About this title: In the late 50's--the days of Sputnik--a young teacher falls in love with a woman who wants to be a writer in the tradition of Kerouac and the Beats. Then she goes off to a Greek island and disappears, and in his frantic attempts to find her, he encounters a mysterious older woman who was her traveling companion and possibly lover. A New York Times Notable Book for 2001.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: The Harvill Press
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9781860468254ISBN:186046825X
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780375726057ISBN:0375726055
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Vintage Books
Date Published: 2002-04-01
ISBN-13:9780375726057ISBN:0375726055
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780375726057. read more
Description: VERY GOOD. No Jacket. USED "August 2004. Very light edge wear, clean & tight. Written in German. Aus dem Japanischen von Ursula Grafe. " read more
Edition: NEW ED
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: VINTAGE Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780099448471ISBN:0099448475
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 240 pages. (240 pages) twenty two year old, sumire is in love for the first time with a woman seventeen years her senior, miu. surprised that she might, after all, be a lesbian, sumire spends hours on the phone talking to her best friend, k, a primary school teacher, who is used to answering questions, but what he most wants to say to sumire is "i love you. " edition new ed (Paperback) read more
Edition: First Edition, First Printing
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: The Harvill Press, London
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9781860468254ISBN:186046825X
Description: Very Good/No Jacket. 186046825X Used Minor wear on cover, clear, bright and tight. read more
Edition: First U.S. Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc, Westminister, Maryland, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780375411694ISBN:0375411690
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. First U.S. Edition. F/F. Hardcover, paper over boards, DJ, 210 pp, faint shelfwear, else a very nice, clean and crisp copy. Protected in a Brodart cover. read more
Edition: First American Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Incorporated, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780375411694ISBN:0375411690
Description: Fine/Fine. 0375411690 Small previous owner name and date on endpaper. A nice unread copy. read more
Edition: First
Binding: hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780375411694ISBN:0375411690
Description: First American edition. Translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel. Fine in fine dustwrapper. From the Library of Bruce Kahn. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Kodansha, Tokyo
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9784062096577ISBN:4062096579
Description: 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. First edition, first prnt. Satin pagemarker. Spine topedge lightly pushed; dustjacket with touched corners, minimal wear at the spine topedge, beginning toning on spine. Near Fine condition in a Very Good+ dustjacket with an archival cover. Text in Japanese. Precedes all other editions. Image is of the book described; not a stock photo. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Cloth
Publisher: Knopf, New York
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780375411694ISBN:0375411690
Description: Near Fine in Fine jacket. Signed by Author First US edition, first printing, signed by Murakami on the title page. Light dampstain to bottom page edges and bottom of endpage gutters otherwise a fine clean tight copy in fine unclipped dust jacket. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York City, NY
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780375411694ISBN:0375411690
Description: Signed. Hardcover. First Edition. First Printing. 210 pages. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. Wrinkle on corner of front board. The author's seventh novel. Now considered a contemporary classic. The first appearance of the title in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. The novel by "among the world's greatest novelists" (The London Guardian) on the timeless theme of romantic love, with the characteristic Murakami twist: The young protagonist is ... read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc, Westminister, Maryland, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780375411694ISBN:0375411690
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. Signed by Author First Edition / First Printing [with the necessary 'First American Edition' statement on the copyright page] of "Sputnik Sweetheart" Signed by Haruki Murakmi and Stamped by his wife (Yoko Takahashi) directly on the title page. I will also include a digital photo of the author that I took at the signing event, along with the brochures that advertised this event. read more
""And it came to me then. That we were wonderful traveling companions but in the end no more than lonely lumps of metal in their own separate orbits. From far off they look like beautiful shooting stars, but in reality they're nothing more than prisons, where each of us is locked up alone, going nowhere. When the orbits of these two satellites of ours happened to cross paths, we could be together. Maybe even open our hearts to each other. But that was only for the briefest moment. In the next instant we'd be in absolute solitude. Until we burned up and became nothing."
