Publisher: Penguin Books Page Count: 192 Fiction Category: Horror, Asian Lit., Thriller Dates Read: March 31-April 2, 2015 Summary: Murakami, in his own unique style, explores themes of child abuse and what happens to the voiceless among us, weaving a disturbing, spare tale of two people who find each other and then are forced into hurting each other deeply because of the haunting specter of their own abuse as children. Piercing is about Kawashima Masayuki who wakes in the middle of the night, and finds himself looking into the crib of his newborn daughter, suddenly struck with the overwhelming urge to pierce the daughters skin with an ice pick. Deciding that he cannot harm his daughter, Kawashima sets up a plan to hire a prostitute and pierce her with an ice pick and cut her Achilles tendon. What he finds is a woman who is emotionally hurting and finds pleasure in pain. Review: The above summary is not what I thought I was getting in to when I selected this book, and for many reason I was left disappointed with it. The idea of him wanting to stab his newborn with an ice pick is in and of itself terrifying, but the way Murakami resolved Kawashima's urges was a trip. Picture Jane Austen writing a bastard book that combines Fifty Shades of Grey and Darkly Dreaming Dexter, but with a lack-luster ending that seems like the author just didn't care about finishing. That is what Piercing is like. The synopsis of the book leads you to believe this story will have a lot of going on, and that there will be a lot of gore. That is not the case. I've read scarier stories in Sunday School. The characters are flat and underdeveloped. The story leads nowhere. The most terrifying thing about reading this book was how long it took me to get through the 190 pages that contained the story. In short, I do not recommend this book to anyone. I give this a 2 out of 5.
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