Haruki Murakami: best and worst

Just wondering whether anyone has any strong opinions on Haruki Murakami? I really enjoy his work, although he can be inconsistent. My favourite novel of his is South Of The Border, West Of The Sun, which matched The Remains Of The Day for its ability to convey the central character's repression of passion.

Weakest? Probably Sputnik Sweetheart. Takes too long to get nowhere (except Greece).

I love everything of his I have read. *cough* But The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is my favourite, hands down.

Norwegian Wood is my favourite. The overall plot of the trio really tugs at my psyche.
Kafka On The Shore is the worst so far (still got a couple to read), mainly because of the incest, I guess.

I was introduced to Haruki Murakami through Norwegian Wood which remains my favourite till today. I liked Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman and after the quake but didn't care much for The Elephant Vanishes. I liked Kafka on the Shore but I thought the second-half of the book dragged on far far too longer than it should have.

I actually have all his books, including Jay Rubin's Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words and Birthday Stories and I'm planning on a marathon read through all his books one day...

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle now... that's an epic... that's what started my ride with murakami... so i would rate that my fav.

I only read two of his books, South of the Border, West of the Sun and Sputnik Sweetheart. I really liked them both but my favourite is definitely South of the Border, West of the Sun. I have Norwegian Wood and Kafka on the Shore to read so I may still change my mind. :o)

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle was the first I read from him. I liked it but the only thing that sticks out for me is the torture scene which bothered me a lot. So I don't think I'd reread it. Norwegian Wood translated by Alfred Birnbaum was the second and is still my favorite. I've read it a zillion times. I even have it in a text document which I downloaded to my palm so I can read it whenever I want. OK I am a geek. I also read the Jay Rubin translation but it is missing something for me. The Alfred Birnbaum translation just has this lyrical quality about it...the words flow so beautifully.

I also love Kafka on the Shore. I like everything I've read from him. I couldn't really get through Underground, though, it was too depressing.

My favorite book is The Elephant Vanishes. There are some *great* short stories in there. My daughter took my copy of this book for her permanent collection. Her favorite story was "The Little Green Monster". Mine was "A Family Affair".

I got hooked on this author after reading The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. I've enjoyed Sputnik Sweetheart and South of the Border; West of the Sun. In fact, I have the latter available as a bookray on BookCrossing. Send me a PM (personal message) on BookCrossing if you'd like to participate.

Underground was interesting to me as it was the only nonfiction book by this author I've read. I knew little about the sarin attacks in Tokyo before reading it.

I am now reading Kafka on the Shore which I'm finding interesting. I agree with AndrewL about being uncomfortable with the sex situations in the book. I keep trying to tell myself it's only the Japanese version of Oedipus Rex and not to mind it...but I do.

I finished Kafka on the Shore and liked it very much. I loved the many layers of story which could either be taken at face value for wonderful entertainment or interpreted as metaphor.

All in all, I thought Kafka on the Shore was an impressively constructed novel with all of its intersecting characters, actions, and places.

I personally like *not* having to interpret it, but I'd sure like someone to interpret it for me! :-)

So far I've only read Norwegian Wood and the first short story in Earthquake

My TBR pile has the following:
The Elephant Vanishes
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
Sputnik Sweetheart
Kafka on the Shore

South of the Border; West of the Sun Via BookRay

Plus I'm mooching Dance Dance Dance

Now in Earthquake, did anyone else feel like there wasn't anything to the first short story? It ended and I'm like WTF? Don't know if I want to read the rest of the book.

My favorite was Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. It's rare when a book can jump between two stories, and I'm equally involved in both. I tend to prefer his books and stories where there's an element of the fantastic to them. Still working slowly through Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman.

I've read everything except Dance Dance Dance, though it's on my bookshelf and the few others that I don't plan to get or read Birthday Stories, Music of Words.

I can't say that any of the books I've read have been bad - compared to other fiction. I wasn't particularly fond of A Wild Sheep Chase but I don't hate it, I just don't feel like re-reading it again.

