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Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami

Chapter 1

In the first chapter of this book, readers are introduced to the three main characters: Sumire, a man only identified as K, who is the narrator of the novel, and Miu. The story is set in Tokyo.  K and Sumire met in college, but while she dropped out to pursue being a novelist he became an elementary school teacher. They met accidentally but eventually began to spend a lot of time together, deep down they were very lonely people and they felt they could only trust each other. Sumire never viewed K in a romantic way, their relationship was platonic, as had been most of Sumires relationships with men. She had never been in love, or really cared about it until she meets Miu at a wedding reception. Miu is a much older woman than Sumire, and everything she is not. Sumire is messy and average looking, wearing clothes that are mismatched and many sizes too big, while Miu is beautiful, elegant, and classy. Here the narrator uses a lot of compare and contrast in his organization style. The two began to get to know each other and it becomes known that Miu is a busniess woman, who imports and exports wine from different places in Europe. Sumire explains to her that she wants to write, and has never really had a real job in her life. The two bond over a love of classical music and by the end of the night, Sumire has a new job to attend to and has decided she has finally fallen in love. The chapter ends with Sumire calling K to explain to him everything that has happened, and her being very confused about what she is to do next.

I enjoyed the first chapter of the book because it was a good introduction of all the characters and of the setting that left me wanting to know more. I also found a quote that I really liked; it was when Sumire was talking about her writing."My head is like some ridiculous barn packed full of stuff I want to write about. Images, scenes, snatches of words... In my mind they're all glowing, all alive. Write! They shout at me. A great new story is about to be born- I can feel it. It'll transport me to some brand new place. Problem is, once I sit at my desk and put all these down on paper, I realize something vital is missing. It doesn't crystallize- no crystals, just pebbles, and I'm not transported anywhere."  The narrator mainly used compare and contrast organization is his writing, touching on the differences between his self and Sumire and also between Sumire and Miu.