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Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage: A novel
Unavailable
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage: A novel
Unavailable
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage: A novel
Audiobook10 hours

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage: A novel

Written by Haruki Murakami

Narrated by Bruce Locke

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage is the long-awaited new novel-a book that sold more than a million copies the first week it went on sale in Japan-from the award-winning, internationally best-selling author Haruki Murakami.

Here he gives us the remarkable story of Tsukuru Tazaki, a young man haunted by a great loss; of dreams and nightmares that have unintended consequences for the world around us; and of a journey into the past that is necessary to mend the present. It is a story of love, friendship, and heartbreak for the ages.





Années de pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage) - "Le mal du pays" by Franz Liszt, performed by Peter Mendelsund. Recorded by Charles Myers Recording Studio, Manhattan School of Music, The Gordon K. and Harriet Greenfield Hall. Kevin Boutote, Recording Engineer.

Editor's Note

Classic Murakami…

Balanced between his tendencies towards the minimal and the mystical, “Colorless” is classic Murakami: a quietly oneiric mediation on intimacy, solitude, memory, and belonging.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 12, 2014
ISBN9780804166744
Unavailable
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage: A novel

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Reviews for Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Rating: 3.8358489769056603 out of 5 stars
4/5

1,325 ratings98 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Some other readers have mentioned disliking that Murakami so often writes about men having midlife crises. I've only read this book and 1Q84 so I might change my mind later, but right now I feel like I'd be willing to read about anything as long as it was written in Murakami's signature style. Like 1Q84Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki often felt very surreal. There is an almost dreamlike quality to the book which sometimes makes it difficult to distinguish dreams from memories and characters' speculations from what really happened. Although Murakami sometimes includes dream scenes or stories which don't obviously advance the plot, I love these digressions. The sharing of something as intimate as dreams makes me feel as though I know the main character. And both the dreams and the stories set the tone for the book. I did miss the magical realism of 1Q84, but the dreaminess of the book meant I didn't miss it too much.

    One thing I liked better about this book than 1Q84 was the more modern feel. I liked that technology played a small role in the story of his reconnection with his friends and I liked the hints that one of the characters might be gay. One thing I liked less than 1Q84 was the ending. I know some people enjoy books which leave a bit to the readers imagination, but I like my books tied up neat. In this book, I felt like we were building to one meeting and were than left hanging right before it occurred. This is purely personal preference, but I would have liked this book a lot more with one final, climactic chapter. The end just kind of fizzled for me.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    surprisingly straightforward plot for a murakami! but I still got to enjoy the strange mixture of relaxation and utter confusion that his books always give me. (as I have probably said before, his sex scenes are the weirdest)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    With 143 reviews already on LT, I just want to mention two things about the protagonist, Tsukuru Tazaki. His personality or temperamentis very much like and Enneagram 5, the Observer. He isn't really outwardly emotional, so it takes time for the author Murakami to peel back his feelings about things. I have a similar personality, so I can understand his reticence, but deep down he really (and I) really. So Tsukuru hides behind his self-desribed colorlessness.The other thing I want to comment on is his occupation. Tazaki designs railway stations, I created bus schedules to connect with train stations. So I've sat in train statins to see what was going on. You can create your own narrative of what passenger are doing as you sit. This is a sociological pursuit, not psychological.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not up to the usual par of Murakami‘s work. Missing are the normal elements of the mystical, mythological slight twists of reality to move you into an altered world. Here, the mystical elements don’t go anywhere and just end up as loose strands in an otherwise wrote story.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    quiet and lovely
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed this book mainly for Murakami's meditations on loss and the meaning of relationships between friends. It captures the experience many have when we leave the protective, strong bonds of friendship we have with our friends when we were young and how those relationships change and will never again have the same enveloping, time consuming level of personal connection. Of course, Murakami's protagonist goes through this experience in a very dramatic way, but what I love about this author and this book is a good example of this, is that his characters react to their unusual and often absurd circumstances realistically. They stay true to their humanness, instead of becoming, for example, a hero or any other two dimensional archetype. They react to fantastical situations in a non-fantastical manner.

    Not all the mysteries are solved in this book (the piano player, Haida, Sara), but I never mind unresolved or open ended novels or movies. Sometimes it feels like the author or director didn't know how to end it, but in this example, I think Murikami felt the story had been told when he finished the book without delineating what happens to Tsukuru's relationship with Sara. I would have liked to know what happened to Haida and to the man who could see the auras.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Just some brief impressions:

    Read in two sittings, I can't decide if that means this was an absorbing "page-turner" or simply too breezy. The book is tightly constructed, more like a lengthy short story in many ways than a ruminative novel. It comes across as a sort of Young Adult novel for those approaching middle-age.

