Book Review : Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

Hi. I'm here to review a book I recently read. This book is by the renowned author Haruki Murakami, known for his famous work "Kafka on The Shore" (which I'll discuss in another post). However, in this post, I'm going to review and share my thoughts on "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki - And His Years of Pilgrimage." I found this book in a preloved bookstore and was immediately drawn to it after reading its synopsis on Goodreads. The vintage edition I found added to its sophistication.

The story revolves around the main character named Tsukuru Tazaki, a thirty-six-year-old train station designer born in Nagoya who later moved to Tokyo to pursue his studies and career, and has since made Tokyo his home. Tsukuru had a close-knit group of five friends during his school years consisting of two males and two females, all named after colors in Japanese: red (Akamatsu), blue (Oumi), black (Kurono), and white (Shirane). However, Tsukuru sees himself as "colorless," lacking a specific identity compared to his peers, a trait he's somewhat proud of as it suits his reserved personality. His friends often describe him as emotionally detached, and he believes he lacks a distinctive personality, almost to the point of being sexless.

His relationship with his childhood friends from Nagoya becomes puzzling when one day they abruptly remove him from their circle and stop speaking to him, leaving Tsukuru bewildered as to the reason behind their actions. He guesses he might have disappointed them or done something wrong, but he can't be sure. The story then shifts to recent years, decades later when Tsukuru is 36 years old. He meets Sarah, who becomes his partner. The plot mainly focuses on the romantic relationship between Tsukuru and Sarah, which is complicated by Tsukuru's emotionally unavailable nature due to unresolved issues from his past friendships. Sarah believes Tsukuru is yearning to understand why his friends abandoned him without explanation.

Sarah encourages Tsukuru to uncover the unknown truth behind why his friends cut him off so abruptly. I found her eagerness to delve into Tsukuru's backstory quite surprising, especially since they weren't in a committed relationship yet. I was also confused when Kurono, one of Tsukuru's friends, mentioned knowing about Sarah, despite not having talked to Tsukuru in over sixteen years. I might be mistaken, but it seems Sarah may have already known Tsukuru or encountered Kurono before their current situation. Later, Tsukuru does discover why his friends abandoned him, but I won’t spoil it.

Like other Haruki Murakami novels, this book has some ambiguity, but it's not as confusing as "Kafka On The Shore." Personally, I think Tsukuru struggles to understand himself and perpetuates negative thoughts about his personality, seeing himself as the blank one among his colorful friends, despite receiving encouragement from others that he's good-looking, likable, and acted as a glue holding their group together. This underscores how we often perceive others as more vibrant than ourselves. The book carries a deep message about the importance of confronting our past to make the most of our present.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed reading this book. However, I might not revisit it soon because there are many other Murakami books I still want to read (yes, "1Q84" with its 500 pages, sorry not sorry). Like many of Murakami's endings, this one was satisfying yet left some mysteries unresolved, leaving me wondering how Tsukuru will evolve. With many questions unanswered, I wouldn't be surprised if a second book follows, although Murakami rarely writes sequels. As some tweets say, "The lovers will love it, and the haters will hate it," which sums up my verdict on this book.

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Goodreads Rating : 3.9/5

Originally published: 2013

Author: Haruki Murakami

Genre: Literary realism, Psychological Fiction, Coming-of-age story

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