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    Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
    Unavailable
    Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
    Unavailable
    Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
    Audiobook9 hours

    Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

    Written by Haruki Murakami

    Narrated by Michael Fenton Stevens

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Tsukuru Tazaki's life was irreparably changed when his relationships with his high school best friends became severed during Tsukuru's college days, with no explanation.

    Now at 35, Tsukuru's girlfriend Sara suggests he goes to talk to these high school friends in person to mend the relationships. Tsukuru visited his friends in Nagoya and Finland one by one, and uncovers the real reason as to why their relations were broken off.

    A W. F. Howes audio production.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherW. F. Howes Audio
    Release dateDec 8, 2014
    ISBN9781471271090
    Unavailable
    Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

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    Reviews for Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

    4/5

    1,293 ratings93 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Some other readers have mentioned disliking that Murakami so often writes about men having midlife crises. I've only read this book and 1Q84 so I might change my mind later, but right now I feel like I'd be willing to read about anything as long as it was written in Murakami's signature style. Like 1Q84, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki often felt very surreal. There is an almost dreamlike quality to the book which sometimes makes it difficult to distinguish dreams from memories and characters' speculations from what really happened. Although Murakami sometimes includes dream scenes or stories which don't obviously advance the plot, I love these digressions. The sharing of something as intimate as dreams makes me feel as though I know the main character. And both the dreams and the stories set the tone for the book. I did miss the magical realism of 1Q84, but the dreaminess of the book meant I didn't miss it too much.

      One thing I liked better about this book than 1Q84 was the more modern feel. I liked that technology played a small role in the story of his reconnection with his friends and I liked the hints that one of the characters might be gay. One thing I liked less than 1Q84 was the ending. I know some people enjoy books which leave a bit to the readers imagination, but I like my books tied up neat. In this book, I felt like we were building to one meeting and were than left hanging right before it occurred. This is purely personal preference, but I would have liked this book a lot more with one final, climactic chapter. The end just kind of fizzled for me.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey.
    • 5/5
      surprisingly straightforward plot for a murakami! but I still got to enjoy the strange mixture of relaxation and utter confusion that his books always give me. (as I have probably said before, his sex scenes are the weirdest)
    • 5/5
      With 143 reviews already on LT, I just want to mention two things about the protagonist, Tsukuru Tazaki. His personality or temperamentis very much like and Enneagram 5, the Observer. He isn't really outwardly emotional, so it takes time for the author Murakami to peel back his feelings about things. I have a similar personality, so I can understand his reticence, but deep down he really (and I) really. So Tsukuru hides behind his self-desribed colorlessness.The other thing I want to comment on is his occupation. Tazaki designs railway stations, I created bus schedules to connect with train stations. So I've sat in train statins to see what was going on. You can create your own narrative of what passenger are doing as you sit. This is a sociological pursuit, not psychological.
    • 3/5
      Not up to the usual par of Murakami‘s work. Missing are the normal elements of the mystical, mythological slight twists of reality to move you into an altered world. Here, the mystical elements don’t go anywhere and just end up as loose strands in an otherwise wrote story.
    • 3/5
      quiet and lovely
    • 4/5
      The novel ambitiously tackles the sometimes considerable distance between our perception of ourselves and how we are seen by others. It would be five stars except that one color is never dealt with in the pilgrimage, leaving troubling possibilities for the protagonist's future--although maybe that's part of the whole point--no matter how much you "deal with" relationship baggage from your past there's always a sock or sleeve hanging out.
    • 4/5
      It took me six months after I finished reading this book to figure out what it was about. That's the best kind of book there is.
    • 5/5
      Melancholic the way I cannot deny I am really into. Sad and realistic reflection of how your life and (social) environment changes. It is hard to see the genuine inner truth of that, but that is probably what might make this book so compelling to me.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book mainly for Murakami's meditations on loss and the meaning of relationships between friends. It captures the experience many have when we leave the protective, strong bonds of friendship we have with our friends when we were young and how those relationships change and will never again have the same enveloping, time consuming level of personal connection. Of course, Murakami's protagonist goes through this experience in a very dramatic way, but what I love about this author and this book is a good example of this, is that his characters react to their unusual and often absurd circumstances realistically. They stay true to their humanness, instead of becoming, for example, a hero or any other two dimensional archetype. They react to fantastical situations in a non-fantastical manner.

