num_pages: 210
description: <p>combining The Early, Straightforward Seductions Of <i>norwegian Woo</i>d And The Complex Mysteries Of <i>the Wind-up Bird Chronicle</i>, This New Novel His Seventh Translated Into English Is Haruki Murakami At His Most Satisfying And Representative Best.</p><h3>publishers Weekly</h3><p>murakami's Seventh Novel To Be Translated Into English Is A Short, Enigmatic Chronicle Of Unrequited Desire Involving Three Acquaintances The Narrator, A 24-year-old Tokyo Schoolteacher; His Friend Sumire, An Erratic, Dreamy Writer Who Idolizes Jack Kerouac; And Miu, A Beautiful Married Businesswoman With A Secret In Her Past So Harrowing It Has Turned Her Hair Snowy White. When Sumire Abandons Her Writing For Life As An Assistant To Miu And Later Disappears While The Two Are Vacationing On A Greek Island, The Narrator/teacher Travels Across The World To Help Find Her. Once On The Island, He Discovers Sumire Has Written Two Stories: One Explaining The Extent Of Her Longing For Miu; The Second Revealing The Secret From Miu's Past That Bleached Her Hair And Prevents Her From Getting Close To Anyone. All Of The Characters Suffer From Bouts Of Existential Despair, And In The End, Back In Tokyo, Having Lost Both Of His Potential Saviors And Deciding To End A Loveless Affair With A Student's Mother, The Narrator Laments His Loneliness. Though The Story Is Almost Stark In Its Simplicity More Like Murakami's Romantic <i>norwegian Wood</i> Than His Surreal <i>wind-up Bird Chronicles</i> The Careful Intimacy Of The Protagonists' Conversation And Their Tightly Controlled Passion For Each Other Make This Slim Book Worthwhile. Like A Zen Koan, Murakami's Tale Of The Search For Human Connection Asks Only Questions, Offers No Answers And Must Be Meditated Upon To Provide Meaning. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.</p>
language: en
title: Sputnik Sweetheart: A Novel
publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group