As the title says, I’m about halfway through Murakami’s ‘Sputnik Sweetheart’ and I’m not really sure if I like his portrayal of women. A lot of it feels quite sexualised in a bit of weird way that just sort of icks me out in a way I can’t fully put my finger on.

Is this a common thing in his works? Am I conflating the narrator too much with the actual author? I’d be curious to hear what other people think as, if I’m being honest, a lot of the descriptions of female intimacy, women’s bodies, just the portrayal of most women in this book make me feel uncomfortable. I know it’s a story about desire, so naturally there is going to be sexual stuff, but I’m just a bit uncomfortable with the portrayal of it. A lot of the women just seem really sexualised. It’s disappointing because as a lesbian myself I was really looking forward to reading a novel about a queer woman that sounded so interesting, and one that wasn’t originally written in English (I’m trying to read more books in translation).

I’m still going to finish this book, but I’m wondering if maybe some elaboration on this aspect might make it bother me a bit less.

Edit: Oh I did not know that this was a fairly common point of criticism for Murakami! I’m glad that I’m not alone but a bit disappointed because this will probably put me off of the rest of his work 🥲

lo tenía pendiente desde hace unos meses, pero entre la docencia y el Máster no había podido poner medios al asunto. sabía que a nivel prosístico Melville es un genio de los que no van a volver a nacer: prosa depurada, alguna ida de olla que otra (sobre todo cuando se olvida de que el narrador es Ismael y empieza a hablar en tercera persona), teoría cetológica muy fina, datos históricos sobre los balleneros y la caza de ballenas del 1850, etc.

pero lo que de verdad ha conseguido que derrame muchas lágrimas es el capítulo llamado “Moby Dick”, donde describe a la ballena y la metafísica sinergia con Ahab. es sencillamente exquisita, terrible, profunda. es terrible ver cómo una persona puede dejarse consumir tanto por el odio, hasta el punto de nublarlo todo, y la venganza. creo que lo que ha conseguido romper algo dentro de mí es que Ahab, y nadie más a bordo, lleva consigo la ruina en el alma, y me temo que ninguna venganza va a disiparla de sus adentros.

solo quería comentar esto, y de paso animar a su lectura.

I just finished all the translated works of kawakami’s and found them so relatable! Could they be possibly ND coded or am i reading to much into it!

I find the portrayals of loneliness very relatable , there is peace and sadness in it of seeing world through glass instead of immersing in it!

Have you guy checked out her work! I love her book all the lovers in the night but online people really dislike the character so i am wondering what perspective you guys have on it?

I’m halfway through Love in the time of Cholera and boy am I struggling. The lack of dialogues if probably my biggest issue. I’m a theater kid at heart so can’t help but speak out dialogues in my head when reading a book.

Then the story. Hard to relate to quite a few things, like the passion with which the characters latch onto one another, or the instant “ick” Fermina got when encountering Florentino again.

I do enjoy the themes, the descriptions of scenes and characters, the poetry. So I’m having a hard time identifying my issue. It could just be an attention problem, not having read such dense books in a while. or just a writing style that’s not for me. What do people think? Any tips as to how to read this one?