Categories
Back Seat Book Club Shows

Back Seat Book Club – Book Nine: South of the Border, West of the Sun

Author: Haruki Murakami, translator: Philip Gabriel

Published: 1992

Vintage

Plot Summary – Growing up in the suburbs of post-war Japan, it seemed to Hajime that everyone but him had brothers and sisters. His sole companion was Shimamoto, also an only child. Together they spent long afternoons listening to her father’s record collection. But when his family moved away, the two lost touch. Now Hajime is in his thirties. After a decade of drifting he has found happiness with his loving wife and two daughters, and success running a jazz bar. Then Shimamoto reappears. She is beautiful, intense, enveloped in mystery. Hajime is catapulted into the past, putting at risk all he has in the present.

Quick Thoughts [forthcoming]

“Sometimes when I look at you, I feel I’m gazing at a distant star. 
It’s dazzling, but the light is from tens of thousands of years ago.
Maybe the star doesn’t even exist any more. Yet sometimes that light seems more real to me than anything.”

Your Hosts:

  • Lena
  • Scott

Recorded 04/25/13

Next Time: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *