Thanks, Alana. I’m reading Wind-up Bird Chronicle at the end of the summer with a friend if you want to join us and discuss it. I have found that most readers have a strong reaction to Murakami, whether positive or negative. I hope you’re having a great week! Cheers, Jack
I love the environment this book creates it brings a mellow, stagnant, nostalgic, melancholic kinda night atmosphere. Do you think you could recommend some similar books
There are some books listed in the description box that you might be interested in. I’m glad you enjoyed this one. I think it is one of Murakami’s most underrated works. Cheers, Jack
@@ramblingraconteur1616 I started 1Q84 and put it down for awhile but I liked what I read. I was going to go back to it but then Christy talked abt the sexual content. I can generally skip those types of things and still enjoy the story, but then Una told me it was pretty prevalent and wasn't sure if I could get around it that way. I own Windup Bird but haven't read it yet.
This was the first Murakami novel I read and quite enjoyed it though some of the sexual content is quite off putting (not that sex is bad, just Murakami has a horrible way of describing woman usually) I found I much prefer his short stories and generally shorter works. A lot of fans don’t tend to enjoy his first two works; hear the wind sing and pinball 1973 and while they are quite amateur they’re fairly enjoyable reads and I’d recommend if you haven’t.
Thanks for recommending those early ones. I’ve read A Wild Sheep Chase and his pop-realist earlier works but not those two. Murakami’s surrealism tends to curdle in longer works, and I agree that I’ve enjoyed his shorter pieces more. Have you read his nonfiction? Hope you’re having a great weekend! Cheers, Jack
@@ramblingraconteur1616 Ah that's cool, Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball are the first two parts of the "rat" trilogy which Sheep Chase is part of. They are much less substantial than his other works and are only around 100 pages each if that, but there's a great sense of melancholia in Pinball that I really like. Also based on your rec I picked up Rashomon and other stories today so thanks for that rec! I'm having a hard time with Murakami where the more I read of him his work both starts to heavily repeat itself, and sometimes it feels like there's not as much substance to some of it, maybe I just read too much at once. I've read a couple of essays out his newest English release "Novelist as a Vocation", I really enjoyed the opening essay about how he became a writer which is also in the Vintage Wind/Pinball edition. Have you read any of his nonfic? Have a great weekend!
@@tressor904 I enjoyed his book describing how he became a runner. It might be my favorite among all of his works. I hope you enjoy the stories of Akutagawa!
Interesting! I haven’t even heard of this one. Less creepy sounds good. Because yeah, I’m pretty sick of his typical protagonist and hyper sexualization. So this sounds like the best next Murakami for me. I starred wind up bird chronicles and just immediately hated those aspects.
That has always been my issue with Murakami, Fraser, and it pops up here but is not emphatic the way it has been in other books. The surrealism isn’t quite as strong here, but the balance it achieves works quite well. Hope you enjoy it if you have a chance to read it! Cheers, Jack
@@yxvoegl2263 if you think Murakami doesn’t hyper sexualize characters, you need to work on your reading comprehension. And if you’re so enamoured with a writer that you’ve formed an unhealthy parasocial relationship with their work, you probably also should take a further look at yourself, possibly seeking help :)
@@SpringboardThought I'm not sure what you're getting at. The sexuality in Murakami is mostly normal--his male characters sometimes masturbate, notice that women have breasts, and occasionally has sex with very few of them. His female characters sometimes reject sexual relationships (such as Naoko in Norwegian Wood and May Kasahara in Wind-Up Bird Chronicle). There are no rape scenes, or group sex scenes, or homosexual scenes. You must not have read too much adult novels. There's much more sex in Cormac McCarthy, Don DeLillo, or Thomas Pynchon that in Murakami. Or try Henry Miller, if you dare! But be careful, there's a lot of gay and lesbian and trans literature out there, so watch your step.
Great review Jack! I haven’t read any Murakami yet but I plan to go big and start with 1Q84. This one also sounds like one I’ll enjoy!
