South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami

"Who was your crush?"

When asked this question, we often times recall a memory from grade school. After all, the term "crush," was pretty much coined by little grade schoolers who experienced a short-lived period of attraction towards the opposite sex. Unknowing yet knowing of the feeling of love, a crush is a distant memory washed up and faded away as the years go on. We recall these feelings in momentary lapses, which eventually become washed up and forgotten as we transition from adolescence.

But what if this love has become rooted in the back of your mind, weaving itself into every crevice of your brain, searching for fragments of memories to feed on? What if it aches like a cavity when sugar coats your tooth? Can a starved love feast once more?

Haruki Murakami's South of the Border, West of the Sun illustrates this notion of an unforgettable post-war Japan grade school romance lived by Hajime, an only child. With everyone else around him having brothers and sisters, he'd felt odd--until Shimamoto, a girl, and another only child moves into his neighborhood. The two spend their elementary days together in playgrounds, walking home together, and finding solace in the living room of Shimamoto's home listening to her father's jazz records. But when his family moves away, they lose contact.

Thirty years later, Hajime is married and has two daughters. Thirty years later, he sees Shimamoto again, much older, legs crossed and red-lipped in a coffee shop. Writhing recollections of their youth rooted in the back of his mind begin to turn up, blurring his sense of perception. Stained by the memory of this unrequited love, Hajime pushes the fragility of family and assets just to spend one night alone with Shimamoto--only to discover the dark secrets of her past after their thirty years apart.

South of the Border, West of the Sun explores the possibilities of reconciling with your grade school love if the chance was given to you. Haruki Murakami illustrates this painful essence of infatuation through a retrospective lens personified by Hajime.