    There are some tin metaphors; the characters deliver pop culture catch-phrases; and details that are supposed to resonate with importance are often repeated (in fact, much of the dialogue consists of one character repeating the other's words) - a technique that seems to underestimate the reader's intelligence or to reveal doubt about the novelist's own ability to present emotions or plot.

    These criticisms aside, there are several mysteries left for the reader to unravel or interpret, some nuanced and discerning passages (strong for their emotional resonance/intelligence more than any lyrical quality), and a quietly relentless flow overall that I admired.

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Spoilers. With charming attention to detail and a metronomic pace akin to a locomotive clicking over the points, Murakami takes the reader through some emotionally traumatic years in the life of Japanese railway station designer, Tsukuru Tazaki. However, to use a metaphor that Tsukuru may appreciate, the journey covered is entirely the mid-point stations, with the origin seen only in retrospect and the final terminus only in anticipation. Some small doubt is left as to the arrival platform, although there are plenty of signals on which to base an educated guess. In terms of the pilgrimage of the sub-title, the holy site is viewed from many angles, but the final act of arrival is veiled. This is, perhaps, appropriate. It is the voyage of discovery that is the focus, not the destination, which may detract from what has been learned. This is ironic, given that Tsukuru designs stations, not tracks or routes. Each station presents choices, and a carefully painted visit to Finland, half way around the world from Japan, only confirms that this is true everywhere. The question, however, is how many choices are false (or colourless, if you like), and whether the route of the train has already been decided in advance.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Tsukuru Tazaki was one of a group of five very close friends all through school. His four friends all had names that contained a color. His name means "to build or make". He has always felt colorless and empty. Tazaki went away to Tokyo for university to study railway station design (his obsession). His friends stayed in their hometown. During the summer of his sophomore year his friends cut off all communication with him without explanation. He never tries to contact them. Many years later he tries to start a relationship with a woman, Sara. She can tell he has some emotional blockage from his past that keeps him from being really involved in the relationship. He tells her about being rejected by his friends and she urges him to confront his past. Tazaki travels back to his hometown and to Finland to speak to his old friends and discover what he did that made them reject him. I enjoyed this book despite it being somewhat depressing in parts. It was a slow read in a nice way. The book lacks most of the metaphysical elements that Murakami usually utilizes. Also, there were no cats. I kept waiting for the obligatory cat to show up but none did. I loved the design of the inner book jacket -- a map of the Tokyo train system. I love transit maps.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Am I just a more critical reader now than I was before, or does Murakami spend a lot more time describing boners than he used to? I'm so sick of reading dude's descriptions of penises.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Typical of the pop author who has such a diverse following. Lots of depression, graphic sexual dreams. and a totally nebulous beginning and end...
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The first of Murakami's books I've read and glad to have done so. A sinuous story told in a simple, logical way. There is no expectation of a definitive ending but nevertheless one major plot line is left, abandoned like an impossible ghost train. I'll have to read more to see if this is typical of him.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In which an anonymity who lives a quiet life comforted mainly by the fact that he has the job of his dreams undertakes to locate four inseparable friends from the days of his youth, friends who abruptly banished him from their lives in late adolescence. Although this plot is quite interesting, the main thrust of the book is the protagonist's introspection, often supplemented with input from others, especially the book's female characters (the male characters, except for the protagonist, are pretty matter-of-fact). Our hero is quite concerned with an evil doppelganger which he feels cohabits his body as well as the seeming meaninglessness of his rootless, lonely, urban life, and his eponymous pilgrimage could refer to either his reconnections with his quondam friends or his search for meaning in his life,. or, alternatively, acceptance of absence of meaning in human existence..The novel's inconclusive ending won't satisfy everybody, but I felt that it was a clean fit.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I've read a few books by Haruki Murakami now, and he has a particular style that I find intriguing and attractive.'Colorless Tsukuru' does not have the metaphysical elements so evident in some of his other novels, but this is a wonderful study of loneliness, where our 'hero' feels abandoned after years of close friendship.(possible spoiler approaching) On concluding the book I slammed it down - one thing left unresolved! But, on reflection, fair enough. Plenty of other stories in prose or song, do not have an ending, and leave the reader (or listener) to decide on an ending.This is an excellently told story - well done both author and translator.I can't wait for Murakami's next work.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Once again, the eloquent Haruki Murakami, has crafted a dream-like tale about alienation, relationship, and the existential search for meaning. Our traumatized protagonist works through an adolescent trauma which had shaped his life for many years. It is through a new relationship that he finds the courage to confront the past. Great narrator for this and many of Murakami's audio book as well. I am consistently enamored with his writing!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Atrapante aunque con historia muy simple. Hermosa forma de contar una historia.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Trust the Japanese to be able to sum up and put into words the listlessness the changes between adolescence and adulthood engender. "Mono no aware." There's a lot of deep reflection in the book. However it does somewhat suffer in translation to he west as the characters are a little stilted and things left unresolved.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Distractedly beautiful. Murakami crafts a story that will mesmerize you, make you think, see the world in a different light and make you love the others in your own life more. I don't know how he does it, but he has done it again.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Such beautiful language. Some paragraphs simply had to be read again and again so I could savor the words.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Murakami weaves his tapestry, the needle going in and out of reality. What we end up with is a strangely comforting story filled with fragility, longing and hope.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    a relatively simple tale for Murakami, about a 36 year-old man, with little sense of who he is, finally coming to terms with his history and his interior struggle, in preparation for changing his life.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Left me wondering what was next for the main character.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was very disappointed. Not only did it not live up to what I expected from Murakami, but I wouldn't call it a good book either. Without substance. A castle on nothing.Enjoyable reading, all in all, but I don't recommend spending time on it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Contains fewer ears than his other works.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This story is not about the ending but about the journey. How easily we can get down on ourselves when constantly comparing ourselves to those around us. That being said, I am left feeling incomplete and craving to know what happens next, even though I did enjoy this book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Tsukuru Tazaki has four best friends at school and one day for some reason they all refuse to speak to him or indeed have anything further to do with him....why? That is really all that you need to know about this wonderful book and apart from an unexpected conclusion, which not everyone might find acceptable (however I did) the book is up to the very high standards that is the watchword of Murakami. The writing is flawless and flows effortlessly..."She were gently peeling back, one after another, the layers that covered a person's heart, a very sensual feeling"...."Because everyone's seeking the same thing; an imaginary place, their own castle in the air, and their very own special corner of it"....."Things that have form will disappear. But certain feelings stay with us for ever"......."Sometimes when I look at you, I feel I'm gazing at a distant star"....Highly Recommended
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I’ll be honest, I was a bit disappointed in this book. I like Murakami for both the disconnected atmosphere he creates and his complete what-the-f*ckness. This definitely had his typical feeling - isolation and loneliness as themes here are totally great and I really love that aspect and how it was done - maybe my favorite presentation so far. But his normal mysticism is lacking. I kept thinking that the hints of it would evolve and become a larger part of the second half but no. If anything, the book became less weird and more normal. As normal as any author can get when he regularly includes weird, non-consensual, dream(/dreamlike) sex while one party is incabaple of movement. (And even that was relatively normal here compared to his other books.)

