I guess I didn’t really like this one. I’ve never seen the movie and so part of that appeal is lost for me, and I ended up reading it because it was available on Hoopla and short and figured why not.
The story begins with an aging filmmaker, a widower with a son, looking for a new wife or thinking about growing into old age in a relationship rather than alone. He and a friend come up with the idea to create a casting call for a film in hopes of attracting 1000s of potential women of a certain age looking for a chance to tell about themselves and more or less “audition” for the role. The film will not get made and they are not necessarily looking for the person that they would have cast so much as someone who fits his own personal criteria. Having asked for a personal essay to accompany the application to the film, the director finds someone among the essays whom he believes he shares a connection with and seeks her out on the audition day.
They hit it off and it seems too good to be true. It is, obviously.
I think what I found not particularly great about this book is that it toed the line between revenge/justified violence ala a movie like Hard Candy and “bitches be crazy” like lots of other movies, and it didn’t sit in either camp very neatly. That discomfort didn’t feel purposeful or interesting, so much as unclear and confused. So I ended up feeling pretty underwhelmed by the whole deal.
(Photo: https://www.amazon.com/Audition-Ryu-Murakami/dp/039333841X/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2MYDB9FCHSNVR&keywords=ryu+murakami&qid=1582643029&sprefix=ryu+mur%2Caps%2C255&sr=8-4)
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