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South of the Border, West of the Sun

by Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel (Translator)

3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 · rating details · 23,339 ratings · 1,184 reviews

Growing up in the suburbs of post-war Japan, it seemed to Hajime that everyone but him had brothers and sisters. His sole companion was Shimamoto, also an only child. Together they spent long afternoons listening to her father's record collection. But when his family moved away, the two lost touch. Now Hajime is in his thirties. After a decade of drifting he has found happ...more

Paperback, 190 pages

Published October 11th 2011 by Vintage (first published October 5th 1992)

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Dec 27, 2012 Moushumi Ghosh rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have always liked jazz music but I don’t think I qualify as a fan. But this book seems like a jazz symphony to me (I’m kind of clueless about jazz. Is there something like a “jazz symphony?”) It’s smooth, mysterious and leaves you thirsting for more.

I firmly believe that you don’t choose your books; the books choose you. Yeah, I’m one of them people who think that there is no such thing as a coincidence. So, this SOTBWFTS (short form) was a gift from a friend on my birthday.

Anyways, I jumped o...more I have always liked jazz music but I don’t think I qualify as a fan. But this book seems like a jazz symphony to me (I’m kind of clueless about jazz. Is there something like a “jazz symphony?”) It’s smooth, mysterious and leaves you thirsting for more.

I firmly believe that you don’t choose your books; the books choose you. Yeah, I’m one of them people who think that there is no such thing as a coincidence. So, this SOTBWFTS (short form) was a gift from a friend on my birthday.

Anyways, I jumped on the novel like a piece of cake: long denied, much remembered. Since it’s a slim volume, I’m done with it in 9 hours with equally slim breaks in between.

At first, you wonder where is the story going? But I’m as usual getting ahead of myself. The story is of an average man, Hajime, who cannot forget the superbly mysterious and beautiful Shimamoto (ironically, he can’t remember her first name: this is her last name.) Hajime meets Shimamoto in kindergarten and they both bond over the fact that they are “only” children of their parents. It’s a beautiful friendship with music playing (quite literally, since they listen to music most of the time) a major part in their friendship. Polio-infected Shimamoto is the one girl who makes a very deep impression on his young mind. When Shimamoto moves out of his life, Hajime goes on with his life in a very on-the-surface manner. He does the regular things: school, high school sweetheart, college, a dead-end job, find the girl who would be his wife, dabble in business, and become successful. But you get the feeling that something is missing. When one day a stunning woman walks into his club on a rainy evening, everything changes. The woman is Shimamoto. Now, looking more stunning than ever. Hajime is torn between an average life and his prospects with Shimamoto. She appears on rainy evenings to tantalise him. One day, just when he makes a choice, she disappears forever.

Hajime is the everyman in this novel. It’s his life we identify with. Shimamoto is the symbol of all that we want and cannot have. She appears from time to time in our lives teasing us with the prospect. But she is like the rain: she can appear but she cannot stay. If she does, she will destroy everything. And the novel is a testiment to the fact that her short stay was quite destructive for the protagonist.

This novel is considered to be one of his most mature works. I couldn’t help but compare it with Norwegian Wood. The youthful flavour of Norwegian Wood is not to be seen here. But what you can see is a mature writer and a mature man. It’s like a sequel to Norwegian Wood. Naoko grows up and become Shimamoto. Toru and Hajime are the same – the passive protagonist –appearing again and again in all Murakami novels. Even in a very adventurous novel like The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, the protagonist remains the calm guy who makes spaghetti. All Murakami protagonists wait for life to happen to them, somehow calm, somehow untouched like the eye of the storm.

All the references to music especially Jazz are there usual. It makes the story all the more poignant. This is not one of them rambunctious novels that use mind-bending narrative pyrotechnics to tell the story and grab the attention of the reader. It’s one of those quiet books that makes a deep impression on your mind. It sure did on mine.