    I really liked the first half of this but the second let me down. Once Tsukuru started trying to solve his reasons for isolation instead of just floating in a disconnected world, the story became too normal and relationship driven and I lost most of my interest. I suppose if you think Murakami is just too weird, this would be a good book, but I feel the weirder the better so this was a letdown for me.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I wanted to like this, and for much of the book I thought I did like it. I admired especially the US hardcover design: the book cover becomes more meaningful as we learn more details from the narrative. What mars the book however, is the shallow detachment from the very serious issues that the central mystery should raise. I won't be any more specific than that.

    I'd say skip it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Murakami's introduces the central path of the story early. Tsukuru's friends abandon him without explanation and, like him we are left wondering why. From there the author explores the nature of friendships, and how they provide the very structure that holds up our lives. The meaning of Tsukuru's life seems to be drained of all colour, the reader can't help but be sympathetic. As usual in Murakami's books, music plays a big part, but here it is more focussed, the whole story is entwined in the Liszt piano piece 'Le mal du pays'. Tsukuru finally gets some answers, but is it enough to bring some colour into his life? The narrative in this book is along the lines of 'Norwegian Wood' but for me at least, a vastly more interesting story and much more succinct.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Near the end of Murakami's novel, the title character spends time in a Tokyo train station watching commuters arriving and departing. It's a typical interlude in a meandering Murakami narrative, and it does nothing to advance the plot. But in a couple of pages the author touches on the 1995 Tokyo sarin attack, critiques a 1990s American newspaper photograph which shows Japanese commuters looking down and concludes they are therefore unhappy, and ruminates on the number of empty hours spent every week traveling to and from work. By traveling on this tangential line of thought, Murakami reinforces one of the novel's central metaphors: the hero's fascination with train stations like the intricate network of intersections with other people throughout his life, alternately bringing pain and comfort.