Haruki Murakami

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Hopefully Norwegian Wood is not the only Murakami you've read. I didn't like that one and he is, by far, my favorite author. Probably.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Monday, 17 January 2005 03:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I have just discovered Murakami (apparently I'm late to the party) and find myself addicted in a slightly shameful way. Have read hard boiled wonderland and sputnik sweetheart and have yet to hit that eww of reading the same book too many times (a la vonegut or palahuniuk).

― mouse (mouse), Monday, 17 January 2005 04:03 (twenty-one years ago)

he is an author that you can get addicted to. i haven't been as obsessive about buying every single book by an author since my kiddie reading years.

― jellybean (jellybean), Monday, 17 January 2005 08:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Finished Kafka last night, thought it was pretty good - a bit hmmm, 'dodgy' mind. The charcter Hoshino, is kinda who you feel like reading Murakami, you don't get it all, but you follow along anyway.

Blimey, I must track this "Sound of the Mountain" film.

I'm going to borrow Natsume Soseki's "I Am a Cat" from the library tomorrow.

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 18:53 (twenty-one years ago)

i just started it... and currently i am hoping to find a way to skip work the next couple days to just stay home and read.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 19:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Sound of the Mountain film:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047682/

I think it's better than that review implies.

― Peter Stringbender (PJ Miller), Thursday, 20 January 2005 09:46 (twenty-one years ago)

i enjoyed 'the wind up bird chronicle' and 'dance dance dance' but recently gave up in exasperation on 'hard boiled wonderland' after a couple of chapters. i think maybe his style and imagery have become a bit played out for me.

or maybe i am a snob, and i just don't like the sort of people who read him. it makes me vaguely irritated that he is often compared, favourably to paul auster, who i rate a lot more highly.

― debden, Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Finished 'Underground' two days ago. Ronan OTM upthread about Murakami's conclusions. It was a great read and vastly different from what I experienced with 'Hardboiled Wonderland' and 'Wind-Up Bird'.

― Drake Beardo (cprek), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:21 (twenty-one years ago)

They had the new one in the library, but I didn't get it.

― Peter Stringbender (PJ Miller), Thursday, 20 January 2005 17:40 (twenty-one years ago)

two months pass...

i finally read Kafka over the weekend, and I was really disappointed. It just didn't have the feel and excitment of the older books. Maybe I started on the best ones (Wind Up Bird Chronicles and Hard Boiled Wonderland)

― jellybean (jellybean), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 22:28 (twenty-one years ago)

I finished Kafka last Friday...and I really enjoyed it. I haven't read his others, but I enjoyed just being carried along by the story. Plus I love that even though you get caught up in the dreamlike narrative, he writes so well that every so often you stop & go 'Wow, that's a great sentence', etc. I'm in love with the cover as well. That ceramic face haunts my dreams.

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 22:51 (twenty-one years ago)

three months pass...

Has anyone seen "Tony Takitani"? I'm getting a burn of it later today and my friend says it's really good, she mentioned La Jetee and Eureka which made me more enthusiastic than I thought I'd be. I vaguely remember the story from a New Yorker a few years ago, but I always thought someone should attempt Murakami on film.

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 7 July 2005 16:40 (twenty years ago)

http://www.tonytakitani.com/e/index.html

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 7 July 2005 16:45 (twenty years ago)

6/24- Dole Cannery Stadium 18 Theatre Honolulu, HI
7/8- Wallace Maui Mall Complex Kahului, HI
7/29- Angelika Film Center New York, NY
8/12- Landmark Clay Theater San Francisco, CA
8/12- Landmark Shattuck Cinemas Berkeley, CA
8/26- University Town Center 6 Irvine, CA
8/26- Laemmle`s Playhouse 7 Pasadena, CA
8/26- Laemmle`s Sunset 5 Los Angeles, CA
8/26- Landmark Ken Cinema San Diego, CA
9/9- Ritz at the Bourse Philadelphia, PA
9/30- Landmark Century Center Cinemas Chicago, IL
9/30- Landmark Inwood 3 Theatres Dallas, TX
9/30- Crest Theatre Sacramento, CA
10/14- Landmark Dobie Theater Austin, TX
10/14- Landmark E Street Cinema 8 Washington, DC
10/21- Landmark Kendall Square Cinema Cambridge, MA
10/21- Landmark Varsity Theater Seattle, WA
12/2-12/4 Detroit Institute of the Arts Detroit, MI

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 7 July 2005 16:46 (twenty years ago)

I finished Kafka recently and loved it. I've yet to be disappointed by one of his books. Definitely dreamy. I also really wish I could hear the song KAFKA ON THE SHORE now, even though it doesn't exist.