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Oct 09, 2012 vivliovision rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hajime is a happily married man. He is also the father of two daughters and the owner of two Jazz Clubs. At some point in his 30’s Hajime finds himself leading a typical suburban life close-enough-but-not-too-close to down-town Tokyo.

Some people would say that Hajime is one of those lucky-few-guys, who can afford a rather easy-going lifestyle, while others would argue that this sort of life is quiet dull, actually. But then again, that's exactly how life is designed (or supposed) to be in the up...more

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Mar 19, 2008 Kelly Jean Egan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Whatever Murakami book I am reading, I find myself stepping back into the same world as before, with all of the same characters and themes of wells and transience and strangely poignant details like gold lighters and classical music records and the myriad spaghetti dinners--the mundane details of everyday life spun into a dreamy tapestry. The fact that every Murakami book I read seems to feel the same is a good thing in this author's case. His tone is something quite distinct. Every time I read...more

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Apr 26, 2009 Martine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: asian, favourites, modern-fiction, psychological-drama

I never fail to be impressed by the way Murakami captures mood and feelings. Even in his less fantastic novels, of which this is one, he draws you into a world that is all his, and so full of possibilities and connections that you feel you could grasp them if you reached out. Except you don't, because in Murakami's universe it's easier to stay put and wait than to get actively involved. It's about memories and reminiscences, about wishes and alternate realities, and if you were to reach out and...more I never fail to be impressed by the way Murakami captures mood and feelings. Even in his less fantastic novels, of which this is one, he draws you into a world that is all his, and so full of possibilities and connections that you feel you could grasp them if you reached out. Except you don't, because in Murakami's universe it's easier to stay put and wait than to get actively involved. It's about memories and reminiscences, about wishes and alternate realities, and if you were to reach out and touch anything, you would break the carefully crafted atmosphere, leaving nothing but some loner's neurotic ramblings about the things he should have done but sadly never did. You wouldn't want to do that, now would you?

South of the Border, West of the Sun is set in a familiar Murakami landscape where lonely men listen to jazz and classical music, get obsessed with mysterious women with death in their eyes, and crave a connection with just one fellow soul. This time around, the protagonist is Hajime, a man in his late thirties who seems to be going through a bit of a mid-life crisis. Reasonably happily married and the successful owner of two jazz bars, Hajime seems to have it all, except for two things: he can't really connect to anyone, and he is haunted by memories of the women he has wronged. Most of all, he is haunted by the memory of his childhood friend Shimamoto, the only person in his life to whom he has ever been close, but of whom he lost sight at age twelve. And then Shimamoto suddenly reappears in his life, tempting him with promises of closeness and understanding and confusing him profoundly.

As stories of mid-life crises and marital infidelity go, this one is nothing out of the ordinary. It follows Hajime through his obsession with Shimamoto and his insecurities, regrets and justifications, leading him all the way to some modicum of self-discovery. So far, so generic adultery novel. What sets the book apart from countless other such books is its mood. Like other Murakami books, South of the Border, West of the Sun is a mood piece. It has a dreamlike, timeless quality, a mellow intensity, and a jazz-and-rain-fuelled melancholy which occasionally drips off the pages. It evokes loneliness and obsession in a way few other authors manage to evoke them. It's like being submerged in a bath of longing and nostalgia, and I, for one, really enjoy that sort of thing. There's something quite cathartic about it.

Much has been said about Hajime, the protagonist of South of the Border. Like many Murakami characters, Hajime is not an action hero; he spends most of the book waiting for fate to deal him a lucky card, and when he finally gets it, he doesn't really know what to do with it. Nor does he seem to notice that the cards he was initially dealt were actually quite good. He is a dreamer and a drifter, floating through a world in which he doesn't seem properly anchored, feeling rather than observing, longing rather than acting. He is haunted by memories and wallows in his own mistakes without having the guts to address them. He is not necessarily the world's most attractive protagonist, but all the same it is interesting watching the world through his eyes, sensing his guilt and sharing his cravings. And if he doesn't seem to be all that different from countless other Murakami protagonists, well, so be it. That's Murakami for you -- writing the same story featuring the same protagonist over and over again, but in a way which keeps you coming back for more.

