okumak Underground internet üzerinden

A dark and beautiful book. Haruki Kurayama does Svetlana Alexievich*, brilliantly. Not an easy read: An island nation, whose inhabitants would rather walk past, than help? Been there... but if you have the capacity to help? I have been there too, And I have helped. A dark exploration of the Japanese Psyche (although I doubt that it is a unique 'psyche). * If you have read 'Underground', and want to find more (It is hard to say 'enjoyed', as there is little joy, in 'Underground') read Chernobyl Prayer/Voices from Chernobyl, by Svetlana Alexievich: Short stories spoken by those who were there.

Noble but Tedious This was something of a struggle to read, Murakami is an excellent novelist and his talent with words is impressive so I was disappointed to find that the majority of the text is uninterrupted testimony from the victims of the Tokyo Gas Attack. While it was noble of Murakami to give a voice to these victims and family members of victims, it does become a tad repetitive, each chapter essentially being a variation of the same story. It's only towards the end when he speaks to medical practitioners and family members that the stories vary and the book becomes more interesting. Murakami received criticism for Underground that he only really took the perspective of the victims and missed out the perpetrators altogether. In the second part he makes up for it by interviewing members of the Aum cult responsible for the Gas attack, but not the ones directly involved. It makes for a fascinating portrait of how people get caught up in new religions and become trapped while escaping one society by another (that's not too dissimilar to the one most of us inhabit. The testimonies vary significantly and as a result this makes a much more interesting read than Underground.

The second half is better! Why join Aum? The first section is a compilation of accounts of witnesses of the underground Sarin gas attack. Murakami carried out the interviews himself. The interviews shed light on the Tokyoite character. More often then not, even when it was clear there was a problem, commuters chose to do nothing because other people were not reacting - a disturbing form of denial. Accounts of the different ways people suffered after the event, both mentally and physically was also fascinating. Accounts did become repetitive. I absolutely understand that after carrying out interviews with witnesses and editing content Murakami possibly didn't feel he could simply dispose of some of the less compelling stories. Or maybe he simply didn't want to. I absolutely enjoyed the second section the most: interviews with Aum Shinrikyo, and the various reasons these members joined the cult. It becomes possible to catch a glimpse of life within the cult, and how people were used by leaders: for sex, for prestige, for manual labor and to carry out the attack.

Another great book by Haruki Murakami. A great book. Note to readers this is NOT a fiction or one of his quirky classic stories. This is a great book depicting the terroist attack in Japan in 1995.Contains all of Murakamis hard work collecting statements and facts regarding the attack.Ipurchased as a huge fan of Haruki Murakami and a lover of history.

better than that which was advertised) The book arrived in thin plastic wrapping and I found upon opening that there is a crease that runs along the front cover an inch away from the opening. This was'nt mentioned in the descriptionin. The cover was different to the one advertised ( interesting photo art, better than that which was advertised).Decided the book was acceptable.