Almost Transparent Blue by Ryu Murakami

This is the story of a group of young, lost friends in Japan during the 1970s who live near a U.S. military base. Told in an unconventional format (this novel is comprised of a string of drugged-out, sex-filled vignettes) it provides a hallucinatory vision of Japan.

Whether you enjoy this book will depend on your tastes. Newsweek called it, "A Japanese mix of Clockwork Orange and L'Etranger," in praise of its bleak commentary on
stoned-out, urban isolation. For other readers, however, this novel simple echoes a genre that has been milked to the death (see William Burroughs, Jean Genet, Henry Miller, etc.). In short, whether you find this book to be a gritty tale of tragic youth filled with worthwhile insights, or a cliche account of annoying, drugged out and stupid children, will depend on what you are looking for.

That being said, this book is very well written, and it succeeds in its goal of portraying a gloom and bleak reality. Nevertheless, for a reader in 2010, it does not offer that much of a fresh perspective, given the copious amount of books, music, movies and comics that discuss the theme of urban isolation and the tragic (or is it pathetic?) world of the drug addict.

3 out of 5 stars