Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove) | FICTION MUR | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | FICTION MUR | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
The long-awaited translation of the novel behind the cult classic Japanese movie.
In this gloriously over-the-top tale, Aoyama, a widower who has lived alone with his son ever since his wife died seven years before, finally decides it is time to remarry. Since Aoyama is a bit rusty when it comes to dating, a filmmaker friend proposes that, in order to attract the perfect wife, they do a casting call for a movie they don't intend to produce. As the résumés pile up, only one of the applicants catches Aoyama's attention--Yamasaki Asami--a striking young former ballerina with a mysterious past. Blinded by his instant and total infatuation, Aoyama is too late in discovering that she is a far cry from the innocent young woman he imagines her to be. The novel's fast-paced, thriller conclusion doesn't spare the reader as Yamasaki takes off her angelic mask and reveals what lies beneath.
Author Notes
Ryu Murakami is the best-selling author of more than a dozen novels and the winner of Japan's prestigious literary award, the Akutagawa Prize. Many of his novels have been made into movies, including Audition. He lives in Japan.
Ralph McCarthy has lived in Japan for almost two decades. He is the translator of many short stories by Osamu Dazai and of Ryu Murakami's novel 69.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Seven years after his wife's death, Aoyama, the protagonist of popular Japanese author Murakami's dud chiller, is ready to get on with his life. Aoyama has a strong relationship with his son, Shinge, but the successful businessman needs more than a teenage son to keep him company. So he turns to his friend, Yoshikawa, and the two hatch a plan to hold auditions for a fake movie where the actresses will really be interviewing to date Aoyama. Enter Yamasaki Asami, a former ballet dancer who wants to star in the fake film. Aoyama's smitten, even after it becomes clear that Asami's at least a little crazy. Unfortunately, none of this adds up to a suspenseful story, and the big finale is more uncomfortable than frightening. Murakami's work has what could be a fascinating set of characters, but the uneven pacing and ineffective dialogue provide the only hint of horror the book has to offer. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Guardian Review
The dustjacket of Ryu Murakami's latest novel, Audition , somewhat pompously describes the author as a "renaissance man for the modern age". This contention is amusingly backed up by citing his previous incarnations as drummer in a rock band and TV chatshow host. Clearly, someone at either Bloomsbury or the original publisher in Japan does irony in spades. That quality is noticeable by its absence in this psychosexual thriller, which races at breakneck speed through the story of Aoyama, a Tokyo-based documentary film-maker. We learn that since the tragic death of his wife Ryoko, seven years ago, Aoyama has understandably shunned serious relationships. But now his teenage son, Shige, and his best pal, Yoshikawa, have decided that he should get married again. The overbearing Yoshikawa's idea is to stage auditions for the female lead in a bogus movie he will "produce" with his initially reluctant buddy, but the covert purpose of Aoyama's auditions will be to find a new spouse. This morally dubious but highly interesting premise is strangely never developed in the plot, to the point of being completely unnecessary, as Yamasaki practically jumps out from the pile of resumes into Aoyama's affections right at the start of the selection process. Basically, the other applicants needn't bother to show up, and perhaps to his credit, Murakami refuses to let Aoyama or the reader waste any time on them. So Aoyama starts to woo his dream girl, despite the predictable warnings of his close associates that there might perhaps be something not quite right about the lovely Yamasaki. You might imagine that a 42-year-old man would have the savvy to be a little concerned when an unattached 24-year-old, compliantly demure honey from Geisha Masturbation Fantasy Central starts hanging on his every word. But love is nothing if not blind, and while Aoyama does uncover a history of abuse in this troubled ex-ballerina's childhood, he's convinced that Yamasaki has transcended this hurt to become model wife material. Big mistake. The novel's first two acts, the audition concept and Aoyama's romancing of Yamasaki, are about as perfunctory and economical as modern writing gets. Yoshikawa, the best pal, lays bare the whole film audition scam over a few pages. But while the prose is taut and spare, it would be wrong to suggest that it lacks depth. The build-up contains some intelligent reflections on relationships in Japanese society, and there are acute observations about how the loss of Ryoko has affected Aoyama and the most sympathetic