In this novel K, a primary school teacher is in love with his friend Sumire. Quirky Sumire regularly calls K at 3 in the morning to discuss life and receive advice from K but she has no sexual feelings for K. K has an affair with the mother of one of his pupils to placate his lust for Sumire. Sumire is an aspiring writer who lives on a small stipend from her parents until one day she meets Miu a woman 17 years her senior who runs a business importing wine from Europe. Sumire goes to work as Miu's personal assistant and together they travel to Europe. Sumire is madly in love and lust with Miu and one day throwing caution to the wind she makes her move on Miu. However the feelings are not reciprocal and it cannot be. Afterwards Sumire disappears like smoke and K travels to Greece to help find her. Murakami returns to his surreal roots with Miu explaining how her hair went white overnight after seeing herself from the top of a ferris wheel making love in her flat to a man she was trying to avoid and with K encountering a mysterious band playing late at night on a hilltop. In this novel the characters all live in their own world and each is lost in this space like the satellite of the title. The novel explores love, sexuality and the fragility of friendships and acquaintances and we are left brooding on our own friendships that have lapsed. This wonderful simply written book is another masterpiece by Murakami.
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The review of this Book prepared by John Marcel
