Book Review | In the Miso Soup by Ryū Murakami 

Fascinating and in-depth review. I'm very excited to read this in the future.

I love his surreal approach ❤️

I always thought *Frank was just a part of Kenji's imagination*. Frank is real, but is actually a life size doll and Kenji drags him around with him and provides Frank's voice when talking to other people. The other Japanese just play along, indulging in Kenji's fantasy. There are some clues that this is might be a correct view of what's really going on. 1. Frank's appearance: plastic face, doesn't sleep for days, a face without expression, his made up personality, the description of Frank's eyes, he doesn't seem to eat... 2. The baseball scene: Frank gets hit by baseballs and does not even budge; he can't hold the bat correct and it slips out of his hands; in the environment they were at, a homeless person gets murdered? This could be the same hobo that was present when they were playing baseball. The book alludes to this. If he is, then it is almost certain the murder happened when Kenji was present. 3. The scene with the girl in the peepshow. She tells Kenji 'the Gaijin' had a peculiar dick and absolutely no expression on his face. There is no mention he actually came. Frank is a male sex doll. I'm sure of it . 4. Frank's knowledge about certain aspects of Japanese culture. 5. Frank's ability to read Kenji's mind AND the fact that a lot of their conversations seem to be in Kenji's mind only. Frank knows who Jun is. Kenji 'knows' it was human skin that was attached to his front door. 6. The scene with the black guy not acknowledging Frank. It is something that happens more throughout the novel. Maki in the omiai pub does it also. 7. The whole '108 bells' conversation. 8. The part where Frank reads Japanese lines in a funny way and every Japanese person laughs about it is just Kenji giving his 'gaijin voice' to the puppet. Kenji basically mocks foreigners and the other Japanese people love it. Kenji's commentary on the pronunciation of foreigners. 9. The fact Kenji sometimes pretends he is talking in his phone when there is nobody on the other end. It makes me wonder whether his conversations on the phone with Frank are also like this. 10. Kenji's inability to betray Frank to the police. His lame excuse for not telling on Frank. The scene that follows shows Frank towering above Kenji, who describes it thus:"_it was like he was preparing to absorb me. By some miracle I managed to remain both conscious and on my feet. Frank seemed much bigger than before. He was looming over me, and looked as if his weight alone could crush me like a bug, should he decide against swallowing me whole. I felt like a miniature version of myself._ 11. The final scene where Kenji walks towards Jun. Frank mysteriously just disappears. To me Kenji is an unreliable narrator: it's not Frank who is lying. It's Kenji. I might be wrong, but I think it was the intention of the writer to do this. Is this the way Japanese see foreigners? Plastic puppets, not really fully humans. Or is Frank, as I claim, really a doll? And then again: who are the puppets really?

Thank you for your book review, this book sounds very interesting. It certainly sounds like there will be no chance that I will be bored reading this book!

I just read this on your recommendation and oh man was it disturbing! I definitely enjoyed it

Great review! 🎉

Hmmm... while not generally my cup of tea, it does sound like something I could appreciate. Thanks for the review! I'll look into adding this one to my list for the year.

yup...the Best! Harukami Is Great too, but Ryu is Wonderful!

this has peeked my interest just bought a second hand copy and going to give it a go. thank you for the interesting and well thought out review :)

This will be my next book by Ryu Murakami definitely, I've heard it's his best! Fab review 😊

Awesome review -- I love the premise of this book and the way you explained the plot. This sounds right up my alley. How is Japanese June going for you so far?

I wasn't impressed by this book, but I think it's because I was reading it with the wrong idea of it in my head. I've always understood Japan as a lonely place and felt that the commentary didn't approach this theme with enough insight, so it ended up falling flat on me. I also only knew this book as a 'horror' novel, so I was expecting to be scared, to be forced to question everything and worry, but Frank felt two dimensional and was clearly sinister and Kenji lacked compelling insight, which made him hard to emphasize with. I feel silly now, after reading reviews and analysis, to find that Kenji was never meant to be relatable he was meant to be representative. Frank wasn't meant to come across as mysterious, he IS mysterious. By making such shallow assumptions about Frank so quickly, I pacified the warning signs of his behavior just like Kenji and facilitated his behaviour. I have to admit, I didn't think the writing was fully immersive, but I hate myself for missing the point and find it hard to say the book is bad. I think it must be good since it has forced me to reflect.

can anyone explain Frank's character in this novel ?

I've read Love&pop so far and I've heard that it's one of his less disturbing novel. I liked it but not as much as I thought I would. The next Murakami book I plan on reading is definitly In the miso soup. I wasn't sure before but after watching your review, I'm sure that I will really enjoy reading it. Great review! 😊

Shocking but good book. Frank’s storytelling in the house with glass was one of the most impactful passages I have ever read...I had to read it all at once because I didn’t want to open it again 😆

It's been a while since I read this, but at the time I thought Frank was America, or rather a Japanese perspective on how America interacts with Japan. We act rich, but often are not. We claim to love baseball, but most of us have never even played. We say we are interested in Japanese culture, but a lot of people are only drawn to that which is violent/sexual in nature. Of course, this is a rather pessimistic view, but it is a rather dark book. Overall I really enjoyed it, and I have to say, that "Frank is a plastic doll" theory above makes me want to go back and reread it.

I read this book i was high school student. Do you read The World in Five Minutes From Now and Hūga Virus: The World in Five Minutes From Now II? You seems like In the miso soup. Maybe you will like these books :)

Overall, I liked it for the reasons you mentioned: social/cultural commentary; but, while the first half intrigued me, the second half just sort of dragged and didn't live up to the hype of the build, especially after the explosive climax. Aaand, on that note, I felt like I was *supposed* to feel shocked and disgusted and disturbed, but I didn't. It teeters close to the edge of 'shock value meh' but I think it could be argued successfully either way. There were feelings of slight uncomfortableness, but I think that might have been because the tone of the first half had a lot of humour and then it was suddenly degrading and I generally find humiliation a bit uncomfortable to read.... Ultimately though, I'm not sure I would even remember it to recommend to anyone. But I don't regret reading it.

I just finished reading this a few minutes ago, the last line floored me, and while I won’t get into spoilers, THAT extremely shocking part that you’ll know when you read it make me physically nauseous. But the last third of the book was unexpected in the best way, Frank’s monologue about his childhood was extremely emotionally compelling, even though I don’t think it excused his actions in any way. The rapport between the two main characters was unlike anything I’ve read in a horror novel, and I loved the commentary on how Japan treats foreigners, sex workers, and the malaise of the youth in general.

this is one of the most horrific and nasty books i have ever read in my life. im just thankful someone else read it, so i dont have to bask in its weirdness alone. bleh !