My favorite is definitely Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

I have tended to prefer Murakami’s works that are more grounded in reality: Norwegian Wood and South of the Border, West of the Sun.

I have not much liked his fantasy – some things feel false to me, rather than to suggest (as I think he is aiming to do) the sense of a greater world behind / existing with the real world. I particularly did not like Hard Boiled Wonderland: the metaphor of the fantasy world seemed clumsily executed, and like I was being hammered on the head with a theme. Of course, some of his imagery has remained with me, so starkly and beautifully as it is drawn.

Of his surreal / fantasy novels, I thought Wild Sheep Chase and Dance Dance Dance - (being a sequel to Wild Sheep Chase) - the best written and most engaging.

Opinicus: I would recommend finishing the After the Quake stories. Though not all brilliant, there are gems. I particularly like the one about the fire on the beach, although I cannot for the life of me think of its title (I read the whole thing in a sitting, so they are kind of blurred).

Miss BookWormy, if you did not like a Wild Sheep Chase, you probably won't enjoy Dance Dance Dance. :-)

i did not like a wild sheep chase at all......but i adored norwegian wood, sputnik sweetheart and wind up bird....oh and also underground but that is more nonfiction

HA! I'm in the middle of Sputnik Sweetheart..and just realized that town in Florida that the Greek spongers settled from that island in Greece is my town! I love when we pop up in books! Actually I believe it's a chain of islands known as the Dodecanese Islands. But our town is not named Dodecanese, but our main drag through the Sponge Docks is called Dodecanese.

my favorites are wind-up bird, hard-boiled wonderland, the short story "thailand," and kafka.
i'm a bit worn out on norwegian wood, sputnik, and south of the border, since i wrote my undergrad thesis on them, but i really liked them too.
am reading hear the wind sing right now... i keep on thinking it will make more sense if i read it in japanese bc of the pt of view switches... has anyone read it in japanese?

I wish I knew Japanese. Do you? it would be interesting to hear POV on the works by someone who has read them both in Japanese and then in English. We were talking about this over in the Kitchen (Banana Yoshimoto) Reading Group

i know japanese, and have read a little bit of murakami in japanese- mostly short stories. but i don't think i know it well enough to really get a feel for them as i read them. it's more me and a dictionary battling through a few pages at a time...

My son is interested in Japanese due to anime and manga. He does the Japanese dictionary thing, too. It's amazing how much Japanese he knows. He likes to order comics and movies directly from Japan in the original as he is interested in the story line which he can largely figure out from the pictures. It makes deciphering the translation of the text easier. Keep it up! It'll only get easier... :-)

ott - thanks, but I still have to read it. Will do so soon and let you know what I think :)

I've said to a lot of people in a lot of circumstances that I like South of the Border, West of the Sun but have no idea why. Most books I like, I can take them apart and analyze them and figure out what I admired or enjoyed, but that one seems resistant to analysis. Seriously: The plot of "Guy having midlife crisis meets old sweetheart and is tempted" could have come from any kitchen-sink realist hack, and since I read it in translation I'm not being seduced by verbal fireworks... but it really, really got me. I can't explain why.

Was Sputnik Sweetheart the one with the scene where the woman gets on the Ferris Wheel and sees her doppelganger doin' it with a guy she can't stand? That scene really gave me serious heebie-jeebies. And again, I can't analyze why.

I liked Hardboiled Wonderland better than A Wild Sheep Chase. I found Underground really interesting (and I read it before 9/11). There were depressing parts, certainly, but I found a lot that was hopeful in it too. I guess what I took away from it was a sense that while it was horrible, it wasn't as unrelievedly horrible as I would have imagined it.

I'm reading the Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman collection right now, and finding it hit or miss. I liked Man-Eating Cats (though it was pretty grim) and Nausea 1979, but I thought The Seventh Man was better. The Rise and Fall of Sharpie Cakes was okay, and had some intense imagery, but Dabchick and The Ice Man did nothing for me. My favorites have been Chance Traveler and Hanalei Bay. Both those really sent me.

-G.

