The book tells the tale of a young man named Tsukuru who becomes friends with four students in high school, two guys and two girls, each of whom have a color in their name: Kei Akamatsu(Red), Yoshio Oumi(Blue), Yuzuki Shirane (White) and Eri Kuruno(Black). Tazaki himself not only has no color in his name, but is, rather, the "plain" person in the group of outstanding kids- Aka is athletic, Ao is smart, Shiro is musical, and Kuro is outspoken and personable, Tsukuru, however, has no talents to speak of, instead assuming the role of the quiet guy in the group.
Yet, all through school and summer, the five of them were inseparable and did everything together. Even when Tsukuru moved to Tokyo to attend college and the other four stayed in Nagoya, they still made it a point to get together whenever he visited home. And so it was a great shock to him when one trip home, he found no one answering his calls or seeing him. After trying desperately to meet up, finally Ao contacts him with a brief message: "Don't call anymore." When he asks WHY they have suddenly changed their hearts about their friendship, all Ao can say is "Think About it...You'll figure it out." A devastated Tsukuru has no IDEA what Ao might mean, but can only comply with their wishes.
When our story begins, Tsukuru is a grown man working as a designer for the Railways who has seemingly put all his college days' hurt behind him, yet his girlfriend Sara tells him that she sometimes feels like there is something haunting him. When she hears about his past with the four friends, she decides the only way for Tsukuru to be at peace with himself is to go back, meet those four friends, and find out just what went wrong.
Oh man, such a great story, and you know, way more "grounded" than the last two books, almost like a regular story, unlike Dance Dance Dance and the Elephant Vanishes, which were both decidedly abstract in lots of ways! Oh, there's still the signature "existential" vibe threaded throughout the book, but all more philosophical than surreal, if you get my meaning!
Okay, Back to the Book!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com