reality

Categorized as science fiction, this novel relates a story so possible, it no longer seems like science fiction. Because it is so possible, I found it one of the most disturbing stories I have ever read. The first person narrator relates her personal story, the story of two of her best friends, and that of several other students at the boarding school where they have lived all their lives until they turn 16. Her feelings, her relationships with the other students and with the guardians who run the school are described in great detail and always from her point of view. At the age of 16, they are all sent to various places called Cottages where they experience their first interactions with anything beyond the perimeter of the boarding school where they have always lived and begin the training for the rest of their lives.

As I read this novel, I kept thinking of Epstein and his international ring which seemed to be out of the public eye until recently. If he could do this for decades without the general public knowing, I kept wondering if something like what occurs in this novel is actually occurring internationally and we just do not know it. I do know there is a black market for what occurs in the novel and that little to nothing is done about it. And given how little reaction officially overall has occurred regarding the Epstein files, would the general public accept what occurs in this novel if they felt it would benefit them personally. I do not want to say too much because it might ruin the novel for those who might want to read it and find out.

This is my fourth Murakami book in the past couple of months and his latest work. In the Afterword he notes that the core of this long novel is a novella published in 1980 in a literary magazine. He was never satisfied with it and never allowed it to be republished in book form. Yet he knew “this contained something vital for me.” Like his other works I have read, the settings include young people, libraries, and strange events many of which are akin to what is called magical realism. The boundaries between reality and the imagination are blurred and questions who we are and what is real.

It begins with a young couple, 17 and 16, in love. The girl tells the boy about this strange walled town and tells him her real self resides there. She describes it in detail and tells him he could go there and become the Dream Reader in the library in this town which has no books, just old dreams that need to be read and where the main animal form is unicorns who often die in mass during the harsh winters there. One day with no warning, she disappears. In one form or another he spends the rest of his life searching for her. Somehow he ends up in this bizarre town where he has to give up his shadow to remain. He has substantial issues with this as he watches his shadow become ill and nearly die.

Later, after a successful career as a book dealer for a large corporation, he suddenly retires and decides to apply for a head library position in a small town in the remote mountains. He meets the previous head librarian whose life is full of mystery and where the reality of this real place and the bizarre town seem blurred. He meets a strange teenager who practically lives in the library reading books with great rapidity day after day. His relationship with the boy develops and he sees what he has been seeking his entire life.

This book takes a look at what is reality, the subconscious, and life’s meaning. It is also an ode to libraries and books and love.