1997: Audition

Book Name: Audition

Author: Ryu Murakami

Genre: Horror, Romance

Year Published: 1997

   Audition... This was a weird book. I mean, I figured it was going to be from the fact it's described as being both a romance and a horror novel. Those two don't generally go together. Written by Japanese author, Ryu Murakami, and also a film (which unfortunately I haven't seen yet), this was a pretty good read overall, though it had a lot of build up to a short climax. Maybe a fifth of the book has something that's really interesting happening, the rest is just filler/descriptions.

   The storyline is an interesting one. Aoyama is a single father, his wife having died some years ago, and his son suggests he get a new wife. This results in an audition being held on the pretence of finding an actress for a film, but with the real goal being for Aoyama to find a nice lady. Enter Yamasaki Asami. Aoyama quickly falls in love with her, though his friend thinks there's something a little odd about her and she doesn't seem to have any friends or family... Also there's a guy in a wheelchair who freaks out when he sees her. But who cares about that? She's clearly the most wonderful woman in the whole world. 

   You may get the gist that this is the romance part. If you don't like spoilers, at least know this. The bit at the end really is the horror part. It's very short-lived, but pretty bad. If you're squeamish or anything like that - don't read this book! It may seem like a lovely romantic novel. It isn't. You've been warned.

   That aside, I would say it's a shame really the horror part wasn't longer somehow. The romance part of the book is nice and all, but it's rather long in getting to the point, despite the writing being really smooth. The descriptions are well-written and it's easy to imagine yourself there in the moment, but after a while it just doesn't have a draw to keep reading. The good thing is, it's short. So if you have a few days spare, you can easily read and enjoy it. I do recommend reading it. But it's not one you're going to want to come back to again.

Other Books I Considered:The Bone Collector - Jeffery Deaver; Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier; In the Miso Soup - Ryu Murakami; Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden; A Song of Stone - Iain Banks; Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom
Books I Read Inbetween: The Moth Diaries - Rachel Klein