Yes, Sputnik Sweetheart was the one with the girl trapped overnight in the ferris wheel. I loved it as it was surreal as she was forced to view her doppelganger in her apartment while trapped, and the whole thing made her go grey overnight, unable to play the piano, and changed the direction of her life.

I'm reading After the quake and while the first story-UFO in Kushiro threw me off, as it's seemed shorter than a short story should be, and a snippet, Banana Yoshimoto style but more terse, and random. I didn't like the unresolved issues, or a close. But now, having read more, I'm finding that I've adjusted and am able to enjoy if for what it is. I still don't like that first story. I really liked Super-Frog Saves Tokyo!

Opinicus - I have the same gripe with Murakami's short stories. The ones with one or two paragraphs at the end that has a quick resolution or just fades out to nothing.

I read my final Murakami - Dance Dance Dance in about 2 days a few weeks ago. I really loved it. Go figure.

I absolutely disliked A Wild Sheep Chase - besides a few elements like the character and his relationship with his girlfriend, and thankfully Dance Dance Dance was all about the character and his interactions/relationships with people.

i've only recently fallen in love with murakami; i live in a small city in the netherlands, and until a few weeks ago was surviving on books bought in train stations, german bookstores, and those books i brought back with me from the states on my occasional visits. i bought norwegian wood a few weeks back, and almost missed my stop and ended up in belgium! i fell in love with murakami's writing, and have since read kafka on the shore, which i also adored. the incest was difficult for me as well, but i let it fall into the surreal thinking part of my brain, instead of the literal. as i write this, the elephant vanishes is waiting for me to finish it off; shouldn't be more than another hour or so. i am incredibly impressed with his writing, and plan to work my way through all his works. i'd have to say that norwegian wood is my favorite so far, and i guess because there were a couple stories i wasn't crazy about in the elephant vanishes it's my least favorite; but that said, murakami is one of my new favorite writers, so even his 'worst' is far better than some other writers' 'best'.

I absolutely adore Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. It is very rare that both threads can keep my interest when a book has multiple threads.

My least favorite, in fact it was boring, was the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. In fact I thought it was quite painfully long-winded, and seemed to be covering the same ground as Hardboiled did in a much more concise manner.

I have Wild Sheep Chase to read, and Kafka on the Shore for a RL book group.

Norwegian Wood is probably my favorite book of all time. I love Murakami's depiction of loneliness. I really enjoyed Kafka on the Shore as well. I've noticed that the protagonists of all his books seem to be very similar. I'd love to know more about Murakami's personal life and to what extent they all resemble him. Does anyone know of a biography?

--> 28

Does anyone know of a biography?

I like this interview with Murakami from BookBrowse. I always wondered why there were cats in his novels. :-)

Blogger Condalmo has just posted a book cover for his next novel.

#28 - leilalovestelevision -- Can't say how it is since I have not read it but maybe this is what you're looking for? Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words by Jay Rubin.

I think my favourite is The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, partly because it was my first and partly because it was the biggest trip I think, although it is a bit of a mess sometimes. I think that Hard-Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World however is very special, as besides all his usual qualities he has a much tighter structure than he normally manages. I also recommend Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words by Jay Rubin for anyone entranced by Murakami, I appreciated him even more after I read that. It's hard to say what I think is his worst book - Murakami's books fall into two ranks for me, the ones I think are the best and the ones I love a little less, and nothing stands out for me in the latter group - they all have great stuff and they're all flawed.

I have read Kafka on the Shore and started A Wild Sheep Chase, and I was disappointed with both of them. I really don't see what the fuss is. IMO, Murakami is not that great, and I am not interested in reading any more of him.

Norweigian Wood was the first Murakami book I read, and I think that may be the reason I love it best. Hard-Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World comes a very close second, I was transfixed from start to finish, absoluted loved it, and would recommend it to anyone.

My least favourite novel was a Wild Sheep Chase - I didn't really fall for the characters, and the sheep man just didn't really make too much sense to me. After the Quake was very slight.

Am I the only one who finds Dance Dance Dance one of his better works?

Agreed on Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of The World. Dance, Dance, Dance comes in a close second, though.

