A few years ago, someone on IRC discovered Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami and went around recommending everyone in the channel to it. I made note to download an ebook version of it but gave up after a while.
This summer while I was in HK, I was browsing in a book store and came across a rather odd titled book. It was called "Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World." Read a few pages into it convinced me to get the book and after finishing it, I bought book from the same author, Haruki Murakami.
Eventualy, as I was searching for more books by him, I came across Norwegian Wood again and bought it instantly (actually, I buy all Murakami books I encoutner instantly now). A bit over the top but quite enjoyable. He has a bit of lofty way of storytelling and makes otherwise boring situations interesting. Especially his dialogue, they're odd but never stagnant.
I'm a pretty big fan of Murakami now but just wondering, of the more Japanese culture-influenced 4chan population, has anyone else heard or read of this books? What do you think of him?
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Anonymous2004-12-27 0:58
Ah you beat me to creating this thread! It was what I was most looking forward to.
I have read Norwegian Wood, the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, After the Quake: Stories, Hear the Wind Sing, A Wild Sheep Chase, Hear the Wind Sing (again), South of the Border West of the Sun, and now I am reading Sputnick Sweetheart. I have also read several other random short stories. I just got Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and Underground too; I look forward to reading them as well as Kafka on the Shore once I can purchase it.
He is an excellent writer. His characters seem very very real to me. I know it is a rather cheesy thing to say, but I always feel that I can easily relate to them unlike pretty much any other characters in books.
Has anyone read the non-Jay Rubin translation of Norwegian Wood? I always hear that the first translator did a better job capturing the original atmosphere of the book.
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2004-12-27 3:00(capped)
I was going to make this thread too :mad:
I haven't read Norwegian Wood, but Wind up Bird Chronicle, Hard Boiled Wonderland (especially after watching Haibane Renmei) , and A Wild Sheep Chase are excellent novels. I'd have to say that Dance, Dance, Dance got boring to read more than once, though. If you've already read it you know what's going to happen and there's nothing left but to count how often he makes himself a drink.
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h-cube2004-12-27 5:42
I love Murakami. Some stuff not yet mentioned:
I first read a short story called "Airplane" the New Yorker published and was hooked:
Elephant Vanishes is a collection of his shorts- gives you a pretty good overview of this style and themes. "The Bakery Attack" is my favorite, followed by "On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning".
sigh must... not... start reading... now... will be there... tomorrow...
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Kay2004-12-27 11:12
Praise w4ch for this thread.
I've read "Wild Sheep Chase" plus the Continuation, "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" (my first one ^^) and something I can only translate as "dangerous loved one" and although "Kafka on the Shore" is already out in Germany I tend to wait for the English realese.
Although I truly enjoyed each one of his books, some sections of The Wind-up Bird Chronicle left me with a feeling like "this was wrong / was not supposed to happen / are just a filler / bridge to the further story. Maybe all things will clear up when I read the book again.
Can anyone list all current English publications of Murakami? I'd like to know for what I have to search when stressing the lady at the book store again. ^^
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Anonymous2004-12-27 12:03
he's so overrated.
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Anonymous2004-12-27 16:21
Wow really good
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Anonymous2004-12-27 23:08 (sage)
I was happy to see that A Wild Sheep Chase was kind of a sequel to Hear the Wind Sing. Not too much of a continuation of any sort of story, but both feature the same main character, the Rat, the bartender, etc. Once I reached mentions of the Rat in Wild Sheep Chase I had to go grab Hear the Wind Sing to quickly browse throughi t again.
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Kageshima!W.rJY3yfYQ2004-12-27 23:50
>>10 Wild Sheep Chase is by far my favorite work of his, although I`ve read over Norwegian Wood far many more times. The imagery in it is imepccable, and you have to love how brutally he shows the human condition to his readers. There`s a lot of truth in Murakami`s works.
And I`ll have to add my thumbs up for actually seeing a Murakami thread on w4ch. Awesomely awesome.
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h-cube2004-12-28 0:31
Do you Murakami fans like Camus? I've only read "The Stranger" (which I liked), and I know they've been compared.
[gah, cookie my name already]
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Anonymous2004-12-28 14:37
When I saw that there was a section for books here I instantly thought "there's gonna be a Murakami thread there". Read Sputnik Sweetheart, loved it.
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Anonymous2004-12-28 20:20
Nice response we've got here. Never heard of Camus though.
I kept making comparisons to Haibane when reading Hardboiled Wonderland too. I really wonder how much influence, if any, it had on Haibane. It's still my favourite of all his books though, maybe it's because the idea of a wonderland seems so nice. Or the way he describes that pudgy, rori gal.
