Book Review | Coin Locker Babies, Ryu Murakami

Induces nausea from the first line and onwards | Not recommended

Created: June 3rd, 2023

Left to die in coin lockers, Hashi and Kiku are found just in time by authorities. They grow up in an orphanage and then become adopted by a couple, moving near the sea. Spending their childhood exploring an abandoned town and growing closer, the boys cope with their Later they split ways, with one becoming a pop star and the other a pole vaulter. Reunited in the grimy, crime-ridden city of Toxitown, the boys find themselves tangled up in plots of greed and brutality. Looking for a way to get back at the world that dealt them bad hands, Hashi and Kiku turn to the drug sure to wipe out Tokyo: DATURA.

As the tagline says, it is nausea-inducing. I almost dropped the book after the first page. It makes you feel unpleasant throughout, especially the graphic descriptions of violence. However, I still enjoyed this book because reading the genre of “messed up things happen to people which messes them up and then they mess everything else up” is my guilty pleasure (see: my infatuation with Earthlings by Sayaka Murata). Sometimes I got a little lost as to what exactly was going on, but I blame that on the fact that I read it on my phone and not as a physical book. I’ll be honest, it took me a while to become fully invested in it because things only really start happening after a major plot event a hundred pages in or so. And then it decrescendos and crescendos again until you reach… Also, the book could have done without that first page. With books that cover taboo topics in such graphic ways, I always ask myself, “Did the book need this scene, or was it just shock value to grab the readers attention?” I’d have to say that Coin Locker Babies used too much of it. The recurring plot of “kill everyone with DATURA” was already pretty dark; from Hashi and Kiku’s weird upbringing to their encounters with different and dangerous people as young adults, that alone would’ve been enough for a compelling read.

Talking about prose when a book has been translated isn’t that easy. The thing with books that were originally in another language is that some things will inevitably be lost in translation. What I can say about the translation, however, is that the descriptions of everything were vivid, from the scenery to the characters. The plot itself may have been unsettling, but the style really put it together. One thing that did catch me off guard was the use of the word “gooseflesh” instead of “goosebumps.” It’s only one word, but I did find that it added to the quirk of an already unusual story. Ryu Murakami has a way of making the most ridiculous things believable and the silliest of characters relatable. There is also a penchant for crafting scenes where you can really feel the sensory overload, which again adds to the nauseating feeling you get when reading.

As I’ve said before, this book definitely isn’t for everyone due to its content. But for those who want to read the book themselves or learn more about the book, check out its Goodreads page:
Goodreads