If I was forced to sum up this book in one word it simply would be "weird". If I had to decide if I liked it or not- my answer still would be "maybe".
First, it is wonderfully written and translated. The original is in Japanese and my awe at it's translation is limitless. The prose borders on poetry. Descriptions of people and places are wondrously lush. And in my case, since I listened to it on audio book, the voices and characters were such an addition I wonder if I would have been able to completely read this book myself.
The story is surreal. It takes place over a real timeline that is spelled out for you but it wanders between worlds, between realities. It centers around a sort of magic and evil- on one side the ability to psychically help others, on the other the ability to harm others both with the mind and body. At its center is a love story complete with the baggage we all bring to relationships from our past, our family.
To me it is about a woman, harmed in her past, trying to be a new person, but the past keeps creeping in, destroying her new life, and ultimately causing her to take revenge on her past.
But it could be about the man she falls in love with and his journey from the mediocre to the sublime and back again- through a maze of metaphysical relationships and eccentric acquaintances. All of which leave him with an understanding of his wife, of life in general, and of himself. His dreamlike story makes you wonder what is reality and what is a careful rendering of the human mind and the odd ways it processes things after emotional anguish.
The audio book was broken into three parts. After the first, I loved the book, after the second, I wished it had ended already, and after the third- well I am still undecided. Maybe I have to listen again. But I can say that while I listened I mostly knit and I found myself stopping to listen, afraid I would miss something integral to the plot which is unusual for me- so whatever this book is or isn't- is is enthralling.
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