Book Review
Title: In the Miso Soup
Author: Ryu Murakami
Genre: Psychological Thriller/Horror
Rating: *****
Review: I have already read In the Miso Soup but since I am currently reading all of Ryu Murakami’s books it felt right to re-read it now. Having read all of his book apart from 69 and Coin Locker Babies, I can honestly say so far In the Miso Soup is my favourite and the opening chapter really demonstrates this. We are introduced to a 20-year-old Kenji who acts as a tour guide for foreigners around the seedier parts of Tokyo and his specialised in sex tours. We meet his as he meets a new client, an American called Frank and immediately Kenji feels there is something very strange about Frank, from the way he dresses to the way he looks but the money is good as he is booked for 3 nights and can’t turn it down.
On the first night, Kenji takes Frank to a few bars and a peep show but his feeling of discontent continues to grow and he seems to catch Frank is some obvious lies but doesn’t say anything as there could be many reasons for Frank not telling Kenji the truth. However, after handing over what seems to be a blood-stained bill at the bar, Kenji begins to suspect that Frank might be the serial killer terrorizing the city. At the peep show he asks a friend, Asami, who works there to tell him if Frank ejaculates and how much, since the most recent victims was sexual assaulted and if Frank is the man then he won’t be able to ejaculate much. This doesn’t go to plan and Frank stops her before that but Asami is also scared of Frank in the few moments she was alone with him and Kenji’s suspicions begin to grow. As their time draws to a close, they end up in a batting cage and Kenji wants to see if Frank is lying about other parts of their life so they make a bet. If Kenji can hit a small target Frank will pay him double and if he can’t Frank will only pay half and Kenji agrees. He ultimately fails but the true test comes when he tells Frank it is only fair if he plays by the same rules, so he steps into the batting cage. Up until this point we have seen some minor hints about what is to come later on but Frank’s personality doesn’t match up with anything he is saying about his life.
During the day Kenji’s feeling about Frank being a killer is getting stronger especially when he finds a piece of human skin taped to his door. This coupled with the mysterious phone call and Frank ringing him when he’s out with his girlfriend, Jun gives him a very uneasy feeling. The phone call with Frank puts Kenji on edge as he is sure that Frank is watching them at that moment as he wants Kenji to bring Jun with him that night but Kenji refuses. That night Kenji goes out with Frank again but at a completely different bar where they meet Noriko, another friend of Kenji’s and she calls Frank out on some of his lies but luckily she doesn’t speak any English but Frank seems to understand enough Japanese to make out parts of the conversation but he still needs Kenji to translate. They head for the bar Noriko works at in the hopes of getting Frank a woman but the two girls they meet there, don’t understand the concept of shutting up even when Kenji is sending them obvious signals and what Kenji dubs “The Face” makes a reappearance as Frank’s control over his temper begins to slip. What we get next has got to be one of the goriest scenes I have ever read with the exception of Battle Royale where Frank kills everyone in spectacular fashion except Kenji although he does try to make Kenji part of the act but he refuses. Just when you think Frank is finally going to kill Kenji he doesn’t instead he persuades Kenji who is in shock to leave.
Kenji doesn’t go to the police like we expect and Frank leaves him to fulfil his mission of finding a woman but he keeps an eye on Kenji. When he spots that Kenji hasn’t gone to the police he approaches him again and brings him back to the hovel he is sleeping in and allows him to get some rest but not before explaining exactly why he is the way he is and Kenji does sympathise with him. Frank asks Kenji for one final favour and that is to take him to hear the New Year’s bells which he agrees to however, he does ask Jun to go as well and keep an eye on them in case anything happens but Frank has been planning to let Kenji go all along. Frank sees that Jun is there and tells Kenji to go to her, meaning he has seen her before but not before giving Kenji an envelope. In the envelope there are pictures they took together and the feather of a swan which is significant in Frank’s history as he disappears into the night but not before lamenting that he would have loved to have shared some miso soup with Kenji.
Overall, the re-reading of In the Miso Soup was a great decision however, I am not sure whether any of Murasaki’s other works can live up to this, the only one that came close was Audition but even though I gave it 5 stars and I didn’t fall completely in love with it the same way I did with Miso Soup. This book is really short and if you haven’t read it then I highly recommend it.
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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