As for Murakami's refusal to tie up the loose ends in this book, which seems to baffle certain reviewers, I like that. I like that we never find out exactly what Shimamoto has been up to for all these years. I like that her disappearance remains unexplained. I even like the fact that we never find out her first name (Hajime keeps calling her by her family name, even when they are having sex). It adds an air of detachment and mystery to the novel, which in turn just adds to its dreamlike quality. It allows you to fill in the blanks yourself, and at the end of the day, that is what I like most about good fiction -- its ability to make you fantasise and write parts of the story yourself. Maybe that's why I like Murakami so much; he draws me into brilliant moodscapes and leaves me there, thinking, feeling, wondering what I would do in a given position. Sometimes I wish I never had to leave his world, but alas, even the best jazz gets tedious after a while...(less)

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Aug 26, 2009 Eddie Watkins rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book is the literary equivalent of cloud paintings. I’m not talking John Constable’s clouds, which are dense with specificity from a keen and earthy eye; but rather New Agey cloud paintings, which are designed to be innocuous and calming, to not stimulate the eye, to induce a meditative state and readjust the spirit and turn one away from the tangible.

So South of the Border, West of the Sun is not all bad – it does satisfy all the above criteria for New Agey cloud paintings – and I have no...more This book is the literary equivalent of cloud paintings. I’m not talking John Constable’s clouds, which are dense with specificity from a keen and earthy eye; but rather New Agey cloud paintings, which are designed to be innocuous and calming, to not stimulate the eye, to induce a meditative state and readjust the spirit and turn one away from the tangible.

So South of the Border, West of the Sun is not all bad – it does satisfy all the above criteria for New Agey cloud paintings – and I have no beefs with calmness and spirit clarifying, but that’s not typically why I turn to art, whether it be paintings or literature. I typically turn to art to be engaged with the materials of that art. Of course I’m also interested in the overall effect of those materials, in the work of art per se, that unquantifiable essence of what has been accomplished; but I like this essence to be composed of tangible things, things I can chew on and wrestle with, things I can be viscerally engaged with.

This book is all essence and forced me to readjust my reading habits. I had to actually remove my focus from the words themselves, and to let them pass intact – like cloudy kidney stones painlessly through my urethra – through my reading eyes and brain and straight into my conceptualizing mind, where they formed something quite small for a novel of over 200 pages. The essence of this book is that “All things with form can vanish at any moment, but emotion abides”, an admirable enough concept that I wholeheartedly accept; but is that why I read, to ingest thousands of words that instantly vaporize in my mind leaving a paltry residue such as that? Zen koans can perform that feat in ten words or less. Again, I turn to art to be engaged with the materials of that art.

In his essay on marathon running Murakami refers to himself as boring, and now I'm inclined to believe him. The protagonist of this book is clearly a stand-in for Murakami, and is numbingly dull. He’s a “successful” family man who likes jazz and to have his balls licked, not much of a Curriculum Vitae that, so it’s augmented with a fixation on a girl he was friends with when he was 12. Granted, this is the “meat” (or rather tofu) of the plot, and is sweet and somewhat moving as it morphs through the vicissitudes of his life, though some of its impact was lost on me because now I don’t quite believe Murakami. I don’t believe he’s in touch with an inner purity aglow with a spiritual innocence. I don’t believe his romantic idealism. I don't believe in the transcendence of his imagination. I don't believe there are women who like to lick his balls. And not believing these things about him substantially lessened the impact of the main character’s final transformation into the first stages of a complete and interesting being.

Which begs the question – who wants to read a book whose main character doesn’t become interesting until after the final word?

