Mimslob > Recent Status Updates

I can’t believe that we still don’t know anything about this world. I guess they live in a post-apocalyptic world, but even if that’s true, there are still so many questions that haven’t been answered. The one that bothers me the most is where the hell the guards went. And it’s also kind of crazy that there’s no evidence, documents, or books that explain any of this.

Watching them go out one by one is straight-up torture. I can’t help but think that if they keep exploring, they’ll eventually find something, even though they don’t know whether it will be good or bad. The outside world might be completely dangerous for them, but is it really better for them to live in this vacant place and this kind of empty life? All of this is just a completely tragic situation.

The moment when she first got out of the bunker was so exciting that I genuinely couldn’t put the book down. Then came the part where they found another bunker, which was so shocking, disturbing, and sad—it’s crazy how lucky they are. The combination of isolated places and mystery reminded me of Never Let Me Go, but I think this one focuses more on the mystery.

The story’s small, step-by-step revelations were delivered in a really clever and intriguing way that made me want to know more as I read. Clearly, their circumstances were literally hell, but I found that the most cruel and inhuman rule imposed by the authorities was forbidding them from touching one another. They couldn’t even hold or comfort each other—that was such a heartbreaking thing.

I think it broke Billy—the night when Dresden was destroyed. He couldn’t make sense of such a horrendous event, so he figured out a way to protect himself from whatever it was. He went to the hospital to receive treatment for his mental health after the war, but I think he was never healed from his mental wounds, which I doubt anyone could have been after experiencing such a traumatic event.

“Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt.” I find this part quite moving, even though I’m not sure exactly what it means or why it’s placed right where it is in the book. The World War II storyline is also more enjoyable for me once Billy enters the prison, as there are a lot of funny and interesting moments, such as the monograph part, which I still haven’t finished yet.

The time jumps are somewhat interesting, but sometimes it’s hard for me to follow the story emotionally. Maybe it will take some time for me to get used to the writing style, but right now I’m having a hard time enjoying the book—although I find some parts very clever and others genuinely funny. I now know for sure that this is a very weird war book.

The writing style is much more sophisticated than I expected. I can see some elements that remind me of Murakami, which makes sense since Murakami himself mentioned that he was inspired by Vonnegut. A lot of this is funny too, which gave me a little chuckle from time to time. Anyway, this seems like an interesting and different approach to a war story.

That monologue Maria gives when she talks about how men operate in society was something else. But then she slips in at the end that it’s “unnatural” for her to fall in love with a woman, which really caught me off guard. What does it mean? And why would the author put it there? Is it just to tell us something about her character that will unfold in the future? I have no idea.

Damn, he’s so in love. There are a lot of things happening that are worth mentioning, but I just want to say that I really like the part where Raif goes on about how meeting Maria changed his perspective on life and everything. It’s really sweet and touching. This kind of writing makes me wonder what experiences the writer has lived through to be able to write something like this.

I was confused at first because I thought the book was going to jump right into some kind of love story. But now I can see a glimpse of where this is all going, and I don’t mind the first part, though—it’s very well written. Some parts remind me of The Trial by Kafka, with its workplace setting and especially the description of Raif’s family. Anyway, this looks very promising.

The Ferris wheel part is really weird and disturbing. It seems like Sumire is similar to the other side of Miu that’s missing. She’s full of desire and is the type of person whom no rules can restrain. And with what Sumire wrote earlier about people erecting walls to separate what we know from what we don’t, everything seems intertwined, but I don’t know how.

There was, surprisingly, an element of horror in the atmosphere when Miu found Sumire in her room. I don’t know why it never occurred to me that Sumire was going to disappear, since it might be the most Murakami thing ever. Anyway, I still have no idea what the protagonist could do on the island or where the story would go next.