The Amsterdam in question in this book is a Japanese theme park, not the backpackers' landmark known for its citizens' liberal lifestyle. Amsterdam (the theme park) offers a homogenized version of the original; tourists can enjoy boat rides and bland, Western food. However, like its namesake, it has a seedy undercurrent that belies its homogenized facade.

This is where the bulk of the action in Escape from Amsterdam takes place. Aozora, our antihero, is a university student in Kyoto who has been dumped by his lady for a job in a ski resort. Due to his increasing indifference to school and life in general, he whiles away his hours playing mah-jong, and it's not long before he finds himself mired in debt to some local gangsters. After his friend gets beat up for his outstanding debts, Aozora is informed that he and his sister, Mai, are due to inherit a pricey art collection. The catch is, his sister has been missing for weeks.

Read the full review here. ( )

My 1st Review.

I find myself torn after reading this book. I do love Japanese culture and a good thriller. I am both elated and disappointed with this book. If you were hoping for something like Michael Crichton's "Rising Sun", keep looking. This is more of an adaptation of a screenplay of a Anime movie you don't quite understand, yet can't pull yourself away from. The story is basically about a young man; "Aozora" who finds himself on a mission to save his sister; "Mai" at a fantastical amusement park; "Amsterdam" while bearing the burden of his endebtedness to gangsters. Although there are a few colourful and interesting characters in the story, "Aozora" personifies the self-centered, shallow, socially detactched, self-loathing youth of today that you'll find yourself compelled to want to smack upside his head a la Leroy Jethro Gibbs [N.C.I.S.]. At times WAY too detailed, and at other times quite whimsical, "Escape From Amsterdam" is, in a word, convoluted. I did very much enjoy the many manga illustrations & photos the book offered. Perhaps if Sherwood expanded upon those and didn't get so bogged down in the details, it would have been a better book. I believe this would have been exceptional if it were completely illustrated and contained not a word of text. A part of me loved this book, but a bigger part of me is suffering the bitter aftertaste of a first draft. ( )

At first, the extreme ennui and detachment of the protagonist of Escape from Amsterdam, Aozora, might put you off. The only thing that motivates him is his fear of the gangsters who are intent on collecting his mah-jongg gambling debts. His aunt has died, and his only hope of collecting the money to pay off his debtors is to find his sister, who, he suspects, has disappeared into the world of high-class prostitution.

The story really picks up steam when Aozora enters the fantasy world of Amsterdam, a theme park attached to Japan's version of Las Vegas. Aozora locates his sister, Mai, and a host of new outcasts and outlaws give chase. I found myself hooked into the story and pulling for this unlikely hero. ( )

If you’re looking for a detailed description of a Japan you couldn’t imagine or wouldn’t believe, this is a great book. If you’re looking for a plot or even one likeable character, stay far far away.

This story of an odyssey by a Japanese student to find his sister (who is potentially in danger—but is really in a whacky servitude) left me feeling bogged down in detail. The main character, Aozora is beyond unlikeable. He is so unconcerned with his mission (until the last few pages) that I don’t care either. It feels like the loss of anyone, except a monkey feeding do-gooder that appears toward the end, and the father, would be no great loss to the universe.

The rest of the characters were more than one dimensional, they seemed to be the same person showing up in different jobs. They, as well as their roles in this book felt ridiculous.

The detail was compelling, the description sublime, but it was far too much of a good thing. By the end, I wanted to read only the dialogue.

The Manga and photographs scattered throughout felt like not enough to really work, and yet left me with more of a clear picture than the over-detailed descriptions. I admit to being wholly unfamiliar with Manga and I would like to have seen more of it.

It’s possible that it’s only me, but I couldn’t recommend this book. ( )

I got Escape from Amsterdam through the early reviewers program. I found it enjoyable, in a cotton-candy kind of way - it was superficially tasty but disappeared quickly and didn't leave much behind. Sherwood can throw off the verbal pyrotechnics with ease. The book revolves around a young Japanese student Aozora, and his attempts to spirit his sister away from her new environment, near a Japanese theme park called Amsterdam. Aozora is a punk, no two ways about it. Self-centered, disrespectful, congenitally unable to tell the truth or keep his mouth shut at the right time. Frankly it was hard to like him much or care about him.

The book itself is like a carnival ride - wild, crazy swings, odd encounters, memorable characters who spring out of nowhere. The format of the book is a bit unique - there are photos and diagrams and manga scattered throughout. Sherman can turn a phrase, there's no doubt. Describing a decrepit old hotel Aozora was staying in (alongside some of these photos), Sherman writes: "I could probably go on at length, but these snapshots I took do the place a kind of vigilante justice".

In the end though, I didn't really get it. The book didn't really seem to have a point - I think maybe the carnival ride was the point. Aozora didn't really go anywhere as a character - he didn't grow up, he wasn't rewarded or punished for being a self-centered young punk, other than getting half a million dollars in an inheritance. I didn't really feel edified about some underlying phenomenon of modern Japanese culture. ( )