But then is that possibly the point of this book? Given the delicate and profound beauty of the final image, and given the vapidity of the preceeding 200+ pages, is it possible that the book itself is an embodiment of the essence I previously pointed out; that the bulk of the novel itself represents the form destined to vanish and that the final emotionally charged image is what abides? I applaud Murakami if that is the case, at least for his conceptual gumption; but still I'd rather read a book that wasn't designed to be innocuous. Give me some meat on my words.

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Jan 18, 2013 Yulia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: by-and-of-japan

Unlike his more dreamlike, fantastical novels, this one by Murakami is a rather domestic (but not mundane) tale about a Japanese man who's married to a woman he's never truly connected with, reminiscing about his first love: a girl with a limp whom he shared a love of music with and whom he lost touch with decades ago and still hopes to find one day again. No, it's not a melodrama, but a book on persistent memories, revised fantasies, and questions that sometimes must remain unanswered.

An under-...more

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Jul 02, 2009 Lamia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

كتب ابراهيم حاج عبدي..
"عنوان الرواية «جنوب الحدود، غرب الشمس» هو عبارة عن توليفة ابتدعها خيال الروائي، ليختزل، بهذه الاستعارة الذكية، مزاج بطل روايته، ومخاوفه ورغباته وآماله. «جنوب الحدود» هو عنوان أغنية لنات كينج كول، بينما «غرب الشمس» هو اسم لمرض هستيري يعاني منه الفلاحون في سيبيريا. «فلاح وحيد في تندرا سيبيريا. يحرث الأرض كل يوم ولا يرى شيئاً على مد البصر سوى الشمس والأفق الممتد بلا نهاية محيطاً به من الجهات الأربع. يلقي بمحراثه ذات يوم، ويبدأ بالسير نحو ارض تمتد غرب الشمس، من دون طعام أو شر...more كتب ابراهيم حاج عبدي..
"عنوان الرواية «جنوب الحدود، غرب الشمس» هو عبارة عن توليفة ابتدعها خيال الروائي، ليختزل، بهذه الاستعارة الذكية، مزاج بطل روايته، ومخاوفه ورغباته وآماله. «جنوب الحدود» هو عنوان أغنية لنات كينج كول، بينما «غرب الشمس» هو اسم لمرض هستيري يعاني منه الفلاحون في سيبيريا. «فلاح وحيد في تندرا سيبيريا. يحرث الأرض كل يوم ولا يرى شيئاً على مد البصر سوى الشمس والأفق الممتد بلا نهاية محيطاً به من الجهات الأربع. يلقي بمحراثه ذات يوم، ويبدأ بالسير نحو ارض تمتد غرب الشمس، من دون طعام أو شراب، حتى ينهار على الأرض ويموت. تلك هي هستيريا سيبيريا».

هاجيمي، بطل رواية موراكامي، يعاني من هذه الهستيريا، لكن بطريقة مختلفة. فهو يكره الملل، ويبحث عما يعطي لحياته معنى أعمق. وهو يحلم، أيضاً، باكتشاف ما وراء «جنوب الحدود». هذه الأغنية التي كان يعشقها منذ الصغر بقيت معلقة في ذاكرته كتعويذة غامضة، تولد لديه الفضول، وتدفعه نحو حل اللغز الموجود «جنوب الحدود». إنها الأغنية التي رسمت، بصورة لا واعية، مسارات القدر. ولئن كان المقصود بـ «جنوب الحدود» في الأغنية هو «المكسيك». لكن التأويل لدى البطل يحمل كثيراً من الرموز والدلالات. هي كناية عن الرغبة والأمل والطموح «كنت مقتنعا بأن شيئاً رائعاً يكمن جنوب الحدود».

