In the Miso Soup

What would you do if you were confronted with a serial killer? Go to the police? Are you sure?

This short 180-page novella is perfect for quick reads between whatever you have going. Dead on in its characterization of both American and Japanese characters, its vivid scenery, its execution, and its portrayal of the Japanese society at this current point in time.

It's a realistic, grisly read that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.

This book's rating was only due to Murakami's excellent descriptions of terror/fear, and the book's potential. 2 stars otherwise.
The gist of the plot is that an American tourist hires a guide to walk him through Tokyo's red-light district - and the guide realizes that his client is not all he is cracked up to be, and he might be the serial killer terrorizing the city. What follows are ruminations on Japanese society à la Fight Club, and a threadbare plot about everything and nothing that is surprisingly banal despite its rather gory descriptions.
Murakami tries hard, he really does. The descriptions of Tokyo are vivid, and some tangents on why Japanese society is the way it is does manage to grab you - but the pacing is all over the place ( extremely frenetic in some parts and slow as molasses in the others), and the length was too short, making the last quarter of the book seem like Murakami's attempt to cram a full book's worth of material in those pages, which unsurprisingly doesn't work.
If you can handle uneven pacing and gruesome digressions on morality, then go for it - it's worth the read. Not worth the time in any other case.

Chilling, frightening, was losing my mind along with Kenji.

Have to admit it felt a bit boring at times. Took me longer than planned to finish.
But that may also be because I was too anxious about what was going on to keep on reading lol.
No but it was seriously so tense at times that's crazy.

An interesting take on mental insanity embodied by Frank. I enjoyed the portrait of Japan's night life & lonely souls as well.

The ending was a bit lacking though and some scenes were a tad too graphic but ig that's what I signed for.

This was a fantastic read! It's been a while since I read Ryū Murakami and I had this book on my want to read list for a while now. I knew I liked Ryū Murakami, and I knew what type of books I'm getting from him, but I kind of forgot how intense they were.

The novel builds up beautifully, it makes you wonder what's coming next. You are intrigued about the characters, and, at least for me, it went in an unexpected direction. Of course, about half way through the novel I made the horrible mistake of looking up if there's a movie made after the book and I accidentally read some of the synopsis and that ruined it for me a bit. What can you do. I did manage to read it, though, so it's not a complete loss, I'd say.

And really, regarding the film I could only find some news about being one in the making, but I don't think I would want to watch it. I might, though. Reading this book I got a new understanding of Japanese horror films in general, I understand them better, but at the same time, I think it would be really hard to translate what the characters go through from book to screen. Their reactions are so natural, in a way, but on screen they might come across as bizarre and wouldn't make sense. I don't see how a movie could do justice to In The Miso Soup.

The book is narrated by Kenji and I liked a lot reading what and how he thought, about what was happening and him describing what he was seeing. Fair warning here: at some point things get really graphic. I actually found it disturbing, but in a curious kind of way. I did find myself liking the unusual comparisons and descriptions. Also, how can you even think about some of that stuff in the first place? I was surprised and kind of shocked at the same time.

The ending was brilliant as far as I'm concerned.

I liked the analogy and, weirdly, it made perfect sense. It came as some sort of realisation. I think I understand Kenji, it all feels almost normal. What a weird thing.

There were a few comments and remarks I didn't quite like, but I don't think I should go into them anyway, so I am going to ignore all that and instead just say that In The Miso Soup is a brilliant novel and definitely a good read for any fan of horror or of Ryū Murakami. I recommend reading it in one sitting (although I didn't do that) and, preferably, don't read the synopsis beforehand.

3.5 Stars for In the Miso Soup.

I really enjoyed this read so dont let the 3.5 stars put you off, this is a short punchy read in a horror/thriller genre mix, I've been really into Japanese horror recently and I wanted to try some slightly different reads.

Minor spoilers/plot points below (you've been warned)



In the Miso Soup follows a tout/tour guide called Kenji.
Kenji shows tourists (mainly Americans) around Japans version of the Red Light District showing the best clubs and pubs along with the more X rated stuff that i'm sure I dont need to spell out.

Kenji is hired by an American tourist called Frank (instantly seems odd) for three days, Frank wants to see all the spots, his story doesn't add up and he keeps tripping up on small white lies, making Kenji doubt how much Frank is saying is true. Then the bodies start piling up in all the spots Kenji and Frank visit.

I wont say much more other than this is an enjoyable read, I wouldn't say its a classic but I would recommend it to people who want to try something different especially people like me who are fascinated by Japan.

FYI
There is one very VERY graphic killing scene that I found difficult to read through, if your triggered by heavy violence this might not be for you.

Chilling, frightening, was losing my mind along with Kenji.

Have to admit it felt a bit boring at times. Took me longer than planned to finish.
But that may also be because I was too anxious about what was going on to keep on reading lol.
No but it was seriously so tense at times that's crazy.

An interesting take on mental insanity embodied by Frank. I enjoyed the portrait of Japan's night life & lonely souls as well.

