Go here to get the skinny on one of my favorite authors, Haruki Murakami (Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore).
If you don’t know him, what are you waiting for?
I love the discography, but the bibliography is incomplete. What about “Hear The Wind Sing” and “Pinball 1973?”
I’ve wanted to read Hard-Boiled Wonderland for some time but I haven’t yet gotten around to it. Anyone have any impressions?
I was lucky enough to get ahold of an uncorrected advanced copy of “Kafka on the Shore” about 3 months ago. I like it more than “After the Quake” and the last few things that have appeared since “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” (which remains, and probably will, his masterpiece).
Does anyone know why a new translator did “Kafka”? I thought that Jay Rubin was kind of the Murakami translator, especially after his loving “Haruki Murakami and the music of words” biography, but he didn’t do “Kafka.” Anyone know what’s up?
Let’s see, I’ve read The Wild Sheep Chase, The Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and The Wind Up Bird Chronicles. All very very good, but decidedly odd. The closest Western author I can think of is JG Ballard, but that probably doesn’t help most people.
I think a closer American author is Douglas Coupland - the same mix of cultural finger-on-the-pulseness, deep humanism, and plain weirdness.
“Wind-up…” and “Norwegian Wood” are my favorites, though “Dance Dance Dance” and “South of the…” are great, too.
Also, “The Elephant Vanishes,” his short stories collection.
He’s great, though I haven’t got much time for the weirder extremes of his books. “Norwegian Wood” is bloody heartbreaking.
I thought Kafka On The Shore was excellent. I much prefer his quest novels to his doomed romances, but the last quest novel (Wind-Up Bird Chronicle) was a little too opaque for me. This one was just right.
I don’t think he’ll ever top A Wild Sheep Chase, but since that’s probably the unconscious yardstick I use to measure his books, it’s kind of a meaningless statement.
I don’t think those have been published in the U.S.
I’ve just finished Sputnik Sweetheart. Has anyone else read this? I’m a little confused by the end. (Yeah, I know what do you expect reading Murakami 
).
He seems to speak to her in his dreams, alluding to the cross over to the other place that Sumire had passed to in search of Miu, but why does K look for blood on his hands (final para)? BTW - thats just my first half assed thoughts about it. More thinking to do, but wondered if anyone had a take on this.
Not much really happens, but somehow I was engrossed from the start. How does he do that? Onto Quake next…
My favorites are Hard Boiled Wonderland and Dance Dance Dance.
I also really enjoyed the short-fiction collection The Elephant Vanishes.
Nightwatch, I highly recommend Hard Boiled Wonderland. It’s damn near impossible to describe, because it’s kind of like “‘Genre’? What is this ‘genre’ you speak of?” Combine Gibson’s Johnny Mnemonic with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with a James Bond film, and that gives you some impression of half of the book. The other half is like . . . um . . . kind of . . . um . . .
Well, just read it.
Things To Do:
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6. Check out Haruki Murakami; Buy The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Podkayne, did you read “A Wild Sheep Chase” before “Dance Dance Dance”?
I started to read the latter about six months ago and had to put it down. Couldn’t keep up with the narrative at all. Then last month I picked up “sheep chase” during a trip to Powell’s (greatest bookstore on earth!) and it makes so much more sense to me know and is much more enjoyable.
“The Wind Up Bird Chronicle” is next. I love looking forward to a good book. It’s almost as pleasurable as actually reading it.
Yes, I did. I liked Dance Dance Dance better because I found the characters more interesting, but I suppose it would be hard to follow if you didn’t know the story of Sheep Chase.
I’m a huge Murakami fan. “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” is my favorite, followed closely by “Norwegian Wood.”
I couldn’t get into “Kafka…” much.
I got about a 1/3 of the way into Sheep Chase and got distracted by life and have yet to pick it up. My S.O. loves him though. Thanks for the link.
Sweet. I love Murakami. If you’re into anime at all, watch “Haibane Renmei.” It was inspired by Hard Boiled Wonderland. I read the book, then saw the show, and thought, “Huh… these two are very similar.” Then I found out about the connection.