One minor complaint; there was so much teasing in this book, almost to the point I felt the author was playing with his readers at times. The milk thing, the gang thing, etc.

I’m just glad Mari developed into a full featured character by the end, replete with feelings and a future. Her sister didn’t fare as well, but it set up a cool, surreal mystery that I liked.

Some favorite passages from the final section:

Korogi, in the love hotel with Mari:

“You know what I think? That people’s memories are maybe the fuel they burn to stay alive. Whether those memories have any actual importance or not, it doesn’t matter as far as the maintenance of life is concerned. They’re all just fuel….”

Murakami goes on to compare them to scraps of paper feeding a fire, which was beautiful in its own right.

Takahashi:

“It’s not as if our lives are divided simply into light and dark. There’s a shadowy middle ground. Recognizing and understanding the shadows is what a healthy intelligence does”

An excellent summation of the book I would venture.

That is awesome. I never thought about Eri and Mari being the same person, but it definitely could’ve turned out that way.

I have to say the part of the story that hit me the oddest was towards the end when Mari is talking about her sundered connection with her sister. By the end i was completely expecting Mari and Eri to be the same person, just one personality being a night dweller, the other, brighter more beautiful half being out during the day. “waking up” when Mari lay down on the bed to sleep beside her sister.