Loved The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, couldn't finish Hard-Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World, enjoyed Sputnik Sweetheart, Kafka on the Shore and A Wild Sheep Chase. A lot of good reports here for Norwegian Wood so I'll read it next.

Nope, Dance Dance Dance is my favorite Murakami book. Just the whole mood of the novel and the main character really click with me, so you're not alone :-)

For me his finest work is Dance Dance Dance, but that book really has to be read in conjunction with A Wild Sheep Chase, and ideally with Pinball 1973 and Hear The Wind Sing as well which is quite a big ask. I know of one person who read Dance Dance Dance as his first Murakami novel and loved it, but was rather baffled by the plot. No wonder.

As for weakest, then I would probably suggest Sputnik Sweetheart which I enjoyed but is pretty much Murakami-by-numbers. I wasn't bowled over by after the quake either if I am honest.

Although, it must be said that a less-than-wonderful Murakami novel is usually miles better than other writers at their best.

I wish I knew Japanese. Do you? it would be interesting to hear POV on the works by someone who has read them both in Japanese and then in English.

Here's the interesting thing about Murakami (and perhaps one of the reasons he's more popular here than in Japan): the English translations of his works are heavily edited, and it makes them better books. A lot of extraneous stuff gets removed. I speak and read Japanese fluently, but Murakami is really the only author I prefer not to read in the original!

#41- that is really interesting I always thought they were particularly good translations.

I started with Hard Boiled Wonderland and I thought it was fantastic, it was years ago and a borrowed copy so I only read it once, I would love to read it again. I really love Norwegian Wood and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle those would be my top tier. But I also love Sputnik Sweetheart and Kafka on the Shore I just finished A Wild Sheep Chase last night, I don't know how I feel about it yet!

I liked the elephant vanishes the least, but I still liked it.

#41- that is really interesting I always thought they were particularly good translations.

I started with Hard Boiled Wonderland and I thought it was fantastic, it was years ago and a borrowed copy so I only read it once, I would love to read it again. I really love Norwegian Wood and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle those would be my top tier. But I also love Sputnik Sweetheart and Kafka on the Shore I just finished A Wild Sheep Chase last night, I don't know how I feel about it yet!

I liked the elephant vanishes the least, but I still liked it.

No one mentioned Underground? It seems that one of the best examples of non-ficiton novel writing since Tom Wolfe still had his marbles shouldn't be overlooked.

I have read about 75% of his works. I must say I like The Elephant Vanishes the most. It has the insomniac, Anna Karenina-reading woman right? I love that short story.

Sputnik Sweetheart? I'm not so crazy about that one.

I read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle first and loved it. I love the supernatural bits and things that you don't quite believe but they're taken so seriously in the book. I think I liked Kafka on the Shore even better, for a similar reason. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle kind of dragged a little, but I was fascinated with Kafka on the Shore.
I also read Norwegian Wood but wasn't very taken with it: it was interesting, but it didn't have the "magic" that I fell in love with in the other two. Dance Dance Dance was good, but again I didn't really get into the story as well as I did with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle or Kafka on the Shore. I've read some of his short stories, but I agree with those that say that the endings aren't "tight" enough. I'm also not a big fan of short stories in general.

like may people here, the first Murakami book I have read was Norwegian Wood... I liked it immensely. Remains my top favorite, sentimental reasons I guess.

Then Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. While initially reading it I was both lost in those two threads of SciFi (I am not sure if that's the right word) and Fantasy and how it is related with each other. My heart ached when he departed with his Librarian. South of the Border, West of the Sun is also good... found myself relating well with the character.

I guess I have to read Kafka on the Shore again, interesting as it is I haven't really had a tight grip of the story. They say it should be read more than once to understand the story. Maybe when I have more time.

I read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle first, after picking it up on a whim at a bookstore, and was absolutely blown away. Norwegian Wood is my favorite, as the overwhelming yet understated theme of loneliness hit home at a sensitive period in my life. I've read all of his books, except for Dance Dance Dance, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman and The Elephant Vanishes.

