Book description
In 1969 we were seventeen. We listened to the Beatles, the Stones, the Doors, the Velvet Underground, the Grateful Dead, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Bob Dylan. We read Rimbaud, played guitars, smoked pot, fell in love, rebelled against the establishment, protested the war in Vietnam, barricaded our high school, and produced the first rock festival in our home town - a small city in a remote southwestern corner of Japan. "69" is a roman de clef about coming of age during a time that left its mark on baby boomers around the world - a time when we really believed we could change the world before it changed us. By turns hilarious, cynical, frivolous, and poignant, the book is infused from start to finish with Ryu Murakami's relentless energy and optimism; and it simply refuses to get tedious, preach, or "literary" for a single moment.

I tried to read this book, but had to give up half way through, as I found I could not put up with such a misogynistic book. This book has gotten great reviews, but it struck me that all the reviewers were men, so maybe they didn't feel as awful reading this book as I did...

The misogynistic tone of the book is evident immediately from the first page, and it gets worse. Women and girls are not seen as people by the narrator, but as sex objects. And sex is something that med do to women, who have to be tricked into bed. Yeah, I'm not going to waste my time reading shit like this.

Kirja vapautuu Vuosaaren kauppakeskus Columbuksen Marian Konditorian BookCrossing-kirjahyllyyn!

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Picked this up from Columbus today as it promised to be smart and funny. Oops, CandyDarling didn't quite agree... Will give it a try, though.

I am too old for this kind of book. I have yet to find a Japanese writer I would have liked, didn't happen today, either. But the language and attitude CandyDarling was referring to is common to the avarage adolescent male who tries to impress his peers. One only has to sit in a tram with a bunch of male youths and this is how they speak when trying to appear cool.

On offer at a meet-up.

No takers at the Helsinki meet-up, next stop Tampere.

Took this at the meet-up to maybe get a Japan book in the countries of the world challenge, but now that I read the former journal entries I'm not sure if I can read this book after all...we'll see!

I did read the book, although I didn't find it particularly good, even if the setting itself (small Japanese city in 1969) was interesting. It was easy and quick to read after all. The protagonist's attitude towards girls and women was indeed awful, and he was pretty much a selfish fool doing stupid things. However, and sad as it is, that's not surprising among 17-year-old boys regardless of time and place.

On the bookcrossing table in the Sampola library lobby.