موراكامي، الذي تتصدر رواياته قوائم الروايات الأكثر مبيعاً في العالم، يتناول في هذا العمل سيرة فرد ياباني مذ كان طفلا إًلى أن يبلغ الأربعين. هذا الفرد - بطل الرواية، هو هاجيمي الذي يسرد حكايته بضمير المتكلم وبصيغة الماضي. يقول في مستهل الرواية «يصادف عيد ميلادي 4 كانون الثاني (يناير) 1951 الأسبوع الأول من الشهر الأول من السنة الأولى من منتصف القرن العشرين. أظن أن هذا سبب تسمية والدي لي (هاجيمي) أي (البداية) باليابانية. غير ذلك كانت ولادة طبيعية مئة بالمئة. كان والدي يعمل في محل سمسار بورصة ضخم، وأمي ربة بيت عادية... كنا نقطن في بلدة صغيرة هادئة». وفي حين كانت العائلات تملك طفلين أو ثلاثة، إلا انه كان وحيداً في عائلته. «كنت أعاني من عقدة نقص جراء ذلك»، وكان يلاقي صعوبة في عقد الصداقات، وفي العثور على شخص يتفهم حالة الوحدة التي يعيشها، إلى أن عثر في المدرسة الابتدائية على شيماموتو، وهي، بدورها، طفلة وحيدة لأسرة تعيش في الجوار.

يسهب بطل الرواية في سرد وقائع طفولته، وفي شرح المعاني التي تنطوي عليها مسألة «الطفل الوحيد»، وهو يملك فلسفة خاصة في هذا الجانب. ويتحدث عن عشقه للموسيقى، وعن تعلقه بالكتب، ويركز على تفاصيل علاقته البريئة مع شيماموتو التي كانت تعرج قليلاً، «وكانت لمسة يدها مختلفة عن لمسة أي يد عرفتها في حياتي». ينتقل هاجيمي إلى طوكيو للدراسة الجامعية. هنا يختلف إيقاع الحياة. يخوض علاقات غرامية، ويعمل، بعد التخرج، مدققاً لكتب المناهج المدرسية. يتزوج من فتاة ثرية وينجب أطفالاً. يساعده والد زوجته في افتتاح بارين للموسيقى، بدلاً من عمله الرتيب. ينجح في عمله الجديد، ويجني ثروة طائلة، وعلى رغم أن حياته تسير بلا معوقات لكنه يشعر بأن ثمة شيئاً ناقصاً لا يفلح في تحديده بدقة. إنه «في انتظار غودو». الصحافة تكتب عن نجاحه، ويبدأ أصدقاء الطفولة بالتوافد إلى باره، ومن بينهم شيماموتو، «الطفلة الوحيدة» التي كانت تدرس معه في المرحلة الابتدائية. ففي مساء ماطر، تحصل هذه الزيارة غير المتوقعة. وعند رؤيته لوجه يحتفظ بقسماته في ذاكرته كوشم عنيد، تستيقظ المشاعر الغافية منذ ثلاثين سنة، إذ يعثر البطل، أخيراً، على ضالته التي طالما افتقدها «حين أنظر إليكِ أشعر بأني أحدّق بنجم بعيد مبهر، لكن الضوء آت من قبل عشرة آلاف سنة." (less)

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Nov 24, 2011 Airiz C rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, drama

I am a discriminating reader. Even if I love an author unreservedly, I don’t go around loving everything that he writes. After all, in a writer’s collection of works, not everything will be explosively brilliant; some of them will turn out as duds.

To many Murakami-experienced readers, South of the Border, West of the Sun definitely reads like the spiritual successor to his acclaimed novel Norwegian Wood. Both don’t have a much of magical realism (or surrealism?) in them that is commonplace in th...more I am a discriminating reader. Even if I love an author unreservedly, I don’t go around loving everything that he writes. After all, in a writer’s collection of works, not everything will be explosively brilliant; some of them will turn out as duds.

To many Murakami-experienced readers, South of the Border, West of the Sun definitely reads like the spiritual successor to his acclaimed novel Norwegian Wood. Both don’t have a much of magical realism (or surrealism?) in them that is commonplace in the majority of Murakami’s oeuvre; they deal with the quotidian lives of average people, with subtle twists that can instantly establish a connection with the readers.