― gunther heartymeal (keckles), Thursday, 7 July 2005 16:48 (twenty years ago)

i read somewhere that there's a huge online kafka on the shore resource in japanese. does anyone know if portions of it have been translated?

― mark p (Mark P), Thursday, 7 July 2005 16:55 (twenty years ago)

Oddly enough events of today made me think of the Tokyo attack and by extension Murakami...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 7 July 2005 16:59 (twenty years ago)

Me too.

― k/l (Ken L), Thursday, 7 July 2005 17:03 (twenty years ago)

I started a Tony Takitani thread for those interested.

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 7 July 2005 17:08 (twenty years ago)

yeah might have to have a re-read of Underground

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 7 July 2005 17:18 (twenty years ago)

five months pass...

So obviously he's addictive. Everyone I know who reads Murakami becomes addicted to him. My experience is confined to reading the Wind-UP Bird Chronicles, Sputnik Sweetheart, and watching the elephant vanishes. BUt I'd be curious about other people's reactions--not why you like Murakami, but what specifically makes you a Murakami addict.

For example, he's definitely much easier to read than the typical postmodern writer and his lyricism has an awkwardness to it that makes it more digestible than poetry, maybe like Kurt Vonnegut. And he seems to combine pulp forms (sex! what happened to the girl!) to give the reader something to be interested in, so the novel goes by much faster than if it were just quirky surrealism.

― kenchen, Friday, 16 December 2005 16:41 (twenty years ago)

kafka was... disappointing.

― mark p (Mark P), Friday, 16 December 2005 16:46 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

so i read my first murakami, dance dance dance, last month for my book group. i was expecting to love it, given what i'd heard about it. instead, i really hated it: the surrealist touches were either thuddingly obvious or 'wackily' contrived; the attempts at revelation and meaning made me cringe; the 'mystery' lost all momentum midway through the book (i think the only point at which i cared about it was after the girl in the hotel told her story); the sheepman is one of the worst inventions in modern literature; the narrator is an extremely tiresome person to be around. it bore similarities to what david mitchell's number 9 dream would be like if it was really boring and conventional.

any defenders?

― The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 17:53 (twenty years ago)

not round my way

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 17:59 (twenty years ago)

yeah but dance dance dance
is not the right place to start
as it's not that strong

lex if I were you
I would try norwegian wood,
hard-boiled wonderland

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 18:12 (twenty years ago)

i'm not reading norwegian wood, i have had it up to here with people lionising the beatles.

murakami reminds me a little of nick hornby urgh!

― The Lex (The Lex), Thursday, 5 January 2006 12:32 (twenty years ago)

Norwegian Wood is good, and not much to do with the Beatles if I remember rightly. Sputnik Sweetheart also good. But I have a harder time with his more wackily surreal mystery type novels.

― jz, Thursday, 5 January 2006 12:35 (twenty years ago)

What a timely revival, I've just started the Wind Up Bird Chronicle, my first Murakami. I'm enjoying it so far, it's funnier than I expected and there's some nice writing. Some of the narrative non-sequiters remind me of Ishiguro's dreadfully tedious The Unconsoled
, though, which isn't a good sign.

― chap who would dare to work for the man (chap), Thursday, 5 January 2006 12:45 (twenty years ago)

lex otm. i shall doubtless end up reading dance dance dance, though, as i have an inability not to read his books, even though i've only enjoyed one or two of them. i really don't understand why he gets so much love. the wind up bird chronicle in particular is ridiculously overrated.

― toby (tsg20), Thursday, 5 January 2006 13:17 (twenty years ago)

I rather like him, though the translation sometimes jars a bit. I find the books to have that just keep reading quality (similar to "inability not to read", maybe). I don't know that I'd make any claims for them to be works of great literature, but they're certainly entertaining enough.

― Matt (Matt), Thursday, 5 January 2006 13:22 (twenty years ago)

a backlash at last? he's hugely overrated. the books are quite enjoyable but instantly forgettable.

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 5 January 2006 13:39 (twenty years ago)

Wind-Up Bird Chronicles is too close to the inside of my own head for me not to love him.

