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Underground Book Summary and Study Guide

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Underground


Haruki Murakami's 'Underground' tells the stories of individuals affected by the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway by an extreme religious group. Murakami approaches each of the individual attacks geographically, placing the stories of the victims and the protagonists in chapters based upon the line that was attacked. The story of an attacker will sit next to the story of a subway worker, which will then be followed by an account by a businessman.
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It could be argued that Murakami has merely transcribed the words of the interviewees, and thus deserves little praise for this book. However, Murakami's main strength is that he has allowed the Japanese people to speak for themselves, and his restraint in adding his own opinion deserves merit. And somehow, Underground transcends the events it describes, and gives us a compelling insight into how modern Japanese view their country and the direction they are heading in.
The review of this Book prepared by Robert Symes



Chapter Analysis of Underground

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Kind Of History

Time of history:    -   20th century History of disaster/tragedy?    -   Yes Kind of disaster:    -   terrorist attack Nationality?    -   Japanese

Subjects of this Historical Account

Ethnicity (if plays a major part)    -   Asiatic Is the portrayal sympathetic?    -   Sympathetic Intelligence of subject of history:    -   Smart

Setting

Asia/Pacific    -   Yes Asian country:    -   Japan Big City?    -   Yes

Writing Style

How much gore?    -   1 () How fast-paced is the book?    -   7 () Accounts of torture and death?    -   moderately detailed references to deaths Book makes you feel...    -   thoughtful How much focus on stories of individuals?    -   Focuses mostly on history of key players How much romance?    -   1 () Historical short story collection?    -   Yes Minor characters feature lots of:    -   businessmen Is this a kid's book?    -   Ages 16-Adult Pictures/Illustrations?    -   None Length of book    -   150-200 pages How much emphasis on small details?    -   7 ()

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Harumi Murakami Books Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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