Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

 Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

By Haruki Murakami

I think I might have to take a Murakami break after this one. What's familiar: A thirty-something man (Tsukuru Tazaki) is reckoning with a break up and is searching for an answer to what happened. A plot that fits The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Killing Commendatore, and A Wild Sheep Chase. What's different: In this case, the man isn't reeling from a break up with a woman but with a friend group. Back when he was in college, he was inexplicably banished from a group of five friends that were unusually close. The breakup wounded him deeply. Now, on the cusp of a new romantic relationship, he seeks to find out what happened. The answer is surprising and strange: One of his female friends told the others in the group that Tsukuru had raped her; though the others didn't really believe her, they felt they had no option but to cut off ties with Tsukuru in an attempt to salvage her sanity.

It's a rift on a familiar theme, as are the ideas that Murakami explores, namely the ability for the dream world to coincide with the "real" world. Though there is less emphasis on the magical in this book, Tsukuru nevertheless wonders about whether sexual dreams he may have had about his accuser might have actually constituted rape. There is also an emphasis on names, which I remember from the Wind-Up Bird Chronicles. The "colorless" of the title refers to the fact that the main character's surname doesn't refer to a color; his compatriots' all do. Tsukuru's name references making, which is odd given how passive he is throughout. There is also an emphasis on the underground. Tsukuru is a train station engineer, which keeps him underground a lot of the time. And there is a specific piece of classical music: Listz's "Years of Pilgriage", which echo the main character's own search.

One character I can't quite figure out is Haida. He is a young man Tsukuru meets in college. They become fast friends. Then Haida relates a story from his father's past. His father took to the road in his younger years and one day met a man at an inn in rural Japan. They connected, and the strange man revealed that he had been destined to die, which had given him the ability to see people's auras. That evening, Tsukuru felt Haida's presence in his room even though the latter was sleeping on the couch in another room. And then Haida disappears from Tsukuru's life, much like his friend group. I'm not sure how that fits into the narrative. It seems like an add on.

I will say that the ending of this book is about the least satisfying I've ever encountered. Tsukuru has finally taken initiative in his life, telling his girlfriend -- who he had recently seen with another man -- that he loves her. The girlfriend, Sara, says she'll be "honest" with him in three days. The book ends the night before their scheduled meeting. It is a horrible cliffhanger. But I guess that's life.