In the Miso Soup

[Anonymous No.19157672]

This read like a YA novel. Just past halfway the strangeness starts. I was so bored reading the first half, especially with the telegraphing that Frank was evil, that I was hoping the twist was going to be Frank and Kenji running into the murderer...

Instead it just stays YA all the way to the end. I think (hope) the translation can be partially blamed.

This has been one of the few times /lit/ has disappointed me. Hopefully Audition will be better.

[Anonymous No.19157731]

>>19157672
That's a shame, it was on my reading list. I'll probably skip it now.

[Anonymous No.19157757]

>>19157672
Coin Locker Babies was also similar, I dropped it midway. I was honestly expected him to be the best murakami, but he's only slightly better than the other.

[Anonymous No.19157765]

>>19157757
I had the impulse to drop itms but it's so short

The batting cage part at least felt fresh

[Anonymous No.19157892]

I legitimately wanted to throw up by the end.
Most disgusting book I've ever read.

[Anonymous No.19157925]

>>19157672
Yeah, a character decapitating prostitutes in a bar is a common trope of YA.

I also didn't enjoy this novel but you faggots need to come up with better criticism than ''muh YA, muh Reddit-incarnate'', you retards can't even properly articulate what you dislike about a novel.

[Anonymous No.19157938]

>>19157892
Disgusting how?

[Anonymous No.19157942]

>>19157757
>expected him to be the best murakami, but he's only slightly better than the other.
Wouldn't that make him the best Murakami?

[Anonymous No.19157957]

Ah yes, the Lesser Murakami, I was once memed into reading this fella. Schlocky gore crap, no depth, nothing.

[Anonymous No.19158145]

>>19157892
What the fuck why? Have you read Blood Meridian?

>>19157925
YA level imagery, poetics, and idk if manga is YA or what but it was like a less edgy Gantz, which was def a teenager manga.

It's not worth pulling quotes to "articulate" further lol.

>>19157957
Yup

[Anonymous No.19158238]

>>19157672
I just read to the end of second night. I don't read much though, but I thought it was great

[Anonymous No.19158306]

>>19157757
I've only read coin locker babies but I liked it a lot. The pacing could have been better desu, but I still love this book dearly. Can't wait to get into his other works desu

[Anonymous No.19158319]

>>19157672
liked it but I read it in german so not sure if its comparable

[Anonymous No.19158332]

>>19158319
of course it's comparable it's the same novel

[Anonymous No.19158367]

The prose is basic because he writes fucking pulp novels you retard. It's supposed to be engaging, not "poetic". You read it for the thrills, not for some enlightenment you probably think you get from reading Pynchon (you don't). Look at wiki, he's written 2 books every year. Despite that he manages to say some real shit about people who get treated awfully by society. You retards should just stick to jerking off to "prose" books. Anything that's not a barrage of nonsensical terms and won't make you feel superior to others, you won't like. Because deep down you only read books to feel good about yourself through domination and not because you actually enjoy reading. Fucking idiot "muh YA", wtf kind of criticism even is that??

[Anonymous No.19158380]

>>19158367
I WILL NOT STAND IDLY BY WHILE YOU INSULT MY FAVORITE CONTENT CREATOR

[Anonymous No.19158394]

>>19158380
I don't even like his books. I've rated all of them 3 stars on goodreads. He writes engaging pulp thrillers you read in a single sitting and don't think a lot about afterwards. You're just a moron for expecting Blood meridian going into it lmao

[Anonymous No.19158396]

>>19158394
Blood Meridian is capeshit garbage for 14 year olds.

[Anonymous No.19158401]

>>19158367
>You read it for the thrills
I did, there were none at all. It was a snore. Completely boring yawnfest.

>he manages to say some real shit about people who get treated awfully by society
Not in this one lol

>jerking off to "prose" books
I would have enjoyed a plot driven novel, a psychological thriller, a horror novel, anything. I've read more exciting wikipedia pages.

