Slow Boat

What a weird little book this was! But I loved it! The story, the pace of it, the connection to dreams, reality or somewhere in between. I know nothing of the author or their work but I intend to rectify that as soon as possible.

The circle of life, for many individuals, is completed within a small radius of their place of origin. Boku was born in Tokyo, feared he would die in Tokyo and made several botched attempts to leave. His dreams of life in Tokyo were colorless and murky. Boku had three girlfriends. One was taken from him, one left him as a result of mistakes and the third one, he sent away.

As a fifth grader, Boku became obsessed with death as "The Big Limit". He stopped attending school, slept all day and kept a dream diary resulting in his being shipped off to an alternative school for dropouts. Enter girlfriend number one. By attending summer school, she was out of her mother's hair for the summer. Summer ends abruptly, halting the budding friendship and romance.

Boku's university years provided a second chance. What started as physical stirrings and incredible chemistry led to love. Girlfriend two was determined to leave Tokyo for Okinawa, so much so, that she called from the airport holding two tickets to Okinawa. Boku can leave Tokyo with her if he arrives at the airport. It is a race against time.

Fast forward to our narrator's new decision. If he can't leave Tokyo, he can keep Tokyo out of his business venture. His cafe called The Power of Kate is an establishment with aromas and flavors foreign to Tokyo. Girlfriend three, Knife Girl, the chef, will leave Tokyo soon to fulfill her dreams.

One cannot deny the fact that circumstance is a factor in his inability to leave Tokyo. Time marches on and it is incumbent upon Boku to navigate his own destiny. If the odds are against him, he has allowed them to be so. All he needs is a dose of hope and to exercise free will.

"Slow Boat" by Hideo Furukawa is a story of Boku's inability to change his focus from inaction to self betterment, hopefulness and happiness. Yes, he is often misguided and would profit from better communication skills, but hope is still within reach. "Slow Boat", a novella, highlights a life tormented by feeling there is no way out and no escape. An excellent read.

Thank you Steerforth Press,Pushkin Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Slow Boat".

In his "liner notes" afterword Hideo Furukawa acknowledges his debt to Haruki Murakami and describes Slow Boat as a remix of Murakami's story Slow Boat to China.
"For me," he admits, "Murakami is at the centre of it all - the roots of my soul" and the influence is clear with his hapless narrator, constantly thwarted by fate and the transient love of the women that briefly intersect with his life. But Slow Boat is more than a fan's tribute to his hero, it's an assured piece of writing in its own right.

"This is the story fifth-grade boy hell-bent on making sense of his dreams. Cracking the code" . So Slow Boat's own narrator Boku describes his story and the tale often occupies that strange territory between sleep and waking. Boku's dreams often intersect with his life, tantalising him with hints of meaning (which also call to the reader as Furukawa tips his hat to his own novel with pop-culture references) and the writing is full of jerky, confused dream-logic, bringing with it the feeling of heart-racing awakening from frenzied chases and unbelievable twists of fate that balloon out of control. As a coming-of-age story it is full of the failings and frustrations of a youth in a world that seems determined to defeat him. The overarching theme of (failing to) "escape" from Tokyo is full of that deep, visceral need to just get out of the place you were born that many will recognise. To slip the collar of the place that has for so long defined you.

"Idiots." Boku sneers at one point, "Tokyo thought my Trojan Horse was avant-garde? Die, Tokyo, die."

There is also a preoccupation with language and its ability to confuse, miscommunicate, from the imperfect similarities of Chinese and Japanese Kanji to his attempts to understand the words of his hyper-vocal first girlfriend. But there is also the fellowship provided by a shared language as relationships develop through a shared vocabulary such as the secret language he develops with his friends to supply the deficiencies of Japanese to describe the experience of a changing world.

Slow Boat by Hideo Furukawa is a pleasure to read! If you're interested in Japanese literature, this will be a welcome addition to your shelf.

I found this novella funny, deeply weird and involving. It is likely to be divisive, but I would definitely recommend to Murakami and Sayaka Murata fans.