      Not all the mysteries are solved in this book (the piano player, Haida, Sara), but I never mind unresolved or open ended novels or movies. Sometimes it feels like the author or director didn't know how to end it, but in this example, I think Murikami felt the story had been told when he finished the book without delineating what happens to Tsukuru's relationship with Sara. I would have liked to know what happened to Haida and to the man who could see the auras.
    • 4/5
      In which an anonymity who lives a quiet life comforted mainly by the fact that he has the job of his dreams undertakes to locate four inseparable friends from the days of his youth, friends who abruptly banished him from their lives in late adolescence. Although this plot is quite interesting, the main thrust of the book is the protagonist's introspection, often supplemented with input from others, especially the book's female characters (the male characters, except for the protagonist, are pretty matter-of-fact). Our hero is quite concerned with an evil doppelganger which he feels cohabits his body as well as the seeming meaninglessness of his rootless, lonely, urban life, and his eponymous pilgrimage could refer to either his reconnections with his quondam friends or his search for meaning in his life,. or, alternatively, acceptance of absence of meaning in human existence..The novel's inconclusive ending won't satisfy everybody, but I felt that it was a clean fit.
    • 3/5
      Just some brief impressions:

      Read in two sittings, I can't decide if that means this was an absorbing "page-turner" or simply too breezy. The book is tightly constructed, more like a lengthy short story in many ways than a ruminative novel. It comes across as a sort of Young Adult novel for those approaching middle-age.

      There are some tin metaphors; the characters deliver pop culture catch-phrases; and details that are supposed to resonate with importance are often repeated (in fact, much of the dialogue consists of one character repeating the other's words) - a technique that seems to underestimate the reader's intelligence or to reveal doubt about the novelist's own ability to present emotions or plot.

      These criticisms aside, there are several mysteries left for the reader to unravel or interpret, some nuanced and discerning passages (strong for their emotional resonance/intelligence more than any lyrical quality), and a quietly relentless flow overall that I admired.