Beautiful mood piece about the closeness and distance of longing. His narrative style has a habit toward revelations of the mundane, which I like but it doesn't lead to much as far as the story's concerned.
The ending's unsatisfying because the novel doesn't begin with an acknowledgment of Sumire's absence. It runs chronologically instead (which wasn't necessary considering the narrator's standpoint), and it's unsatisfying because it cuts off at the end when the explanation would come. Which is fine, because the story's not about that explanation, but it could have been executed better.
I like the way Murakami introduces characters through other people's exposition first, usually a considerable time before that character's appearance and before that character is allowed to speak for him/herself. It makes the atmosphere of personality more seamless.
The narrative choice of having characters tell (and own) the others' stories really works well for the thematic of connectedness and distance, of other-placeness."
""O narrador, um jovem professor primário, está apaixonado por Sumire, uma rebelde que conheceu na universidade. Um dia, num casamento, Sumire conhece Miu, uma mulher fascinante e misteriosa, de meia-idade, por quem se apaixona loucamente, acabando por se transformar na sua secretária. Partem para a Europa, numa busca que as empurra para uma estranha e mútua descoberta, e também para um desenlace assombroso."
O que eu achei: Muito bom, este romance de Murakami que retrata os amores platónicos. O professor primário é apaixonado por Sumire que, por sua vez, é apaixonada por Miu, contudo, estas pessoas, sentem-se sós e perdidas perto dos que mais amam, pois nenhum dos personagens é correspondido no seu amor. Uma leitura triste que caminha a par de uma nostalgia através das ilhas gregas, ao som de Mozart. É fácil viajarmos com as personagens deste escritor. Um romance que nos envolve de tal maneira que só sossegamos quando estamos na última página. Bem, "só sossegamos", não será bem o termo, pois ao estilo de Murakami, mais uma vez, podemos divagar, reflectir e sugerir um final. Uma leitura que recomendo."
"why do people have to be this lonely? what's the point of it all? millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. why? was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness? i turned face-up on the slab of stone, gazed at the sky, and thought about all the man-made satellites spinning around the earth. the horizon was still etched in a faint glow, and stars began to blink on in the deep, wine-colored sky. i gazed among them for the light of a satellite, but it was still too bright out to spot one with the naked eye. the sprinkling of stars looked nailed to the spot, unmoving. i closed my eyes and listened carefully for the descendants of sputnik, even now circling the earth, gravity their only tie to the planet. lonely metal souls in the unimpeded darkness of space, they meet, pass each other, and part, never to meet again. no words passing between them. no promises to keep."
"Prácticamente me bebí el libro entre ayer y hoy. Me gusta el sentimiento te soledad que impregna Murakami en sus libros. Pero no sólo ahí termina las coincidencias con el Tokio Blues, los personajes en sí son similares:
El narrador/personaje, solitario, intelectual, enamorado de una protagonista que confía plenamente en él, la atracción emocional es intensa, sin embargo la chica en cuestión carece de toda atracción sexual hacia él, y él apaga su sed carnal con chicas anónimas que pasan fugazmente por su vida y apenas reserva unas palabras para ellas.
La mujer madura, que conoce al narrador a través de la protagonista, hermosa, refinada, culta. Una mujer que había dedicado toda su juventud y su libido a alcanzar la perfección (en ambos casos como pianistas), pero un día se percatan del sacrificio que hicieron, perdiendo, como resultado, su salud física y mental.
Ambos están enamorados de la protagonista, una chica frágil, indecisa, egoísta, que persigue un sueño, una visión de sí misma, y su prematura desaparición lleva a la catarsis de ambos pretendientes.
Y la catarsis es siempre aceptar estoicamente una existencia incompleta, solitaria, amarga, y sin embargo reconocer que fueron felices por un momento, el momento que compartieron con la protagonista. Y fueron felices por que dejaron de pensar en ellos mismos por pensar en ella.
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