Hey there, everyone! Welcome to a new feature of my blog: Reading with Robin! As a librarian who loves to read, I also love to talk about books and connect other readers with books they can fall in love with. In these posts, I’m going to talk about what I’ve been reading, what I liked about the book, and who I’d recommend the book to next.
This entry’s book is: Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami!
This is the fourth Murakami novel I’ve read and I have to admit, he is growing on me. Sputnik Sweetheart tells the story of a young man, K, who is in love with his best friend, Sumire. Sumire, an aspiring novelist, falls in love with a fascinating older woman, Miu. This tornado of passion completely derails Sumire’s comfortable life and she is swept up into Miu’s orbit, desperate to touch her but destined to be kept forever at arm’s length. K and Miu meet when Sumire inexplicably disappears. Can the two people who knew her best discover the truth of what happened to Sumire? Or is it a mystery that is not meant to be solved?
I think what I liked best about this offering of Murakami’s was the way in which he explored the themes of isolation, loneliness, and connection. Murakami’s use of evocative language always makes his books worth reading, but he seemed to tap into something very vulnerable here. We have all felt like we were floating alone through an uncaring universe and this novel captures the ache of that emotion perfectly, while hinting that such a condition, while universal and human, need not be eternal.
Fans of Murakami’s work will definitely want to pick up this book and give it a read, but it’s appeal is far wider. If you enjoy reading authors like Paulo Coelho, Pablo Neruda, or Gabriel Garcia Marquez, this might be the perfect book for you. If you enjoy watching television or films like Midnight Diner, Lost in Translation, or The Squid and the Whale, give this book a spin – it could be right up your alley!
Robin Jeffrey 
One thought on “Reading with Robin: Sputnik Sweetheart”