two female twins and works as a translator, and The Rat (鼠). It also includes many elements that will be familiar to Murakami regulars: an unnamed male narrator who feels oddly alienated to his surroundings, references to music, a sort of whimsical nostalgia on years gone by, etc.

I got into this book without having read, or knowing anything about, any of the other books in the series. And although it made sense on its own, I gave up about 1/3 of the way in because I realized that I didn't care any of the characters. Why should I? Murakami gives the reader no discernable reason to care.

The unnamed male narrator works a bit here and there as a translator. Occasionally, he talks to to one of the twins, who also work as a translators. The Rat likes to hung out at the beach. And... so what? Where is the conflict? Heck, forget conflict - where is literally anything interesting or distinctive about either narrator, that might hook the reader in?

Maybe something interesting happens later on in the story. But frankly, I don't want to spend more than a third of a book reading about characters staring at the beach before things start to actually happen.

I get that this was one of Murakami's early works, and therefore might not be as developed. But I actually think this book, and maybe even the entire series, should have gotten the axe from the editor.

Language-wise, this might be higher than its current 32. Murakami uses quite a bit of rare kanji (including writing どこ and なぜ out in kanji, 畏れ instead of 恐れ, etc.). If you're reading a physical copy instead of a digital one, and can't automatically look things up, be prepared for this.

Gradings:12
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CurlySue graded
on January 31, 2025
similar in difficulty to密やかな結晶L35
CurlySue graded
on January 31, 2025
similar in difficulty to博士の愛した数式L35
CurlySue graded
on January 4, 2025
similar in difficulty to妊娠カレンダーL31
CurlySue graded
on December 13, 2024
CurlySue graded
on November 23, 2024
easier than漢字とアジアL37
CurlySue graded
on August 24, 2024
easier thanL41??
CurlySue graded
on May 24, 2024
CurlySue graded
on May 24, 2024
easier than吾輩も猫であるL36
CurlySue graded
on May 24, 2024
harder thanキッチンL30
CurlySue graded
on May 24, 2024
harder thanヘヴンL31
CurlySue graded
on May 24, 2024
CurlySue graded
on May 24, 2024
harder thanアフターダークL31