In a quotation on the cover of the book, Murakami said that even he had been surprised by how the book turned out. 'It's about a man who is smart but lonely, has no friends, but somehow attracts women and makes spaghetti,' he speculated. One Twitter user claimed he didn't need to read the book to know the storyline. It is already sitting at number one on .jp's bestseller list.īut Murakami's refusal to reveal anything about the book in advance – a tactic he used to great effect with his last novel, 1Q84, which sold a million copies within a month in 2009 – drew some acerbic comment online. With the publisher Bungeishunjū adding another 100,000 copies within hours of its release to an initial print run of 500,000, according to Reuters, Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki is set to top charts in Japan. Reviewer Chiaki Yoshimura wrote that while the novel lacked the 'strong personalities' of Murakami's acclaimed 1Q84, she 'empathise with Tazaki, who tries to overcome the emotional trauma he suffered in the past while trying to take back his life'. 'From July of his sophomore year at college to January next year, Tsukuru Tazaki was living while mostly thinking about dying,' the novel opens. Now 36, Tazaki is looking back on his empty, colourless life. His did not, and at university he was rejected by his friends. At high school, protagonist Tsukuru Tazaki had four close friends whose names represented different colours. 'The book is filled with strong messages and many encouraging words.'Īccording to the Asahi Shimbun's early review, the novel is 'the tale of a man who tries to overcome his sense of loss and isolation'. 'I got the impression that Murakami faced the disaster head on,' she told the Asahi Shimbun. Mamuro revealed that the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown form the work's backdrop.

On Friday morning, an NHK journalist told the broadcaster he was still only halfway through the 'gripping' title, while Michiko Mamuro, a bookstore employee in central Tokyo, breezed through its 370 pages in a couple of hours.

Colourless tsukuru