The ending was a bit lacking though and some scenes were a tad too graphic but ig that's what I signed for.

20 year old Kenji is a nightlife guide for foreign sex tourists in Tokyo. He encounters Frank, an American looking for a good time in the red light district of Kabuki-cho on the last remaining days of 1996. Something is off about Frank and Kenji is somehow convinced this tourist is the man responsible for a spate of grisly murders in the area.

Far too much time is spent explaining the commercial sex-trade in Kabuki-cho. Meanwhile when Kenji takes a break from obsessing over how he's convinced Frank is clearly a murderer, he otherwise despairs over the culture he was raised in and the emptiness of Japanese life. It's a lot of tense set-up for an otherwise conventional, if not gory resolution. The back third of the book could have made for an interesting short story but all told it felt disjointed, meandering and uneven.

কি লিখবো বুঝতে পারছি না। মনে হচ্ছে ঘিলুতে আর্থারাইটিস হয়েছে।

একজন অর্ধোন্মাদ আমেরিকান সিরিয়াল কিলারের গল্প এটা। দুনিয়ার হাজারটা শহর বাদ দিয়ে সে জাপানের টোকিওতে খুন করতে এসেছে। টোকিওতেই ক্যানো এসেছে? মা দুর্গা জানেন! লেখার ধাঁচ দেখে মনে হচ্ছিলো, সদ্য BDSM পর্নোগ্রাফির স্বাদ পেয়েছে এমন কোনো ইশকুল বালকের রচনা এটা। আর কাহিনির যা ছিরি! সেক্সুয়াল থ্রিলার লিখতে গিয়ে সেক্সুয়াল কমেডি লিখে ফেলেছে। গল্পের গরু শুধু গাছে ওঠেনি, মগডালে বসে ঘুড়ি ওড়াচ্ছে! একই সঙ্গে হাস্যকর এবং বিরক্তিকর জিনিস উৎপাদন করা যেমন-তেমন বাবাজির কম্মো নয়। রামছাগলের ক্যানো দাড়ি থাকে, এই প্রশ্নের যেমন কোনো উত্তর হয় না, এই গল্পের খুনির কাজকারবার এবং অন্যান্য ঘটনার তেমনি কোনো লজিক্যাল উত্তর নেই। এমনকি বইয়ের নামকরণের হেতুটাও উদ্ধার করতে পারলাম না আমি। বইয়ের শেষ অংশ জুড়ে খুনি তার ব্যাকস্টোরি বোঝাবার অনেক চেষ্টা করেছে। কিন্তু সেইসব চূড়ান্ত হাবিজাবি কথাবার্তা বিশ্লেষণ করার শক্তি আপাতত হারিয়ে ফেলেছি আমি। লেখক তাঁর চরিত্রদের সঙ্গে গাঁজার নৌকায় চড়ে পাহাড়তলি ছাড়িয়ে আরো বহুদূর চলে গেছেন, কিন্তু বেচারা পাঠক আমি, ফেন্সিডিল ছাড়াই টাশকি খেয়ে বসে আছি!

মানে, পোস্ট-মডার্নিস্ট noir-এর নামে হাতির ডিম, ঘোড়ার ডিম, শুঁয়োপোকার ডিম, যা-খুশি চালিয়ে দিলেই হলো, নাকি? টাইমস লিটারারি সাপ্লিমেন্ট আবার এই বইকে “স্মার্ট অ্যান্ড স্ন্যাপি সাইকোসেক্সুয়াল পাল্প থ্রিলার” উপাধি দিয়েছে। “দা টাইমস” ম্যাগাজিন বলেছে, এই বই পড়ে এডগার অ্যালান পো এবং দস্তয়েভস্কির কথা মনে পড়ে গ্যাছে তাদের। বলিহারি মাইরি! বলিহারি! “আপনি থাকচেন স্যার!”

শিগগিরি খানতিনেক শিব্রামের গল্প না-পড়লে এই অখাদ্য রাবিশের প্রভাব শরীর থেকে বেরোবে না!

After finishing In the Miso Soup, I was very curious to know how other people reacted to it. I can definitely see why this book would be divisive, especially when it seems the book is advertised to be a thriller. It is a thriller but it's also the author's reflection on Japanese culture at the time it was written and a comparison of that to American culture. I'd argue that aspect becomes much more important than the “thriller” part of the plot, especially after the halfway mark.
All that being said, I genuinely did enjoy this book. So much unnerved me in this story. While a lot of credit for that goes to the American tourist character, Frank, there were quite a few little details that made me physically recoil from the book in my hand. The gore definitely had shock value. Maybe a little too over-the-top but I enjoy that kind of stuff.

The main things I'd warn readers about:
The perspective of the book is very male-oriented and the main character is a bit... judgemental. You don't get to see much of the perspective of women in the sex industry. I assume this is done on purpose for the theme of the book but it's still pretty jarring.
The pacing of the book is strange but I hesitate to say it's “bad” or “wrong”. Don't expect it to follow the pacing of a usual thriller.
The gore is pretty shocking if you aren't used to over-the-top stuff.