South of the Border, West of the Sun is the seventh novel by author Haruki Murakami, first published in Japan in 1992 and many years later in English by frequent Murakami translator Philip Gabriel in 1999. It was released four years after Dance Dance Dance, a novel I’ve also covered in this series. Despite being classified as a novel, this book is in a rather strange position compared to Murakami’s other works as it cannot be neatly placed into one category. At 192 pages, it is clearly shorter than your average novel, but at the same it is not short enough to be considered a short story. Therefore, it would be better to call this a ‘short novel’.
Starting with the common theme of a man ‘losing’ a woman, this story follows 36-year-old Hajime, the owner to two successful bars and father of two children, as he reunites with former childhood friend Shimamoto, who mysteriously refuses to relay any information on where she’s been all these years and constantly haunts Hajime with ‘what ifs’. This sets in a motion a chain of events in which he must choose between his loving wife and family and retreating into the wonder of his past.
I’ll admit that the premise alone got me interested. It’s rare that a Murakami novel features a married protagonist, and an emphasis on childhood friendship. Thankfully, this short novel is written well and has enough depth to keep you invested. Moreover, it is one of the few Murakami stories where the protagonist is morally ambiguous – while most of his protagonists are on the side of ‘good’ (even if reluctantly) and generally likable, Hajime makes questionable decisions and even considers cheating on his current wife with Shimamoto, a decision that would certainly turn readers against him. Without spoiling too much, this book is definitely one of Murakami’s better short-form works, and I highly recommend it if you prefer a book you could finish in a day.
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