I want to start this review of Popular Hits of the Showa Era, by Ryū Murakami, by saying that it surprised me with its audacity. The fact that I was surprised is… surprising itself, because I’ve read plenty of Ryū Murakami’s novels – parenthetically, no relation to Haruki Murakami – and they’re all as audacious.
And yet, there was something about Popular Hits of the Showa Era that made it profoundly daring and disturbing in abstract, symbolic ways. As you can perhaps tell by this comment, I really liked the book.
But I must warn you: It’s a book that is very difficult to like; the average reader will probably be disgusted by it. Reading Popular Hits of the Showa Era is an experience similar to reading American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis: a misunderstood masterpiece that hides a riot of meaning under the deceptive surface.
All this makes this review of Popular Hits of the Showa Era all the more important. There are lessons to learn about writing, reading, and art in general.