BTW, the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, near the UC Berkeley campus, will be featuring a play based on After the Quake this fall (Oct 12 to Nov 25).

We're currently reading and discussing A Wild Sheep Chase here if anyone wants to join us!

I love The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. I reread some parts of the book because they are just so well written. Next would be South of the Border, West of the Sun and then Norwegian Wood. I like his novels more than his short stories.

My first exposure to the marvellous Murakami was in late 2006 through Norwegian Wood after several raves being posted about the great man's work on http://www.bookgrouponline.com.

Since then I've also read Kafka on the Shore and South of the Border, West of the Sun and added the rest of his UK published work to my library after Waterstone's promoted all his work at 3 for 2 during the autumn.

I feel like I ought to tackle some of his short stories next.

I'm a little surprised that so many fans of Wind-Up Bird would dislike Wild Sheep Chase, DDD, or the short stories.

I've got After Dark in my TBR pile, has anyone read it? Or have I missed messages from those who read it?

SqueakyChu, thanks for the link with to the interview with Murakami. I was and still am very intrigued by the "Rice Bowl Hill incident" talked about in Kafka on the Shore, Murakami didn't reveal anything in his interview, in fact, even refused to talk about it at all. Hmmm!

A lot of Murakamiites seem to despise After Dark, but I liked it quite a bit. Have a look at my review here:

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200712010057.html

Am I the only one who has noted (or perhaps I made it up out of whole cloth) the Hopper connection?

Thanks dcozy, your review made me want to read After Dark even more. Thanks for the great review.

My favorite is also South of the Border, West of the Sun, of which I had translated about half several years ago before discovering a published version. (It hadn't occurred to me to talk to publishers or ask around if anyone was already working on it.) It seems to be the least well-known of all his books in Japan.
My second choice would be A Wild Sheep Chase.

>54 dcozy:, After Dark was actually my first Murakami - I LOVED it! It made me want to read everything he has ever written, even though I think I heard that his writing style is different in other works.

#58: It wasn't my first (that was Sputnik Sweetheart), but I really loved After Dark as well. I've been reading Kafka on the Shore chapter by chapter for the last month and it's a much denser, heavier read. I suppose some people vastly prefer the more in depth works but I enjoyed After Dark just as much as, if nore more than, I'm enjoying the longer book now.

Just finished After Dark, can't say it's his best novel, I'd even call it a novella, it just had a feel of incompleteness and underdevelopment, however it was still very good, I felt all the Eri Asai descriptions of deep sleep were so David Lynchian, I could even see how he would stage this all in deep red and that bizarre scene with the man watching Eri sleep. Kafka on the Shore is still my favourite one, but then again, i haven't read a few, so will wait until I read them all to tell which one I liked most.

I just started The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles my first book by Murakami- I'm kind of struggling with it. Does it get better? Seems like a young adult book.

Since I'm not sure what it is about The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle that you find less than good, it's hard to know whether, for you, it will get better. I'll just mention that, after having read a couple of Murakami's early works and based on my reaction to them, having decided that Murakami was not for me, I was stunned by Wind-Up Bird. It is his major work. If you don't like it, then Murakami's probably not for you.

I was introduced to Murakami by Norwegian Wood and up to now, even after reading most of his other books, it still is my favorite simply because it's the best nostalgia story he has ever written. The characters are so alive you might even think Toru is actually the young Murakami.

My least favorite is Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. I don't think short stories is Murakami's forte. I noticed that he can't help but write the moral lesson of his story just before he ends it, which is so different from his open-ended novels. But some stories are fine--my best pick would be A Folklore for My Generation.

My first book of Murakami was The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. After i finish it i just fell in love in his writing, the second one was the Norwegian Wood after which i was little bit disappointed. So finally until today i read almost everything, I'm in the middle of Hard-Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World and After The Dark is waiting for me on the shelf. I was never disappointed truly in his work. I adored almost everything that he wrote but i also must say that his brilliance don't get out well in the short stories like in his novels.
And finally the reason of this post is... soon i would ran out of Murakami's books... so if somebody could recommend me some good book, something that resembles Murakami would be great.

