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In the Miso Soup
 
 
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In the Miso Soup (Hardcover)

by Ryu Murakami (Author), Ralph McCarthy (Translator) "My name is Kenji ..." (more)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 180 pages
  • Publisher: Kodansha International Ltd (29 Feb 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 4770029578
  • ISBN-13: 978-4770029577
  • Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 15.4 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 549,494 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #10 in  Books > Fiction > Cult Authors > Murakami, Ryu

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Product Description

Review

'A blistering portrait of contemporary Japan, its nihilism and decadence wrapped up within one of the most savage thrillers since The Silence of the Lambs' Kirkus Review 'Deft and fascinating A grisly tour of the darkness and confusion of the human mind' New York Times 'There is no shortage of terrors in this novel Atmosphere predominates, and the claustrophobia of the backstreets of Tokyo is intensely imagined' Daily Telegraph 'In the Miso Soup stays with the reader long after the book is finished and Murakami makes his readers as complicit as Kenji in their desire to understand why Frank is the way he is' Guardian --This text refers to the Paperback edition.


Kirkus Reviews

‘One of the most savage thrillers since The Silence of the Lambs. Shocking but gripping’ --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
My name is Kenji. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

24 Reviews
5 star:
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4 star:
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3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
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1 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (24 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Strange, unpleasant and essential reading., 17 Nov 2004
Murakami wrote the screenplay for the deeply nasty film "Audition".

I have to say that I didn't know this when I first read this book, which I picked up on the strength of one of his other books "Coin locker Babies" (which I picked up in mistake for a Haruki Murakami novel... a happy error!).

This book is every bit as nasty.

I will give nothing away, except to say that the book gives a completely convincing account of contemporary Tokyo and the place of the outsider within it, be that outsider foreign or one of the many "underclass" who seem to wander the streets of the city, and that once you have started it, you will be reading non-stop to the end.

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Miso Soup, 1 May 2006
By Fred Stidston (Cranborne, Dorset) - See all my reviews
This review is from: In The Miso Soup (Paperback)
Started well with a lot of promise and mystery.
Enjoyed it alot with alot of expectation for the ending. Nice writing style too, though could have been more sensitive in places.

However, for me, the ending for me was too simple.

Once it had built up to the climactic halfway point all the questions in your mind that made the story extraordinary and exciting were simply answered.
In place of the earlier excitement was a generally more philosophical tone that was too subtle and underplayed to be engaging and failed to add anything essential or valueable.

I got well into the book and couldn't put it down, but after The Main Event of the story, my continued enthusiasm was not well rewarded.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars In the Miso Soup, 14 Jun 2005
By E. PARRY (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: In the Miso Soup (Hardcover)
What at a glance appears to be a fairly standard concept for a novel - is our protagonists client the serial killer at large? - is taken in a very different direction by the time the story ends. It's a direction that I can only imagine a Japanese author taking it: disturbing but poignant, and maybe a little frustrating in its ambiguity - though it's the frustrating things that are ultimately most rewarding. Of course only a Japanese author could have written it because the novel is essentially about the closed nature of Japan's society: alienating to foreigners and in a state of self-denial.

I'm usually a slow reader but this novel hooked me in from the start and I finished it in less than 24 hours. The writing style is much more fluid and rich than other Japanese novels I've read, such as Haruki Murakami's, though I'm never sure exactly how much of that is down to the translator rather than the original author. The author does, however, clearly have excellent ability when it comes to the pacing. Perhaps around the last third of the novel it loses its narrative drive, but the change to a slower, more thoughtful style is what gives the book its unique edge, taking it from being simply a gripping read to a novel that leaves a lasting impression and screams out to be read again.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

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5.0 out of 5 stars Kenji's ordeal
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4.0 out of 5 stars In The Miso Soup
The story is told by Kenji, an unlicensed tour guide of Tokyo, however this isn't the normal tourist traps, he is a guide of the darker back streets and red light district. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Simon Savidge "savidgeread...

5.0 out of 5 stars Astonishing Writing
This is my favourite book.

Fast paced plot line but always clear and sensitive, total sense of being there but never over-descriptive, short but with everything said,... Read more
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I picked this up after reading other Japanese fiction and found it one of the most rewarding reads so far. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Minkle MacTinkle

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In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami is on the surface a gritty hard boiled thriller set in the Kabuki-cho red-light district of Tokyo as the approaching New Year leaves near empty... Read more
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4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting ... and unsettling
This is an excellent read. It's very compelling, and although it might get a bit daft towards the end, 'In the Miso Soup' is a really interesting meditation on Japanese culture... Read more
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4.0 out of 5 stars A smooth and intensely gripping read
I was bought this book by a friend as a birthday present. I found it compelling, very atmospheric, evocative and chilling. Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars Scary and chilling
This was a FANTASTIC book. The beginning is a little slow but once Kenji's suspicions are raised about Frank the plot thickens. Read more
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