    • 4/5
      The first of Murakami's books I've read and glad to have done so. A sinuous story told in a simple, logical way. There is no expectation of a definitive ending but nevertheless one major plot line is left, abandoned like an impossible ghost train. I'll have to read more to see if this is typical of him.
    • 4/5
      Typical of the pop author who has such a diverse following. Lots of depression, graphic sexual dreams. and a totally nebulous beginning and end...
    • 4/5
      Spoilers. With charming attention to detail and a metronomic pace akin to a locomotive clicking over the points, Murakami takes the reader through some emotionally traumatic years in the life of Japanese railway station designer, Tsukuru Tazaki. However, to use a metaphor that Tsukuru may appreciate, the journey covered is entirely the mid-point stations, with the origin seen only in retrospect and the final terminus only in anticipation. Some small doubt is left as to the arrival platform, although there are plenty of signals on which to base an educated guess. In terms of the pilgrimage of the sub-title, the holy site is viewed from many angles, but the final act of arrival is veiled. This is, perhaps, appropriate. It is the voyage of discovery that is the focus, not the destination, which may detract from what has been learned. This is ironic, given that Tsukuru designs stations, not tracks or routes. Each station presents choices, and a carefully painted visit to Finland, half way around the world from Japan, only confirms that this is true everywhere. The question, however, is how many choices are false (or colourless, if you like), and whether the route of the train has already been decided in advance.
    • 4/5
      At age 36, Tsukuru Tazaki is still haunted by the fact that his tightly knit group of high school friends dropped him from their group with no explanation. Tsukuru just accepted the rejection, never questioning it even though he could not imagine what he had done to turn them against him. 16 years later Tsukuru tells his girlfriend this story and she convinces him to get in touch with all four of his long lost friends so he can find out what the reason for the abandonment was.
    • 3/5
      Am I just a more critical reader now than I was before, or does Murakami spend a lot more time describing boners than he used to? I'm so sick of reading dude's descriptions of penises.
    • 4/5
      Tsukuru Tazaki was one of a group of five very close friends all through school. His four friends all had names that contained a color. His name means "to build or make". He has always felt colorless and empty. Tazaki went away to Tokyo for university to study railway station design (his obsession). His friends stayed in their hometown. During the summer of his sophomore year his friends cut off all communication with him without explanation. He never tries to contact them. Many years later he tries to start a relationship with a woman, Sara. She can tell he has some emotional blockage from his past that keeps him from being really involved in the relationship. He tells her about being rejected by his friends and she urges him to confront his past. Tazaki travels back to his hometown and to Finland to speak to his old friends and discover what he did that made them reject him. I enjoyed this book despite it being somewhat depressing in parts. It was a slow read in a nice way. The book lacks most of the metaphysical elements that Murakami usually utilizes. Also, there were no cats. I kept waiting for the obligatory cat to show up but none did. I loved the design of the inner book jacket -- a map of the Tokyo train system. I love transit maps.
    • 5/5
      I've read a few books by Haruki Murakami now, and he has a particular style that I find intriguing and attractive.'Colorless Tsukuru' does not have the metaphysical elements so evident in some of his other novels, but this is a wonderful study of loneliness, where our 'hero' feels abandoned after years of close friendship.(possible spoiler approaching) On concluding the book I slammed it down - one thing left unresolved! But, on reflection, fair enough. Plenty of other stories in prose or song, do not have an ending, and leave the reader (or listener) to decide on an ending.This is an excellently told story - well done both author and translator.I can't wait for Murakami's next work.
    • 5/5
      Once again, the eloquent Haruki Murakami, has crafted a dream-like tale about alienation, relationship, and the existential search for meaning. Our traumatized protagonist works through an adolescent trauma which had shaped his life for many years. It is through a new relationship that he finds the courage to confront the past. Great narrator for this and many of Murakami's audio book as well. I am consistently enamored with his writing!
    • 4/5
      A quite lovely, almost lilting tale. Gently grasping at life's mysteries at a exactly ghe right tempo for me. The writng at times seems almlst effortless. I enjoyed it tremendously.
    • 4/5
      Trust the Japanese to be able to sum up and put into words the listlessness the changes between adolescence and adulthood engender. "Mono no aware." There's a lot of deep reflection in the book. However it does somewhat suffer in translation to he west as the characters are a little stilted and things left unresolved.
    • 4/5
      Such beautiful language. Some paragraphs simply had to be read again and again so I could savor the words.
    • 5/5
      Distractedly beautiful. Murakami crafts a story that will mesmerize you, make you think, see the world in a different light and make you love the others in your own life more. I don't know how he does it, but he has done it again.
    • 5/5
      Murakami weaves his tapestry, the needle going in and out of reality. What we end up with is a strangely comforting story filled with fragility, longing and hope.
    • 4/5
      a relatively simple tale for Murakami, about a 36 year-old man, with little sense of who he is, finally coming to terms with his history and his interior struggle, in preparation for changing his life.
    • 3/5
      Left me wondering what was next for the main character.
    • 3/5
      Contains fewer ears than his other works.
    • 3/5
      I was very disappointed. Not only did it not live up to what I expected from Murakami, but I wouldn't call it a good book either. Without substance. A castle on nothing.Enjoyable reading, all in all, but I don't recommend spending time on it.
    • 3/5
      This story is not about the ending but about the journey. How easily we can get down on ourselves when constantly comparing ourselves to those around us. That being said, I am left feeling incomplete and craving to know what happens next, even though I did enjoy this book.
    • 5/5
      Tsukuru Tazaki has four best friends at school and one day for some reason they all refuse to speak to him or indeed have anything further to do with him....why? That is really all that you need to know about this wonderful book and apart from an unexpected conclusion, which not everyone might find acceptable (however I did) the book is up to the very high standards that is the watchword of Murakami. The writing is flawless and flows effortlessly..."She were gently peeling back, one after another, the layers that covered a person's heart, a very sensual feeling"...."Because everyone's seeking the same thing; an imaginary place, their own castle in the air, and their very own special corner of it"....."Things that have form will disappear. But certain feelings stay with us for ever"......."Sometimes when I look at you, I feel I'm gazing at a distant star"....Highly Recommended