Norwegian Wood is an amazing read, and for some time it made me believe that Murakami is indeed a versatile writer—he’s dangerously good when it comes to surreal stuff, but he can surely soar with a story that is not necessarily situated between dreams and reality. However, his sophomore work that falls into the latter category just proves to me that his forte is still with the ‘weird’ (not that I’m saying Norwegian Wood is a fluke).

The gist of South of the Border, West of the Sun is this: two childhood friends are separated by quite run- of-the-mill circumstances, until later in their lives—when the guy is already a successful jazz club proprietor and a family man—their paths converge again, sending everything haywire.

Now, the reason why ordinary love stories are not my cup of tea is that I’ve always been smitten with fantasy/science fiction. Fascinated by magic and out of this world material at an early age, I developed a penchant for fantastical juke-in-the-boxes embedded in the stories, things that can surprise you in a way ordinary stuff can’t, and events that can make your imagination go wild and bring you to different places like Narnia or Oz or Wonderland. It doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t go for the normal stuff, though; in fact one of my favorite novels of all time (The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano) is a contemporary soulmate tale. It’s just I don’t dig those with tales reminiscent of neighbor gossip stories. :p Norwegian Wood doesn’t sound like one, and add to that Murakami’s flair for the quirky, poetic words, and you can get a thumb up from me.

Anyway, I have to admit that SOTBWOTS is not one of Murakami’s better works. I’ve read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running so I’ve caught glimpses of his personal life: he opens a jazz bar, loves music, loves literature. When I read that Hajime, the main protagonist, also opens a jazz bar, loves music, and loves literature, I found myself a little disappointed. It’s true that an author sometimes puts bits of himself into his characters, but Hajime is a literary Xerox copy of Murakami. Gary Stu? Perhaps.

There is nothing much to say about the plot, too, as you may have guessed from the gist I provided above. But what I liked about it is of course Murakami’s ever-tasteful choice of words, and the bittersweetness that lies underneath every thought that he puts on page. Almost every idea he shares will make you question what you believed in the past, and it will also make you look back at the things you’ve taken for granted. His humor, which I’ve always loved ever since reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, is also peppered in some of the passages.

All in all it’s still a decent read. There are a few haunting moments that I liked, but nothing that can leave indelible marks in my memories.
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Oct 11, 2011 Ian Graye rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2011, reviews, mura-karmic-wonder-land, reviews-5-stars, nippon

A Companion Intervenes

I re-read “South of the Border” immediately after re-reading “Norwegian Wood”, as part of my training regime for Murakami’s “1Q84”.

Although they were written five years apart and were separated by “Dance Dance Dance”, they are good companion pieces.

They stand out from Murakami’s other novels because they explore love and its consequences almost exclusively.

Although some things and events go unexplained, there is little of the surrealism and absurdity that characterizes mos...more

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Feb 04, 2008 Lisa rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really didn't enjoy this book, but it did make me think about why, so at least it had that going for it.

I found Hajime an infinitely unlikeable character, but I couldn't put my finger on the details of why. He had no problem doing things that would hurt the women he claimed to "love", even as he said that there must be something wrong with him for doing so. I think of "that's just the way I am, nothing to be done" as the worst, laziest possible excuse for bad behavior toward others.

But it was...more I really didn't enjoy this book, but it did make me think about why, so at least it had that going for it.

I found Hajime an infinitely unlikeable character, but I couldn't put my finger on the details of why. He had no problem doing things that would hurt the women he claimed to "love", even as he said that there must be something wrong with him for doing so. I think of "that's just the way I am, nothing to be done" as the worst, laziest possible excuse for bad behavior toward others.

But it wasn't until I got to the end of the story that I began to be able to articulate what I disliked about Hajime, and therefore the book. Hajime loses the only dream he's ever had in life, Shimamoto, though he knows absolutely zero about her as an adult (somehow that doesn't matter...he just wants the dream, not a real person). He is crushed at the somehow dismal prospect of providing dreams for others (his family), instead of pursuing his own dream no matter the cost. I found that utterly depressing. A character that a) can't generate new dreams in life, and b) is miserable about the newly discovered prospect of providing for the dreams of people he claims to love, is utterly unappealing to me. I wonder if Hajime was meant as an illustration of a total failure of a human-in-relationship, or whether he was supposed to be a somewhat sympathetic character and I just hated him anyway.

