Coin Locker Babies
Registered by 
GoryDetails
of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 3/13/2021
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 3/13/2021 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
3 journalers for this copy...
I got this softcover from an online seller. I'd heard of the "coin locker baby" phenomenon - in, among other places, a volume of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service - though usually in the form of an intentional "drop your unwanted babies here, no questions asked" setup. In this book, the title refers to ordinary train-station coin lockers, where people sometimes abandon babies - living or dead - without regard to whether they'll be found and rescued or not... The opening paragraphs are extremely earthy and harrowing, showing a mother whose deliberate actions indicate she's very well aware that she's doing something that she doesn't want to be taken to account for, but also that she has no emotional connection to the baby at all. I don't know when I've felt quite so horrified on page one of a book {rueful grin}.
Luckily, things brighten up a bit as the story progresses, introducing the first baby Kiku - now a senior boy at the orphanage - and his friend Hashi, another coin-locker baby, who tells Kiku about their shared origin-stories. Murakami's writing is such that the horrible things are even more horrible and the funny things even more funny (odd as it is to imagine humor in a story with a setup like this one), and it's definitely involving; you get stuck in the story, for good or ill...
The third main character is Anemone, a young woman with her own issues - and with a pet crocodile, for extra surreal-points. The paths of these three will cross and tangle, and the story weaves from lost children hoping to find a home to desperate people attempting to destroy those who've abandoned them, whether it's their mothers or the entire population of Tokyo. Yeah, it's... pretty far out. I can't say that I got attached to the extremely-troubled main characters, but were there ever some memorable scenes in this book! And the ending - well, I admit I was pretty much staggered by that, despite all the lead-ups along the way.
Luckily, things brighten up a bit as the story progresses, introducing the first baby Kiku - now a senior boy at the orphanage - and his friend Hashi, another coin-locker baby, who tells Kiku about their shared origin-stories. Murakami's writing is such that the horrible things are even more horrible and the funny things even more funny (odd as it is to imagine humor in a story with a setup like this one), and it's definitely involving; you get stuck in the story, for good or ill...
The third main character is Anemone, a young woman with her own issues - and with a pet crocodile, for extra surreal-points. The paths of these three will cross and tangle, and the story weaves from lost children hoping to find a home to desperate people attempting to destroy those who've abandoned them, whether it's their mothers or the entire population of Tokyo. Yeah, it's... pretty far out. I can't say that I got attached to the extremely-troubled main characters, but were there ever some memorable scenes in this book! And the ending - well, I admit I was pretty much staggered by that, despite all the lead-ups along the way.
I'm sending this to BCer Firegirl, to fill a wish. Enjoy!
What a wonderful surprise! Thank you, GD, for your continued generosity. <3
Received this book a few days ago - thank you! It's not a title I would have chosen for myself, but it looks very intriguing!
Journal Entry 5 by Whiteraven at Idlewild Park in Burlington, Kentucky USA on Monday, February 6, 2023
I'm super late noting this (I forgot). Left in the LFL in Idlewild Park.