character in the book, his 15-year-old son. The main problem with Audition , though, is Yamasaki. It's difficult to take her seriously as a character, as she shows us only two faces - angel and monster - and we never get any real sense that the abuse she's suffered could have precipitated the extreme psychotic behaviour she'll eventually visit on Aoyama. In this respect, the novel becomes another parable of male fear of female sexuality. Feminism has obviously never penetrated Japanese society in the same manner it did in the west, and while we have to accept Audition as being of its cultural place, it would be almost unthinkable for a male English-speaking writer, in almost any genre, to offer up a major female character like Yamasaki. The book's tendency to race to the finishing line is no bad thing, because it is in the third act that Murakami's writing is at its strongest, in what is a genuinely shocking and grisly climax. Those who know his previous novels, particularly Piercing and Almost Transparent Blue , will be aware that his strongest suit as a writer is how he portrays tripped-out, hallucinogenic sex and violence, and both the sex between Aoyama and Yamasaki in the hotel room and the subsequent violent denouement are mesmerising and compelling. "He cried out, opening his eyes wide with terror, but the light was so intense that he immediately closed them again. He was utterly disorientated. He moved his lips, trying to ask what was happening, but the mucous membranes of his throat felt like cobwebs, dry and sticky, and no sound emerged." This is Aoyama's postcoital state, suggesting that he has big problems ahead when Yamasaki decides to get properly psycho. And so it proves. The prose in these passages is elegiac and affecting, but it has the sharp, visceral feel of the butcher's knife or surgeon's scalpel. Murakami does not spare us the blood and gore, and dog lovers of a squeamish nature might be advised to skip this novel. Although I really wanted to know more about Yamasaki, and felt that the underdevelopment of the audition concept was perhaps an opportunity missed, the novel is a highly compulsive, one-sitting read, and Audition should add to the Renaissance Man's growing fanbase in the English-speaking world. Irvine Welsh's latest novel is Crime (Cape). To order Audition for pounds 9.50 with free UK p&p call Guardian book service on 0870 836 0875. Caption: article-murakami.1 That quality is noticeable by its absence in this psychosexual thriller, which races at breakneck speed through the story of Aoyama, a Tokyo-based documentary film-maker. We learn that since the tragic death of his wife Ryoko, seven years ago, Aoyama has understandably shunned serious relationships. But now his teenage son, Shige, and his best pal, Yoshikawa, have decided that he should get married again. The overbearing Yoshikawa's idea is to stage auditions for the female lead in a bogus movie he will "produce" with his initially reluctant buddy, but the covert purpose of Aoyama's auditions will be to find a new spouse. The main problem with Audition , though, is Yamasaki. It's difficult to take her seriously as a character, as she shows us only two faces - angel and monster - and we never get any real sense that the abuse she's suffered could have precipitated the extreme psychotic behaviour she'll eventually visit on Aoyama. In this respect, the novel becomes another parable of male fear of female sexuality. Feminism has obviously never penetrated Japanese society in the same manner it did in the west, and while we have to accept Audition as being of its cultural place, it would be almost unthinkable for a male English-speaking writer, in almost any genre, to offer up a major female character like Yamasaki. - Irvine Welsh.
Library Journal Review
Middle-aged widower Aoyama has lived alone with his son for a number of years. He recruits a filmmaker friend for a scheme that will help him land the perfect woman; they create a casting call for a movie they don't plan to make, and soon they are facing hundreds of resumes and interviews. They roll up their sleeves and start screening each woman. Unfortunately, Aoyama is fixated on one beautiful ballerina, Yamasaki Asami. Although there is mention of her sordid past, Aoyama isn't fazed, and he doesn't take the time to understand the subtle but dark history of his new love. By the time he realizes that she isn't the innocent he had fallen for, Yamasaki has already drawn him into her depravity. In a shocking turn of events, the two face off in a garish finish. VERDICT This dynamic novel-adapted into the cult classic movie of the same name in 1999-by Murakami, winner of Japan's prestigious literary Akutagawa Prize, moves at breakneck speed and spirals out of control. Not for the squeamish, this is a book you won't put down...until it's too late. Recommended for most libraries, especially in urban locations, with Asian and foreign-film fans.-Ron Samul, New London, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
