- Year first released: 2005 (Japanese), 2014 (English)
- ISBN of the edition I read: 9780385354301
- Publisher of the edition I read: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- My rating (out of 5): 4
Why this book took nine years to hit our shores, I'll never know. Maybe we just weren't ready for it. In fact, even though I've loved Japanese literature for quite some time now, I think I may not have been ready for The Strange Library until recently.
To be sure, The Strange Library is an aptly named book. It is mighty strange, indeed. A young boy goes to the library - his normal, everyday library - to return a couple books when he quickly gets tricked into becoming a prisoner in the library's deep, labyrinthine basement. Oh, and one of his jailers is perpetually dressed like a sheep but fries up some amazing donuts. So. There's that, I guess.
Going into it, you might miss the fact (as I did at first) that this is actually a children's book (Murakami's only children's book, as far as I know). Once that realization hit me, the book suddenly took on a whole new hue. Before that moment, I was beginning to dread having spent $18 on this 96-page book which is half pictures. (Highly nonsensical pictures, mind you.) Once I was able to absorb the book as a whole, though (which only took about half an hour, cover to cover), I realized that I was in the presence of greatness.
There's certainly something deeply metaphorical going on throughout the book. And I'll be the first to admit that at least half of it is completely lost on me. Sometimes this is a hindrance to understanding and appreciating the story. Sometimes, though, just being in the presence of - what we assume is - an elaborate metaphor is reason enough to enjoy the journey. The Strange Library fits snuggly into this second category.
Why the sheep outfit? Why the donuts? What's with the tax records of the Ottoman Empire? I have no idea. But it all comes together in a magical, whimsical package.
Again, considering that this is a children's book, surely the metaphor - whatever it is - will be missed by most. If we can take it as a Tim Burton-esque, creepy-with-a-touch-of-adorable story, though, then The Strange Library is a tightly-bound, quirky, wonderful nightmare that I am certain I will come back to repeatedly - and, in fact, will probably share with my five-year-old son this Halloween season.
the juxtaposition of the two photos on the front is totally weirding me out. We have the cute Disney eyes and the vicious fanged mouth of an animal kind of making one single face, I guess?
ReplyDeleteIf you think the cover is weird, you should see the rest of the book. The illustrations are downright bizarre. Interestingly, the US, UK, and Japanese versions of the book are all illustrated, but all contain complete different images. Very weird stuff that almost seems to change the overall feel of the book (from what I understand). I think I'll try to get my hands on the UK version one of these days. (It'd be cool to get the Japanese too, of course, but only for the sake of the pictures.)
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