Sputnik Sweetheart
| Sputnik Sweetheart | |
|---|---|
 1st edition (Japanese) |
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| Author(s) | Haruki Murakami |
| Original title | スプートニクの恋人 Supūtniko no koibito' |
| Translator | Philip Gabriel |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Kodansha |
| Publication date | 1999 |
| Published in English |
April 2001 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 229 |
| ISBN | ISBN 1-86046-825-X |
| OCLC Number | 45990714 |
Sputnik Sweetheart (スプートニクの恋人 Supūtoniku no koibito) is a novel by Haruki Murakami, published in Japan, by Kodansha, in 1999. An English translation by Philip Gabriel was published in 2001.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
The plot features three main characters: Sumire, Miu, and 'K'.
The novel's protagonist, Sumire, is an aspiring writer who survives on a family stipend and the creative input of her only friend, the novel's male narrator, 'K'. 'K' is an elementary school teacher, 25 years old, and in love with Sumire, though she does not quite share his feelings. At a wedding, Sumire meets an Ethnic Korean woman, Miu. The two strike up a conversation and Sumire starts to work for the older, married woman. Over time, she realises that she is attracted to her, and thus, that she might be a homosexual.
Miu proposes that Sumire accompany her on a business trip to France. Sumire obliges her. In France, they meet a gifted British writer who suggests the two women make use of his vacant house on a Greek Island. Miu takes Sumire to Greece, and as they spend their days together, Sumire's attraction to Miu grows stronger.
One morning, Miu discovers that Sumire is missing. She telephones 'K' and asks him to fly out to Greece, to help find his friend. 'K' obliges but their extensive efforts to locate Sumire are unsuccessful.
With the end of summer approaching, 'K' and Miu return to Japan separately. 'K' goes about returning to his old life. He never hears from Miu again, despite her promising to keep in touch.
As with other Murakami works, Sputnik Sweetheart lacks a clear, concise ending. If the plot is to be taken literally, devoid of subjective interpretation, then one night, out of the blue, Sumire calls 'K' and tells him that she is back in Japan. She conveys that she is ready to reciprocate his feelings, and asks him to pick her up at the same phone booth she always called him from.
[edit] Themes & Literary Interpretation
Murakami explores familiar themes such as the effects of prolonged loneliness, growing up emotionally stunted in an overwhelmingly conformist society, and the conflict between following one's dreams and clamping down on them in order to assimilate into society.
While Sumire is an emotional and spontaneous individual who often appears to be a misfit in society, "K", the narrator, is a person who has through sheer force of will moulded himself into another person, one who integrates seamlessly into the wider society and culture around him, and the transition leaves him emotionally stunted and unable to express his feelings. When Sumire is also, through her interaction with Miu, forcibly shaped into a person other than she is, the transformation is neither permanent nor successful.
The book's major themes include loneliness and people's inability to truly know themselves or the people they love. This is symbolized by the recurring metaphor of the Sputnik satellites orbiting at a distance from the earth. As in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Dance Dance Dance, Murakami uses (or rather, suggests) alternate worlds as a plot device. "K", the narrator, is a markedly different protagonist from those of Murakami's other novels. He is considerably less given to or adept at wisecracks, maintains a respectable and stable profession as a schoolteacher, and is less self-confident and much more introverted and conflicted than any other Murakami protagonist.
Many elements of the plot remain deliberately unresolved, contributing to the idea that true knowledge is elusive, and actual events of the story are obscured in favour of the characters' perceptions.
The book ends with the theme of The Telephone, which appears in numerous books by Murakami, usually when telephoning from a far-away place, whose location is unclear.
[edit] In popular culture
The book is mentioned in the movie Paris, Je T'aime, while a passage of the book was used in channel 4's tv drama Nearly Famous.
[edit] See also
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