Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche

Wow, that was fascinating. Really interesting look at the cult/religion Aum Shinrikyo and (as the subtitle alludes to) Japanese life. The interviews with the people affected by the gas attack were just heartbreaking. And the interviews with the cult members were an interesting look at why people joined the group. Fascinating.

You know how Hakuri Murakami is wacky and zany and nutso? Well, not in Underground. He's a Serious Journalist. I was like a third grader in the last hour of the day; I could hardly keep my seat.

But plug away I did, as Murakami interviewed victim after victim. And so on and so on.

Good news: I'm finished with one more dusty BookCrossing book.

Underground – 5 Stars:

This is a massive undertaking from Murakami. I was very impressed to read about the background of the project—how it came together, why it mattered, and how it evolved over time.

Murakami brings together a wide range of perspectives, driven by curiosity and a deep social need to shed light on a terrible event. He’s at his most restrained here—professional, fair, and meticulous, inserting his thoughts in an open and non-sneaky way, never mixing opinion with fact, never playing politics.

One of the defining traits of Murakami’s work is his indifference to convention and expectation, and here he pushes that mindset to the limit, assembling a memorable, surprising, and thought-provoking book filled with wisdom and social awareness.

I’ve always found Murakami’s nonfiction deeply impressive. He has so many ideas and the bravery to explore them openly, even at the risk of being seen as a hyper-individualistic weirdo.

Keep up your weirdness, Murakami-san. The Nobel committee may not value it, but a lot of people around the world do.