Thanks, Alana. I’m reading Wind-up Bird Chronicle at the end of the summer with a friend if you want to join us and discuss it. I have found that most readers have a strong reaction to Murakami, whether positive or negative. I hope you’re having a great week!
Cheers, Jack
I love the environment this book creates it brings a mellow, stagnant, nostalgic, melancholic kinda night atmosphere. Do you think you could recommend some similar books
There are some books listed in the description box that you might be interested in.
I’m glad you enjoyed this one. I think it is one of Murakami’s most underrated works.
Cheers, Jack
That's definitely one I want to read.
Have you read any of Murakami’s other works, Penny?
@@ramblingraconteur1616 I started 1Q84 and put it down for awhile but I liked what I read. I was going to go back to it but then Christy talked abt the sexual content. I can generally skip those types of things and still enjoy the story, but then Una told me it was pretty prevalent and wasn't sure if I could get around it that way. I own Windup Bird but haven't read it yet.
This was the first Murakami novel I read and quite enjoyed it though some of the sexual content is quite off putting (not that sex is bad, just Murakami has a horrible way of describing woman usually) I found I much prefer his short stories and generally shorter works.
A lot of fans don’t tend to enjoy his first two works; hear the wind sing and pinball 1973 and while they are quite amateur they’re fairly enjoyable reads and I’d recommend if you haven’t.
Thanks for recommending those early ones. I’ve read A Wild Sheep Chase and his pop-realist earlier works but not those two. Murakami’s surrealism tends to curdle in longer works, and I agree that I’ve enjoyed his shorter pieces more. Have you read his nonfiction?
Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Cheers, Jack
@@ramblingraconteur1616 Ah that's cool, Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball are the first two parts of the "rat" trilogy which Sheep Chase is part of. They are much less substantial than his other works and are only around 100 pages each if that, but there's a great sense of melancholia in Pinball that I really like. Also based on your rec I picked up Rashomon and other stories today so thanks for that rec!
I'm having a hard time with Murakami where the more I read of him his work both starts to heavily repeat itself, and sometimes it feels like there's not as much substance to some of it, maybe I just read too much at once. I've read a couple of essays out his newest English release "Novelist as a Vocation", I really enjoyed the opening essay about how he became a writer which is also in the Vintage Wind/Pinball edition. Have you read any of his nonfic?
Have a great weekend!
@@tressor904 I enjoyed his book describing how he became a runner. It might be my favorite among all of his works.
I hope you enjoy the stories of Akutagawa!
Interesting! I haven’t even heard of this one. Less creepy sounds good. Because yeah, I’m pretty sick of his typical protagonist and hyper sexualization. So this sounds like the best next Murakami for me. I starred wind up bird chronicles and just immediately hated those aspects.
That has always been my issue with Murakami, Fraser, and it pops up here but is not emphatic the way it has been in other books. The surrealism isn’t quite as strong here, but the balance it achieves works quite well. Hope you enjoy it if you have a chance to read it!
Cheers, Jack
Hyper sexualizations? What are you talking about? Maybe you should get out of the children's section of the library and read some actual adult books.
@@yxvoegl2263 if you think Murakami doesn’t hyper sexualize characters, you need to work on your reading comprehension. And if you’re so enamoured with a writer that you’ve formed an unhealthy parasocial relationship with their work, you probably also should take a further look at yourself, possibly seeking help :)
@@SpringboardThought I'm not sure what you're getting at. The sexuality in Murakami is mostly normal--his male characters sometimes masturbate, notice that women have breasts, and occasionally has sex with very few of them. His female characters sometimes reject sexual relationships (such as Naoko in Norwegian Wood and May Kasahara in Wind-Up Bird Chronicle). There are no rape scenes, or group sex scenes, or homosexual scenes.
You must not have read too much adult novels. There's much more sex in Cormac McCarthy, Don DeLillo, or Thomas Pynchon that in Murakami. Or try Henry Miller, if you dare!
But be careful, there's a lot of gay and lesbian and trans literature out there, so watch your step.