Almost Transparent Blue (Flamingo S.) - Softcover

Murakanis, Ryu

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006544908 ISBN 13: 9780006544906

Publisher: Flamingo, 1992

Synopsis

Set in Japan in the 1970s, this book provides a portrait of a group of alienated youths who have rebelled against Japanese society, rejecting the respectable path of study and hard work, spending their days in drugs, sex, music and violence instead. This book won the Akutagawa Literary Prize.

About this title

Review

"Highly recommended for readers of the bizarre, readers who thought they were really "making the scene" as street freaks back in the late 60s, or those who still think of Japan as the land of cherry blossoms and bald-headed monks." "A Japanese mix of A Clockwork Orange and L'Etranger." -Newsweek "Bugs and mucus, cheesecake and semen, rain and runways-all lovingly described." - Washington Post "Highly recommended for readers of the bizarre." -Antioch Review "A violent book-sharply begun and slammed quickly to a finish." -Bestsellers "A Japanese mix of A Clockwork Orange and L'Etranger." -Newsweek "Bugs and mucus, cheesecake and semen, rain and runways-all lovingly described." - Washington Post "Highly recommended for readers of the bizarre." -Antioch Review "A violent book-sharply begun and slammed quickly to a finish." -Bestsellers "A Japanese mix of A Clockwork Orange and L'Etranger." -Newsweek "Bugs and mucus, cheesecake and semen, rain and runways-all lovingly described." - Washington Post "Highly recommended for readers of the bizarre." -Antioch Review "A violent book-sharply begun and slammed quickly to a finish." -Bestsellers "A Japanese mix of A Clockwork Orange and L'Etranger." -Newsweek "Bugs and mucus, cheesecake and semen, rain and runways-all lovingly described." - Washington Post "Highly recommended for readers of the bizarre." -Antioch Review "A violent book-sharply begun and slammed quickly to a finish." -Bestsellers

About the Author

RYU MURAKAMI was born in 1952. The only son of schoolteacher parents, he grew up in the port city of Sasebo in southwestern Japan. After graduating from a local high school, where he played the drums in a band called Coelacanth, he went to an art college in Tokyo. It was while studying there that he entered his first novel, Almost Transparent Blue, in a competition for new writers. Published in 1976, the book won a major literary award and sold over a million copies. Since then, he has worked for a publishing house, presented a weekly music and interview radio program, and hosted a TV talk show. His literary output includes two collections of stories Run, Takahashi (1985) and Topaz (1988), and the novel Coin Locker Babies (1980), which made its debut in English early in 1995. His roman a clef 69 appeared in English in 1993. He has also directed four movies based on his writing, causing a sensation at an Italian film festival when Tokyo Decadence was shown there in 1992. His latest film is set in the U.S. and Cuba.

Edition details

• Publisher: Flamingo
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0006544908
• ISBN 13: 9780006544906
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128