>Anything that's not a barrage of nonsensical terms and won't make you feel superior to others, you won't like
Not sure what this means or what imaginary reader it's directed at ahahaha you're a sperg

>Fucking idiot "muh YA", wtf kind of criticism even is that??
It was shoddy, boring in the sense that other books tackle the same themes and do it better, it was so basic bitch it took ONE DAY to read it. The way the novel treats the reader is how a YA novel treats its readers. It's basic, it telegraphs every single thing, leaving zero tension, everything was predictable AND lol AND he hypnotizes an entire bar into a trance ahahahaha come on man

[Anonymous No.19158406]

>>19158396
Right, okay you're a moron for expecting whatever you expected out of it. American psycho? Last exit to Brooklyn (although this also sucks)? I can't think of many psycho novels that you can compare it to? Look man, it's just a nice page turner. Don't look too deep into everything.

[Anonymous No.19158414]

>>19158406
>nice page turner
no it wasn't

[Anonymous No.19158424]

STOP THINKING AND TURN THE FLOOFIN' PAGES, IT'S POSITIVELY THRILLING

[Anonymous No.19158428]

>>19158401
Well so your criticism is basically "I don't like it because it has things I don't like"?? Also "it treats its readers like a YA novel does", you do realize it's a book that's supposed to be entertaining right? You're complaining that it's too accessible and entertaining? While also claiming it bored you? That makes no sense at all and something tells me you're a little faggot who complains about every single thing anyway.

[Anonymous No.19158433]

>>19158414
That's too bad then, read another book

[Anonymous No.19158450]

>>19158428
it's not entertaining

[Anonymous No.19158453]

>>19158428
>Well so your criticism is basically "I don't like it because it has things I don't like"??
LOL YES but the things I don't like are part of the novel on the whole—I haven't complained about any specific parts besides the obviously childish and cringe hypnotism that allows for a turning point of the story...

>you do realize it's a book that's supposed to be entertaining right
For teenagers, sure maybe. Not for adults.

>You're complaining that it's too accessible and entertaining
No I'm complaining that it's boring, basic, bad and possibly literally written for high schoolers.

[Anonymous No.19158467]

>>19158453
No, of course it's not for a highly literate sophisticate like yourself anon. It's for the plebs and you know, you're not even wrong about that. It's not written for high schoolers but it's quite literally an edgy book that entertains you for a little bit. That's what it's supposed to do. It's not "literature", Ryu Murakami does not write literature. Looking at the edgy cover any normal functioning human can determine the kind of content the novel probably contains. You're an idiot for reading it and you're an idiot for complaining about it.

[Anonymous No.19158472]

>>19157672
Try "Popular Hits of the Showa Era".
It's his best, also has the highest body count.

[Anonymous No.19158476]

>>19158332
get a load of this pleb

[Anonymous No.19158487]

>>19158476
the English translator added new chapters and characters, changed the ending and most of the dialog

[Anonymous No.19158499]

>>19158487
Bullshit, how do you know?

[Anonymous No.19158503]

>>19158467
>It's not written for high schoolers
Yes, it is.

>literally an edgy book
No. It isn't.

>entertains you for a little bit
Evidently it got you all hot and bothered. But you've proven that you're rather uninteresting. Imagine getting excited by hypnotizing a bar and slitting some throats and snapping some necks hahaha oh boy what's wrong with you?

>Looking at the edgy cover any normal functioning human can determine the kind of content the novel probably contains
NOT EVEN GOING TO TOUCH THIS ONE LOL

How does it feel to lose an anonymous argument?

[Anonymous No.19158509]

>>19158499
Are you German?

[Anonymous No.19158517]

>>19158503
>not even gonna touch this one haha
>no you're wrong
>NO YOU'RE WONG BECAUSE YOU'RE MAD OK??
Is this how you win arguments? By saying "no" over and over again?


And it's literally not for high schoolers, do some research. And it's clearly edgy. I don't even know how you can debate this. It's edgy, the cover is edgy, the blurb on the back is edgy. If you can't see that, anon you might be genuinely retarded.

