Book Review
Title: Audition
Author: Ryu Murakami
Genre: Psychological Thriller/Horror
Rating: *****
Review: I have seen the movie adaptation of this book numerous times, in fact, it is one of my favourite Asian horror movies of all time. For many years I wasn’t aware that it was based on a book so when I learned this I was eager to see if this book lives up to my love of the movie and In the Miso Soup. I know I mention In the Miso Soup in every review I’ve done for Ryu Murakami but that is the standard as it is just wonderfully dark and gritty. The book opens by introducing us to Aoyama whose wife, Ryoko died of cancer when their son, Shige was only 8. We learn that Aoyama was a less than faithful husband but their relationship stayed strong for the sake of their son and now he is all grown up he suggests his father remarries. Aoyama considers this but as a very rich man he can afford to have his sexual needs meets and considers nothing of it but when he mentions it to a friend, Yoshikawa he has reconsidered, Yoshikawa agrees that it is a good idea and that they hold auditions to find the perfect wife of Aoyama as he is quite picky.
The way they go about setting up the audition is amazing, they decide to set it up as an audition for a movie, but they have to actually intend to make the movie or it would be considered fraud. Yoshikawa comes up with a movie based off a German TV show which they will call Tomorrow’s Heroine, the one that Aoyama will consider for a wife would be the leading lady or even any of the finalist but someone who makes it through the first round, so interesting enough to consider for an interview but not for the movie itself. Yoshikawa in handling basically everything including trying to get backers for the movie. In total, they have had over 4000 applicants and Aoyama narrows them down to 100 which he then further reduces to 31 for the interviews. However, one woman really stood out to him in the essay submitted along with the application: Yamasaki Asami. Asami uses to be a ballet dancer and was even going to school in London when she injured her hips and couldn’t dance anymore but it’s her comment on how the grief of losing her career was similar to that of losing a loved one which Aoyama really connects to. Afterwards he spends a lot of time daydreaming about a possible life with Asami and for the first time since the death of his wife almost 8 years ago he feels truly happy. He doesn’t really pay much attention in the interviews, until it is Asami’s turn.
During the interview Aoyama feels a genuine connection to Asami and focuses little on anyone else. Afterwards Yoshikawa tells him something seems off about Asami and he agrees to keep his wits about him but he quickly arranges to meet Asami for lunch which also goes well and feels like he could genuinely marry this women. When he relays this to Yoshikawa he tells him that the mentor she mentioned in the interview has been dead for over a year yet she never mentioned it and when Aoyama asks Asami she tells him that she only had contact with through a friend and he hadn’t been in contact with her for quite a while and this dispels Aoyama’s minor concerns but Yoshikawa still has the feeling that something isn’t quite right but Aoyama shrugs it off. He invites Asami out for dinner after a two week silence between them at Yoshikawa’s insistence and he even feels confident to tell his son that he is seeing someone although it is unofficial at the moment.
Months pass and they continue to date but the movie begins to go under he knows he has to come clean to Asami as she did with him in order to have any chance of keeping her. He tells her all about the movie going bust and how his wife died years before and how he wants to remarry and we see a drastic change in Asami’s personality which leads to her running off but Aoyama isn’t going to let her go that easily and goes after her. After proving to her he is a genuine person with genuine affections for her, she gives in, kisses him, and tells him that she loves him. However, everyone around Aoyama including his business colleagues and his friends all sense that there is something wrong with Asami but Aoyama is too blinded to see it or too unwilling to believe it. We do have go back to an earlier conversation with Yoshikawa where he mentions that a hostess told him that the man that was Asami’s mentor didn’t die of a heart condition but he was murdered, which may be giving just the subtlest glimpse at Asami’s true nature.
The ending of Audition was gruesome just like the movie but it had a totally different message in my opinion. The movie makes Asami out to be someone demented who has killed repeatedly in the past and while that may be true the book definitely makes her someone who has been so damaged emotionally the only way she can have a relationship is by being with someone who can love her and only her completely. Aoyama was a good contender but his love for his son means he lied to her when he said he could love only her which is why she reacts the way she does but much to Aoyama’s relief it is Shige, his son who comes to his rescue. I had a couple of questions about what happened after that a short epilogue scene would have wrapped up but this seems to be a reoccurring thing with Murakami’s books, he leaves his ending completely open to interpretation which is equal parts interesting and frustrating as you never really get that completely satisfying conclusion but this definitely rivals In the Miso Soup for my favourite Murakami work.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Also see: Almost Transparent Blue by Ryu Murakami
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