I just discovered today that there are .pdf files of his novel Pinball, 1973 (translated into English by Birnbaum but unreleased outside of Japan, along with Hear the Wind Sing) floating around online.

Normally I wouldn't ever share info like this, because I buy everything I read (even if it's secondhand), but he's been adamant for years about not releasing these two books outside of his native country and copies of Pinball, 1973 are going for around $400 on Amazon right now.

English copies of Hear the Wind Sing are still much cheaper, and I picked one up on eBay for about $16 once the shipping was figured into it.

I'm one of those fools who, having held Pinball, 1973, in as little esteem as Mr. Murakami evidently does, sold my copy for a few-hundred yen some years back.

Moves like that ensure that I will never be wealthy.

A wild sheep chase and dance, dance, dance are both brilliant books - when I first read them I read them in the wrong order and I was a little confused but I loved the idea behind them, I really wish I had Murakami's imagination. Needless to say I've read them again and Loved them even more. Kafka on the shore is my next favorite.

I too think that his short stories are not as good. I think you need time to get to know his characters and you're not given that in his short stories. I also think that he is a lot better at writing abstract than anything else.

I just picked up my second Murakami book, Norwegian Wood.
The first I read was A Wild Sheep Chase. This book I enjoyed very much. Also the book started growing on me more and more after I finished it, for some reason it would not let go of me.

Norwegian Wood is enjoyable, I am currently on page 185. Eigher I have to grow into it more and accept that it is a realistic book (opposed to AWSC), or the book still has to get up to pace.

Anybody: have I missed the beauty off Norwegian Wood if I have not yet found it at page 185?

I am still reading The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and it is one of the most amazing things I have read, takes me a while to get back to reality after reading. I bought Kafka on the Shore but have not delved into that one yet.

People are expressing a great many opinions on individual works, but is it possible that I'm the only one who dislikes the entire project? I haven't read everything, so maybe the law of averages kicked in and he got lucky with something I haven't looked at yet.

But isn't anyone else a bit bored with the acutely self-conscious dorm-room surrealism ladled over everything? Or the incessant and none too subtle reminders that Murakami is more cosmopolitan than thou, the thou in question being his countrymen? I know he's a huge favorite at the moment (doubt he'll display any staying power), but surely there are a few others lurking here who hear in his prose echoes of every self-infatuated bore who ever sat next to you in a Japanese bar and beat you over the head with his own terrible splendor?

Of course, people like what they like, and I'm objectively aware that some of my own favorite authors are hacks. Maybe I just need a nap?

I read almost all of his novels over a period of two weeks, a while back, they were like oxygen. So I feel like someone betraying a helpful friend when I say that on reflection, they're not as substantial as I wish they were. You have an unending sequence of vivid, strange scenes, some of which resonate because they capture some recognizable human feeling, and some because of their random distinctness.

Despite his imagination, certain themes are ploddingly repeated. Japanese schools are authouritarian nightmares. There's too much of a fixation on money and materialism in contemporary society. Youth are inherently good. Conformism is bad. I know that all writers repeat themes, but he never seems to develop or nuance his ideas.

Wind-Up Bird Chronicle was my first, and got me very intrigued. I enjoyed Norwegian Wood, but hit some kind of foolish ecstasy with South of the Border, West of the Sun and Sputnik Sweetheart. His earliest and last books were his weakest for me. I really felt like I was tweaking for his old luminesence when I went through Hardboiled Wonderland and Dance, Dance, Dance. I felt Kafka on the Shore was a big drop-off after Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, as if he'd used up all his tricks already. I prefer an after-midnight life, so I had high hopes for After Dark, but despite its short length, it's very insubstantial, and Murakami at his weakest.

I have to admit that a major reason I like his works is that the Japanese is simple enough that I'm able to read them without undue effort in the original. It never occurred to me years ago when I first got to know his work that this was great literature, and the recent talk of the Nobel Prize took me by surprise. So yes, Messages 69 and 70 resonate for me.

it's a tough question to answer..i like wind-up bird chronicle best, though i don't think it's the best novel i've read among all authors.
that said, i think landscape with flatiron is still the best short story i've ever read by any writer..and the other stories in after the quake are truly wonderful, so that book wins in my eyes, too.