― I Am Sexless and I Am Foul (noodle vague), Thursday, 5 January 2006 13:57 (twenty years ago)

noodle otm heartily and wholly

when i was a kid it used to bug me when people mocked the bands or movies i liked or whatever, now it's really only haruki murakami i'm precious about.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Thursday, 5 January 2006 21:38 (twenty years ago)

dance dance dance, last month for my book group. i was expecting to love it, given what i'd heard about it. instead, i really hated it: the surrealist touches were either thuddingly obvious or 'wackily' contrived; the attempts at revelation and meaning made me cringe; the 'mystery' lost all momentum midway through the book (i think the only point at which i cared about it was after the girl in the hotel told her story);

What I really enjoyed wasn't the moments of revelation or the magic realism but the long stretches inbetween where nothing happens except eating, drinking, sleeping, listening to music, etc.. No one (who I've read) really writes that stuff as well as he does.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 5 January 2006 21:44 (twenty years ago)

i can't remember anything in norwegian wood about the beatles, really. i also found windup bird to be overrated, but only because the ending was so clearly a "to be continued"

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Thursday, 5 January 2006 21:56 (twenty years ago)

maybe i'm a total idiot, but i'll be very surprised if there's a sequel written.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Thursday, 5 January 2006 21:57 (twenty years ago)

Norwegian Wood is set in the 1960s, and someone plays "Norwegian Wood" on the guitar a lot (the roommate at the sanitarium?). That's about it.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 5 January 2006 22:00 (twenty years ago)

Very weird (and wrong) to read Dance Dance Dance first as it's actually the sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase. Personally I really enjoy the time I've spent in Murakami's worlds. His books are calm and unique, but obviously not everybody's cup of tea (what is?).

I'm excited this thread popped up again as it inspired me to check and see his new short story collection Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman has finally got a release date on August 29th

― Jeff LeVine (Jeff LeVine), Thursday, 5 January 2006 22:46 (twenty years ago)

Funny that this thread popped up just as I was reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle again.

― Andrew (enneff), Monday, 9 January 2006 02:51 (twenty years ago)

Murakami is very gentle. I only realized this after reading a story of his in Harper's (I think).

― youn, Monday, 9 January 2006 02:55 (twenty years ago)

I also read Dance Dance Dance first, btw.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 9 January 2006 02:55 (twenty years ago)

I like to read A Wild Sheep Chase when I'm feeling sorry for myself, and then I read Dance Dance Dance when it's time to stop moping and spring back into action.

I love reading Dance Dance Dance after A Wild Sheep Chase because the same awful stuff keeps happening to the guy that happened in A Wild Sheep Chase, but he has a much different reaction in Dance Dance Dance. Even though for the most part it doesn't seem like it will do much good. His reaction in both books is still basically "fuck it" but he engages instead of disconnecting and the contrast is really uplifting.

Kafka on the Shore is out in paperback, by the way. If not now, soon. When I finish this vampire novel I'm going to reread it.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Monday, 9 January 2006 08:35 (twenty years ago)

I've only read DDD so far, but shall definitely spend more time with HM in the near future.

OTM. Some amazing writing during those stretches.

― Baaderonixx born in Xyxax (baaderonixx), Monday, 9 January 2006 08:48 (twenty years ago)

i thought those bits were even more tedious - they didn't actively make me cringe and throw the book across the room like some of the more, er, contrived sections, but i am not convinced that boring writing is the best way to evoke boring quotidian life. and the narrator is pretty obnoxious to be around - whiny, perpetually self-justifying, completely self-obsessed.

― The Lex (The Lex), Monday, 9 January 2006 12:55 (twenty years ago)

I still really love "Underground". It's probably a favourite book of mine at this stage.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 9 January 2006 22:34 (twenty years ago)

three months pass...

i just finished kafka on the shore. while it was pretty enjoyable all the way through (except for THAT scene, you can probably guess which if you've read it), i couldn't help feeling like it didn't exactly...add up.

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 18:52 (twenty years ago)

JD, otm

― Fight the Real Enemy -- Tasti D-Lite (ex machina), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 19:17 (twenty years ago)

I completely agree. I finished this literally two days ago, and while I enjoyed it, I also thought there were a couple things that didn't quite add up. I think he's great though, and I would give my left arm to meet a girl like Midori from Norwegian Wood.

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Thursday, 13 April 2006 02:12 (twenty years ago)

I've found reading his books has been really helpful during difficult emotional stages of my life. His delicate narrative structure and gentle, relaxed writing style seem to help me calm down and organise my thoughts.

― Andrew (enneff), Thursday, 13 April 2006 02:26 (twenty years ago)

"Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman", a collection of short stories, is coming out later this year - July in the UK, August in the US. List of the stories and other details at this fan site.

― scamperingalpaca (Chris Hill), Thursday, 13 April 2006 20:48 (twenty years ago)

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