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Ryu Murakami’s "Coin Locker Babies": Drawing in an Audience


For the past week, I’ve been engrossed in Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami (see the picture, left). My friend had shown it to me about a month ago, and, just by reading the front cover flap, I felt intrigued by the subject matter.

The book is roughly 300+ pages, but already I’m nearing the end of the book after only reading it for one week. The first sentence immediately drew me in, and, although a few parts have been a little slow in reading (Murakami likes to focus on descriptions/lists), the book in general has been very satisfying for me to read.

It’s books like these that make me feel really inspired: the writer takes a unique topic, twists it into this fantastical plot, and keeps going with it. Murakami is really talented in drawing the audience into the book fully. Although I haven’t read any of his other works yet, the reviews I have come across for his other novels have been nothing but positive ones.

I have to admit, the subject matter in this book may not be for those who get a queasy stomach (some parts become a bit too graphic), but it’s all very well written. I didn’t even realize that this book was meant to be somewhat “futuristic” until I noticed the story’s timeframe and the publication date of the novel (the novel was published in 1980; the story is set in the late 1980s).

I’m certainly looking forward to reading more of Murakami’s works, and I do believe I have found some spot of inspiration from this reading episode.