Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Year of Pilgrimage (Haruki Murakami)
a glance review
‘People change’ Sara said
‘True enough’ Tsukuru said
‘People do change. And no matter how close we once were, and how much we opened up to each other, maybe neither of us knew anything substantial about each other.’
This novel is one of my favorite novels written by a Japanese author, the one and only, Haruki Murakami. As usual, Murakami’s big theme in his novel is about loneliness, mystery, and a deep sorrow. Just like this one.
The book tells about a young man named Tsukuru Tazaki who have been abandoned by his four friends from high school without any single reason. He brought the pain of being left alone to the adulthood, feeling worthless as a person. He ended up living in his own life without any friend or a partner because of his trauma.
The story is not as simple as I told. Later on, he met a woman named Sara, and he wanted to have a serious relationship with her. However, Sara found out that Tazaki has an unresolved thing in the past that still haunted him, waiting to be demolished.
Then, Tazaki decided to meet each one of his four friends and asked them why he is the one who being left out from the group. As a result, he discovered that something big has happened without he knowing it. One of his four friends do not have a present address. (No spoiler)
Murakami’s works is never failed. Very worth reading.
My favorite quotes from this book:
- “Life is long, and sometimes cruel.”
- “We survived. You and I. And those who survive have a duty. Our duty is to do our best to keep on living. Even if our lives are not perfect.”
- “We truly believed in something back then, and we knew we were kind of people capable of believing in something — with all our hearts. And that kind of hope will never simply vanish.”