[Anonymous No.19158545]

>>19158517
>Is this how you win arguments? By saying "no" over and over again?
You lost when you first posted, bucko. You're missing the part of your brain that let's you see how insanely weird, cringe, and ridiculous you're being.

It's on display.

>And it's literally not for high schoolers, do some research.
I did. I also read the book.

>And it's clearly edgy.
Nah bruh. It isn't. As high concept it seems edgy but the book is not. It's like you're genuinely claiming Lady Chatterley's Lover
is edgy. You're all out of whack.

I bet you will reply to this.

[Anonymous No.19158552]

Good thread!

[Anonymous No.19158555]

>>19158472
I'll check it out after Audition

[Anonymous No.19158567]

>>19158545
I do not wish to engage any further with your 70 IQ brain. Good day moron

[Anonymous No.19158677]

Japanese people are very child-like.

[Anonymous No.19158711]

STOP
READING
WESTABOOS
I don't want to read another Japanese that thinks he's so radical for namedropping Beatles or Star Wars
FUCK OFF

[Anonymous No.19158799]

>>19158567
You got wrekt m8

[Anonymous No.19160498]

Ok

[Anonymous No.19160550]

Western people are very child-like.

[Anonymous No.19160728]

>>19157672
I read this this year and Almost Transparent Blue shortly afterwards. Miso Soup was fine until the middle part when Frank starts murdering everyone. The book really went off the rails for me in the sense that I wasn't expecting things to get so gruesome given the mundanity of the first half. The ending was a little interesting, given the girlfriend made it. Entertaining bit of Japanese pulp fiction all in all.
Almost Transparent Blue was scuffed Japanese Naked Lunch, but in the 1970s, a lot more coherent, shorter, but just as focused on drugs, debauchery, and degeneration. Again, entertaining pulp fiction with the added bonus of the 1970s setting if you're into that.

[Anonymous No.19160739]

>>19160728
ok i'll line that up

[Anonymous No.19160806]

It just too straight forward and not engaging or interesting. It doesn't even get into good edgy territory like something Dennis cooper or Samuel Delany would do. The most it has is the whoooa he puts a woman's cut off ear up her twat oooohooo. Also the whole theme of them trying to get inside Frank's mind and try to understand killers and the whole we live in a Japanese society shit has been done to death and much better in lots of other stuff. Very very disappointed with this novel was really looking forward to get into his work but now I am not even sure if I want to read audition.

[Anonymous No.19161204]

>>19158677
this

[Anonymous No.19162446]

>>19157672
Welcome to all murakami
His target audience has always been university students and women in Japan, it's just the Reddit tier weeabs that have always pushed him as some genius

[Anonymous No.19163104]

This post read like a YA post. With one exception, it is comprised entirely of short sentences which convey only a single idea. In fact, that might well be insulting to some of the more talented YA authors out there. Not that you have to write proficiently in order to judge books, but it makes your claim difficult to take seriously. Also, I'm not sure what YA books you're reading, but most YA I've seen is about mary sue girls overcoming cancer-AIDS and being fawned over by seven guys (and if it's fantasy, also being the chosen one).

Couldn't you have come up with any better criticisms? Or is YA just the bogey-man you throw at things you dislike? Maybe instead of listening to /lit/'s shitty opinions, you should learn how to actually form a thought on your own.

Anyway I never got much out of Ryu Murakami, but 69 and Popular Hits both made me chuckle.

[Anonymous No.19163849]

>>19162446
>women
Wow that actually makes a lot of sense suddenly.

[Anonymous No.19163910]

>>19158396
Expected post

[Anonymous No.19163943]

>>19157672
I had the same experience but I read through it to the end. It was ok. Not enough gore to justify the simplistic prose and structure. Maybe something is lost in translation?

>>19157892
What?>>19158450

[Anonymous No.19163949]

>>19163943
Ignore reference to >>19158450 That was a misclick.

[Anonymous No.19164068]

>>19162446
Lol thanks