I'm not the biggest fan of Murakami but recently have come to really enjoy Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche. I have studied Aum Shinrikyo in the past (of which, Ian Reader's Religious Violence in Contemporary Japan is excellent) so this was an excellent companion piece.

My favorites of his are Sputnik Sweetheart and South of the Border, West of the Sun. Of his short story collections, I liked: Airplane: Or, How He Talked to Himself as If Reciting Poetry (from Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman).

I first came across Murakami in a bookshop where I read the cover of A Wild Sheep Chase. Reading the cover intrigued me, this either had to be amazingly bad of amazingly good. After a couple of pages it did not let me go. I fell for Murakami.

So, best book would almost certainly have to be A Wild Sheep Chase. But recently I finished Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. It took me a while to get into this book, but I think this ranks on top, just bearly ahead of A Wild Sheep Chase.

Worst? I am almost afraid to say, but so far it has to be Norwegian Wood or After Dark.
I fell for the surreal element in Murakami, that is why Norwegian Wood was a huge disappointment, even though it was a nice 'coming of age' story.

I still have a ways to go. So far I've read (in order):

- A Wild Sheep Chase
- Norwegian Wood
- Kafka on the Shore
- Dance Dance Dance
- After Dark
- Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Pick up every now and than: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

In my possession, and to be read shortly:
- Hear The Wind Sing (bought it in Osaka, in English)
- Pinball, 1973 (as English PDF file)
- The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
- South of the Border

To be bought:
- All the rest of his work!

I first read What i Talk About When i Talk About Running, Murakami,s autobiography of his passion for running. I'm not a runner but found this book so absorbing that I had to start on his novels. So far Norwegian Wood is my first and it is a beautiful love story. He writes with an interesting unique style. Also, much credit to the translator, Jay Rubin.

I've been wanting to read Wild Sheep Chase again for some time. As I recall, it was pretty abstract and surrealistic. The characters kept floating in and out of the story, and they all had vague characteristics, similar to what you might find in a dream. For example, the girl had her ears blocked, and it took awhile to find out what this strange phrase meant.

I suppose a book like that might be a waste of time for some folks. Maybe it depends on how you go through life.

Pinball, 1973, was Murakami's second novel, and also the second novel in his Trilogy of the Rat series. It was printed in English only for distribution in Japan and has been long out of print. There is a terrific blog called readersdiscotheque that covers novels that weave music into the story, which all Murakami's novels do. The blog uncovered a pdf of the original pocketbook edition and received Murakami's permission to make the pdf available for free (the blog has an interview with Murakami in the works). Not only can you download the novel but also all of the songs mentioned in Pinball, 1973. The cover is there, too, and it's amazing. the URL is http://readersdiscotheque.blogspot.com

My favorite Murakami is Hard-Boiled Wonderland, which seemed to be rewiring my brain as I read it. Just finished After Dark. Perhaps not as strong as his other work, but there's a recurring, evolving scene that alone is worth the admission.

> 78

Thanks for the link, Alex. I'm just starting to read Murakami. I have this personal reading challenge I call "The Murakami Q Reading Challenge." The challenge is to read the first 9 books of Murakami in chronological order starting from the first book, Hear the Wind Sing.

I have previously downloaded Pinball, 1973. But the added music material and the reformatted Pinball from the link you provided above are really a treat.

AlexAustin, Rise, and others:

I was on the books floor of the Tower Records in Shibuya yesterday, and came upon a new edition (in English) of Pinball, 1973. Like the original, that came out in '85, it's a little "bunko-bon" in the Kodansha English Library series, and the publication date is given as 12/25/09.

You can get a copy of the first edition at amazon.com for $1000 or so. Or, you can go to amazon.co.jp and pick the new one up for ¥819—less than $10.00. If you live outside Japan you'll have to pony up a bit for shipping, but I think you'd still beat the amazon.com price.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/s/ref=nb_ss?__mk_ja_JP=%83J%83%5E%83J%83i&url=search...