Though, in all of the books I've read of his, all his protagonists seem to be the same. Indifferenet towards the flow of the fast paced society he lives in but just participating enough to get by. An affinity towards good food and alcohol and instability in relationships with women. As well as the whole strong independent streak they all share.
http://www.murakami.ch/hm/bibliography/main.html lists pretty much all his books that have been translated into English. I've also heard that the non-Rubin version of Norwegian Wood is better and that the original has two or three lines for everyone in either of the English translations. There's another Murakami, Ryu Murakami that seems to be as eccentric as Haruki. I've never been able to find any of his books at the bookstore though.
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Anonymous2004-12-28 21:03 (sage)
>>14
While I have not read anything by Ryu Murakami, I keep meaning to pick up one of his books.
Hideaki Anno's film Love & Pop is based on Ryu Murakami's book Topaz II.
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Anonymous2004-12-29 3:58
Hmm, haven't read Murakami, though I've noticed his books next to Haruki's at the library and bookstore.
How about Masahiko Shimada? I've been looking around for "Dream Messenger", heard some good things about it. Anyone read it?
>>14
Despite having the same surname, they have the exact opposite styles of writing. While Haruki is slow and calm, Ryu is all rage and aggressiveness. His most famous works include 69, Transparent Blue (not sure if I got this title right though) and Coin Locker Babies - the book the creators of Silent Hill 4 were influenced by. Interesting reads I'd say,,,even if you can't stand em. -) Heard recently he won some award in Japan, like the best writer or smth, so he apparently seems to be pretty popular over there.
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Anonymous2005-01-13 18:31 (sage)
I just finished reading Sputnik Sweetheart.
Definitely wonderful!
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Anonymous2005-01-18 16:47
A friend reccomended I pick up HBW and it totally blew me away. I also enjoyed the excerpt from WBC I read over on Word.com (RIP)... I really need to pick up some more of his books. The other day I found my long-lost copy of the anthology Monkey Brain Sushi and I'm thinking about doing a flash based on TV People.
I finally ead Wind-up Bird Chroncile the other day and I have to say I was disappointed. I enjoyed the first half the book, it was filled with the usual dream-like story and characters but the end was just plain painful.
Even the description of the first encounter of the Russian Boris was OK but the way he dropped the psyhic sisters out of the story was disappointing.
Actually, I think the real bitter aftertaste came from how the main character transforms in the end. In the first half of the book, he's rather independent, he can do what he needs to continue his existance, to continue the flow. Yet in the end, he became dependent on the Akasaka duo to get Kumiko back. Especially his reliance on and presumptions of Cinnamon.
OK, I'm just bitter that the ending wasn't as well wrapped up as HBW.
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Anonymous2005-07-08 7:00
<inst>
actually i don't get WUBC, after reading it. It doesn't really make sense, things don't seem to happen for any reason.
okay, i didn't get it. Looks like it's dealing with "oh noes, japs are devils" issue again...
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Anonymous2005-07-20 22:41
I just recently read a short story by Haruki Murakami called TV People. It's my first taste of his work. The story was very interesting to read, but I don't get it at all - it's obviously full of symbolism but I have no talent for picking up on symbolism. Just wondering if anyone else had read it.
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Anonymous2005-07-29 1:49
once you get over the whole ZOMG WRITERS FROM JAPAN thing, kenzaburo oe is the only one of them with lasting integrity.
murakami is slightly over hyped in my opinion, but not by much. solid, but not spectacular.
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Anonymous2005-08-27 21:52
He's overrated for sure, but a lot of his short stories are quite good and hardboiled wonderland is wic funny.
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Anonymous2005-08-29 12:11
<Inst>
How's Mishima?
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Anonymous2005-08-30 18:01
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seriously, how's mishima? While The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea shows Mishima's hatred of the modern age and the modern types, it is, perversely, a manual for all /b/tards.
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Anonymous2005-08-31 9:52
i think haruka/haruko/haruki sounds hot
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Anonymous2005-09-10 2:38
What's the best way to find a copy of Hear the Wind Sing? I saw that Murakami doesn't want it reprinted, and I found a copy of "Pinball, 1973" via clever googling and the Internet Wayback Machine, but it looks like I might have to go to eBay for this.
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342005-09-12 23:08
Pinball, 1973 appears to have the same relationship with Futakoi Alternative that Wind-up Bird Chronicles has with Haibane Renmei. It's very odd, and I don't think he actually mentioned pinball until the second half.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World was a finalist for the Akutagawa prize. Unfortunately, the responsible committee decided that neither of the two finalists were deserving of the prize, which is par for course for the Akutagawa prize, they only hand out a prize when they feel that a book deserves it, not because there is an empty slot this year.
Murakami, Ryu, whom I have not read, managed to win an Akutagawa Prize for, what, "Almost Transparent Blue".