Piercing

Piercing has moments that remind me of Tokyo Decadence and In the Miso Soup, but it sets itself apart in some unsettling ways. No author is quite as masterful at getting under your skin as Murakami. This brief work of fiction is chilling, visceral, even nauseating at times. With that said, it’s brilliantly written and paced well. I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, but be warned, it’s not for the casual thriller reader. The characters are damaged in ways that are hard to stomach. If you are looking for something different and can handle everything I’ve mentioned, by all means jump in with both feet!

I picked this up after thoroughly enjoying "Audition." I didn't know much going in but all I can think about is bunny boilers now. All in all, I think that the ending could have used another chapter but it's a quick, very interesting book.

If there's a category of Japanese fiction that can be labelled "Japanese noir", "Piercing" and other books like this should be placed here. That said, this was a fair commuter book, somewhat engaging, somewhat dark, somewhat twisty, somewhat heavy-handed, somewhat predictable. You get the picture. No spoilers here, the book's too short for that. Usually, I like this genre of fiction but I was glad when I got to the last page. Wait until it's in paperback.

I don’t know what I was expecting from this, but what a strange and impressive little horror story!I read this in one sitting—it really is quite short and immersive. The first chapter had me on the edge of my seat. Kawashima, the main character, seems like just a normal guy with a pretty wife and a new baby. But when he looks at that soft and innocent infant, he has a strange thought that he can’t get out of his head and it drives him to plan a violent act.Enter Chiaki, a sex worker with psychological damage of her own and self-destructive tendencies. Kawashima’s plan goes awry and these two end up on a strange journey together that neither of them expected.The way these two characters get in each others’ heads and continuously misread situations is absurd almost to the point of humorous—if it weren’t for the weapons and constant threat of imminent death. Each of them has extreme psychological trauma and this has them tied into specific tracks of human relationship and interaction.“Children would struggle desperately to feel love for their parents. Rather than hate a parent, in fact, they'd choose to hate themselves. Love and violence became so intertwined for them that when they grew up and got into relationships, only hysteria could set their hearts at ease.”I was often taken aback by insightful commentary throughout the book, all these thoughts bubbling around that boils over into the strange sexual violence and the complete inability for either character to see themselves clearly enough to know how to react to another person’s trauma.I think this is a much more complex book than people give it credit for. It is an absurdist dark comedy, a transgressive pyscho-sexual trip, but also a look into trauma and the psychological manifestation of a dark past.

Piercing is about a man, a woman, and a sharp object. It reads fast. It jabs fast. And the writer doesn't care how you feel about it. I'm not going to bother tracing out the plot, because accepting or rejecting Ryu Murakami's work depends more on how perverse you find the world.In Japan, a shame-based society preoccupied with public image, Murakami's serial-murder of literary normality has been a relief to people exhausted by the old culture of tip-toeing around the truth. If you're like me and have lost the ability to digest the mind-f--k propaganda of our own sugar-and-caffeine culture, Piercing is a welcomed breath of raw air. Murakami hides nothing, he fakes nothing, he lies about nothing. His morality is grounded only in exposure. His treatment forces you to pay attention ... or run away.Many readers, both Japanese and American, will undoubtedly continue to misunderstand Murakami's work -- or will simply be repulsed by it. But he isn't writing for these readers. He writes for those of us trying to get beyond too much Hollywood fluff, too little coffee in our Starbucks cream shakes, and an over abundance of commercially-conditioned, puritanically-correct, life-affirming values, none of which comfort the tortured souls in Piercing.Having read several of Ryu Murakami's novels, Piercing is one of my favorites.

A blend of comic and compulsive, this book will easily entertain while still maintaining it's psychological paths to it's characters freeing of themselves by piercing the human layers that keeps their darkness inside. Short and sharp.

This book get 3 stars because the writing was excellent. However, the ending was very incomplete and open ended. I am very disappointed with this book. I will say though, that this is the first book I've read by this author. But, overall I am not pleased with the ending.

This book is just an extremely odd, intense and somehow beautiful story in my mind. Perfect example of true psychopaths. Definitely not for the faint of heart or those who struggle with topics like mental illness and all kinds of violent situations. I do highly recommended though!

Me ha gustado,rapidez y sencillez al recogerlo en taquilla

The book was in a better condition than at bookshops itself. I definitely recommend purchasing it. It's a good book

very eerie as of ryu murakami expected

The Japanese 'American Psycho'.Pages flow easily. Quite shocking at times, cold in others, sympathetic in some more.It left me a mix of grotesque repulsion and eargeness to know more and what happened next to the characters.In this (lovely, actually) edition is also quite cheap, so... give it a go. And then switch to Ellis and Houllebecq :)

Arrivée très rapide et en parfaite état ! C’est top