Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami
Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami is a frenetic, disturbing coming of age story. It’s a compelling read, that keeps you interested despite the sometimes gruesome activities and descriptions. I stumbled on Coin Locker Babies while trying to figure out which Haruki Murakami novel I’d read next. Coin Locker Babies popped up after a search for Murakami and I became intrigued because it wasn’t a title with which I was familiar. Had I found a rare or new Haruki Murakami novel? No. I quickly found that there was another Murakami. Perhaps Murakami is to Japan what ‘Smith’ is to America.
I checked it out and Ryu Murakami’s bio was interesting enough that I decided to give Coin Locker Babies a try. The novel follows two orphans - Hashi and Kiku - both abandoned in a coin locker soon after being born. They befriend each other at an orphanage and wind up being adopted together by a childless couple on a small rural island. From here the novel begins to accelerate as we follow Kiku, a pole vaulter prone to violence and Hashi, a frail and musical sort who winds up an excessive rock star.
The novel doesn’t quite hang together all the time, as Murakami explores different genres and topics. Most of these explorations are interesting, though sometimes overly grotesque in my opinion. Murakami delves into the underbelly of Japanese youth culture coupled with the struggle around bisexuality; the inner-workings of the music industry and the tortured artist; life within a progressive prison facility; and biologic weapons.
The central theme of Coin Locker Babies is self-discovery, with the vehicle being the struggle to do so after being abandoned in such a callous way. But there’s a secondary element of debauchery, darkness, self-loathing and hatred. In the end, it’s these secondary themes that overtake the novel and the narrative. Lives gone awry, a society gone astray.
Not for the feint of heart, Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami is a consuming read, but may not ultimately be satisfying.
January 2nd, 2008 at 4:40 pm
You’re not the only one — I’ve picked up a Ryu Murakami book while browsing for something by Haruki Murakami as well.
January 2nd, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Thanks for commenting Anirvan. And I’m glad I’m not the only one to pick up Ryu while browing for Haruki. As usually happens I get something stuck in my head, I can’t shake it or leave it alone. So I had to look up whether Murakami was akin to Smith.
Murakami is the 35th most frequent surname in Japan, while Smith is the most frequent last name in the United States. So, not quite the same but more like picking up a Ross King novel while browsing Stephen King.