Thanks for the lead, dcozy. I will order it.

Alex

dcozy: thanks!

Anyone hear of news on the movie they're making of Norwegian Wood? Found a blog with stills but no clips. Thanks.

One of the things I love about Murakami is the way he weaves music into his stories. There's currently another Librarything thread ( http://www.librarything.com/topic/82398 ) that's doing a month-long interview with me about my novel The Red Album of Asbury Park Remixed. I intend to discuss fiction that makes use of music, especially Murakami. Please drop by.


If anyone would like to read/browse the book online as a PDF (or download) the URL is http://www.willcall.org/web/redalbum.pdf

Readers interested in Murakami and music may want to have a look at this.

I have now read 3 murakami books. I loved South of the border, west of the sun and norwegian woods, but didn't really like the wild sheepchase much. What should I read next?

I love love love The Wind Up Bird Chronicle but it may lean toward the more wild sheep end of the spectrum as might Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World . You may like Dance Dance Dance or maybe give his short stories a try with The Elephant Vanishes

Thanks, maybe i'll try the wind up bird chronicle. See there are a lot people liking that one...

Alex, have you published your novel about Mothers' Beach?

I started with Wild Sheep Chase then read the sequel to the Dance, Dance, Dance, followed by South of the Border, West of the Sun, Norwegian Wood, and then Sputnik Sweetheart.

Don't start with Wild Sheep Chase but Dance Dance Dance (sequel) made the entire story line worth the read. Start by the rankings below.

My ranking:
1) South of the Border, West of the Sun
2) Dance, Dance, Dance
3) Norwegian Wood
4) Sputnik Sweetheart
5) Wild Sheep Chase

I can't wait to read the others!

We all just did a group read of 1Q84 over at Author Theme Reads and the consensus seems to be that we all pretty much liked the book. I've gotten over my previous bias over Murakami and will read another one of his novels soon.

>91 lilisin: I just finished IQ84 and didn't enjoy it as much as other Murakami novels. I have to think about it more.

92 -
My observations on 1Q84 are that people who have read a lot of Murakami novels find it to be yes, Murakami-esque, but not up to par with his previous works. While, those who have less experience with his work find it to be quite good and a good palate teaser to give people the desire to read more of his works. That seems to be the mood I've seen for the most part (exceptions apply of course).

I'm pretty sure1Q84 conforms to the norm:

http://htmlgiant.com/craft-notes/breakdown-of-a-murakami-novel/

94 -
Haha, nice one!

94- that's hilarious =)

93- i think i suffered from high expectations, there's still things i liked (esp. the aside on Chekov/Sakhalin island), but it didn't feel as daring as some of his other books

94--That's funny, but what about the lesbian sex scene?

I've read Norwegian Wood and now am working on 1q84. Enjoyed both. I am wondering, though, if there are Japanese cultural norms that would explain some of the themes in the books. I'm thinking especially of sexuality, friendship, and suicide. Does anyone have any ideas on this?

I was going back through this group and thought I'd update this thread since Haruki Murakami's latest book 色彩を持たない多崎つくると、彼の巡礼の年 (Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage) is currently having its rights bought for translation.

I read the book in the original Japanese and really enjoyed it. It was page turning and suspenseful and it had me questioning where it was going to the entire time. Murakami introduced very few fantastical elements compared to his 1Q84 and although I thought it could go into that direction, he kept the book rooted in reality. No cats but definitely a few bizarre dream sequences and women you'll never actually meet in your real life (hopefully) and of course a major reference to a piece of classical music you've probably never heard of.

In any case, I'm waiting impatiently for it to come out in English so I can see what others think. (Release expected in 2014 apparently for the US.)

>98 lilisin: Lilisin: Thanks for the update, i'm looking forward to the translation (i really should start learning Japanese again...)

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is the best I've read so far hands down - it has all the best of Murukami - the thoughtfulness, the possible supernatural, the sensuality, the characterisation and the brutality