At times this book could be seriously disturbing in a highly visceral way, and at other times it could meander. It is also unmistakably Japanese, with that Japanese flavor which is often so weird to western audiences. It is the kind of book that has lots of interesting hidden messages within it that could be endlessly dissected, with certain passages that are immediately accessible to anyone given their searing and unflinching intensity. Despair, guilt, violence, malaise, ennui, and tragic aspirations are all key themes that ultimately reveal something fundamental about human nature and perhaps about economics and political systems as well.