Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami

Coin Locker Babies was the second of Murakami's novels to be translated into English and, of those available in translation, it is by far the longest at just under 400 pages. My full review with a synopsis (but no spoilers) is on the book page. In short, it is a dark dystopian story of two boys growing up with the knowledge that they were abandoned as infants by their mothers and left to die. Compared to Almost Transparent Blue, which I read about four years ago, Coin Locker Babies has a lot more plot to it, but is just as nihilistic. It is set partly in Murakami's native island of Kyushu and reflects his experience as a member of a rock band.

I am curious to know what a psychologist thinks of the novel's premise that we can be marked for life by traumatic experiences of early infancy--i.e. did the boys turn out as they did because of the hours they actually spent in a coin locker? Or was it indirectly because of the years they spent hearing from others that they had been found in a coin locker?

Thanks for the review and for starting us off on Murakami. I have this book in Japanese and really want to read it in Japanese first but it's still a little long for me to read right now. Anything past 150 pages and I'm afraid I'll lose my attention span. So, I won't be getting to it for this theme read.