This is a great novel by Japanese author Ryu Murakami, published in 1976, The story, in as much as there is one at all, relates the wasted day to day ennui of a group of Japanese Drug addicts and their obsessions with group sex and rock and roll music circa the mid seventies. I have only read the translation by Nancy Andrew, but it was wonderful.
A review from everything2.com:
Almost Transparent Blue (Kagirinaku tômei ni chikai burû) is the masterpiece of Japanese novelist Murakami Ryu—and a narrative of drugs and debauchery that will make any fan of Hunter S. Thompson (or porn) stand up and applaud.
The story, which is said to be based on the author's life, looks at a clique of young Japanese and nissei people living near Yokota Air Base in the Dark Ages of the seventies. Murakami writes in the first person as "Ryu," an intelligent guy who's lost himself in sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
Murakami is big on imagery, as he was originally an artist before setting his sights on literature, and nowhere in his body of literature is this more apparent than in ATB. The many drug-enhanced scenes in the book capitalize on utterly grotesque pictures of dying insects, festering leftovers, and anal sex, among other things. In many ways, reading this book reminded me of watching Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, except that ATB makes drugs look even worse, by pairing them up with the erect penis of a large black Air Force mechanic named Jackson.
If one thing can be said about ATB, it is that Murakami pulls no punches. The book is designed to scare the living crap out of you (or, if you're into the freaky hentai school of erotica, to give you good wank material). It's not just a compost heap of disconcerting feelings, though: Ryu is more than an actor in an S&M flick, he's a lost youth looking for a way out of the black hole of the narcotics lifestyle as B-52's soar overhead.
Be prepared to read this book with your mouth hanging open, unless you have experience with sucking dick for coke.
So, yeah, its a dirty book, but one which will stick with you in a number of ways. Just thought I'd throw this out there, and try to get around to recommending some of my favorite books, whether they are particularly paranormative in subject or not. This one pretty much is.
