The Perks of Being a Wallflower ( Stephen Chbosky)

"It is a story narrated by a teenager who goes by the alias of "Charlie"; he describes various scenes in his life by writing a series of letters to an anonymous person, whom he does not know personally. The story explores topics such as introversion, teenage sexuality, homosexuality, abuse, and the awkward times of adolescence. The book also touches strongly on drug use and Charlie's experiences with this. " (From Wikipedia)

It does sound like something I normally dig. Afterall what "Charlie" is put through, those happy and sad moments, is something I believe every teenager or young adult has been through (or is still going through); something that we should be familiar with in one way or another; something that we can relate ourselves to.

Surely when "Charlie" touches on the tragedies that happen in his life - the suicide of his friend, his sister's teenage pregnancy, domestic violence etc, it touched my heart. However, to my surprise, I was actually bored that I decided to stop half way through instead of finishing it. I found the way the story is narrated monotonous that I simply couldn't be bothered to pick up the pace to find out more. And I want to read no more tragedies.

Sputnik Sweetheart (Haruki Murakami)

I was actually in a rush to finish the story (and review) before I started my industrial training.

This is not the first Haruki Murakami’s novel I have read. In the past, I have read Kafka on the Shore and I loved it very much. After that, I tried The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, which unfortunately I had to quit half way through due to the hectic semester but I intend to pick it up soon to reread.

I must admit, I have high expectations toward Haruki Murakami’s works after reading Kafka on the Shore. Perhaps that explains why I felt the disappointment, more and more especially toward the end of the story. To simply put, the story didn’t live up to my expectations. At one point, I was like “Yeah, this is it. This is exactly what I am looking for.” But at the end, I was let down. It is like one of those moments when you are teased and pained in pleasure yet the fun is denied when you are close to the point of orgasm. The feelings of emptiness lingered long after I closed my laptop.

What’s so fascinating about reading Haruki Murakami’s? The stories always bring me to somewhere unknown and unexpected. And whatever that is happening to the characters is beyond my imagination. In Kafka on the Shore, humans can communicate with cats and fishes (or was it something else) rain from the sky. Meanwhile in Sputnik Sweetheart, we are told the story of Miu’s hair turning all white after being abandoned on the Ferris wheel at the amusement park. All these never ceased to amaze me, thus provided me the much needed escape from reality.

Back to Sputnik Sweetheart, the theme revolves around sex, love and loneliness. I would say it is beautifully written - the unrequited love the narrator K has for Sumire, Sumire’s first love to Miu, a woman 17 years older than her and the oppressed love affair between K and his girlfriend, the mother of one of his students. The climax of the story is when Sumire goes missing during her trip to Greece with Miu. Whatever happened to her is never found out (and thus remained a mystery to the readers). While K and Miu carry on with their respective normal lives but part of them is dying with the gone of Sumire. I can't really pinpoint what but I expect more than that for the storyline laaaa. Also, one of the things I failed to fathom - what does the shoplifting incident have to do with anything? Perhaps it does signal an end to be put on K and his girlfriend’s secret love affair. But why is it necessary to K? Or maybe I should have taken my time to read it.

"Why do people have to be this lonely? What’s the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the Earth put here just to nourish human loneliness?"