The only book I can compare it to that I really did like is Lolita. Reading that book, it was crystal clear that we were reading a story offered to us by a wildly unreliable (first-person) narrator, and that this story, presented to us as star-crossed, tragic love, was really about something else entirely--the danger and blindness of sick obsession, a child's loss of her right and ability to define and direct her self. I could appreciate South of the Border on this level, thinking of how Hajime's narration about himself was completely unreliable, and underneath there was a story about someone who spent his life driven only by what he wanted, with no understanding of or interest in his impact on others. Interestingly, this also somehow leaves him completely unable to understand his impact on himself.(less)

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Mar 20, 2013 Dian Pranasari rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebook

~~Doh, I'm torn between 2 or 3 stars. I’ll think about it while collecting quotes for my review :D.~~

A thousand flowers could bloom*, if he tries… hard enough. But no, this pampered boy Hajime should spend most of his life with those girls he likes but doesn’t actually love (not to mention hurt them badly by having sex with other girls but give us cliché “it’s just casual sex without deep feeling” excuse to justify his filthy behaviour) while he keeps thinking about his puppy love, Shimamoto. What a...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Aliaa Mohamed rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

دى تانى رواية اقرأها لهاروكى موراكامى بعد رواية " رقص رقص رقص " .. اسلوبه من النوع اللى بيجذب من اول كلمة .. طريقته سلسلة ف الكتابة والاحداث بتنساب بسهولة
الرواية علي اسم اغنية نات كينج كول .. بتدور حوالين ولد اسمه " هاجيمى " ومعناه البداية باللغة اليابانية وده عشان مولود ف الاسبوع الاول من الشهر الاول من السنة الاولى من منتصف القرن العشرين .. وحيد والديه .. الرواية سردت حياته من صغره وحبه لزميلته " شيماموتو " وفضلوا سوا لحد لما اتفرقوا وهو سافر طوكيو للدراسة الجامعية واتعرف هناك ع بنت تانية اسم...more دى تانى رواية اقرأها لهاروكى موراكامى بعد رواية " رقص رقص رقص " .. اسلوبه من النوع اللى بيجذب من اول كلمة .. طريقته سلسلة ف الكتابة والاحداث بتنساب بسهولة
الرواية علي اسم اغنية نات كينج كول .. بتدور حوالين ولد اسمه " هاجيمى " ومعناه البداية باللغة اليابانية وده عشان مولود ف الاسبوع الاول من الشهر الاول من السنة الاولى من منتصف القرن العشرين .. وحيد والديه .. الرواية سردت حياته من صغره وحبه لزميلته " شيماموتو " وفضلوا سوا لحد لما اتفرقوا وهو سافر طوكيو للدراسة الجامعية واتعرف هناك ع بنت تانية اسمها " ازومى " وخانها مع بنت عمتها واتفرقوا برضه .. الاحداث بتمر بسلاسة لحد لما نلاقيه كبر واشتغل ف مصلحة حكومية " مصحح للكتب التعليمية " وف رحلة اتعرف ع زوجته " يوكيكو " ووالدها ساعده وفتح بارين وبقى رجل اعمال ناجح وعنده بنتين .. الاحداث بتمر بيه لحد لما تظهر تانى " شيماموتو " ف حياته وتقلبها رأسا ع عقب
الرواية ف مجملها ممكن تكون مقالتش حاجة جديدة بس الـ4 نجوم لأسلوب وطريقة سرد هاروكى للرواية والاحداث لدرجة خلتنى اخلصها ف ساعات معدودة
من ابرز الاقتباسات اللى عجبتنى :
"ثمة طرق عديدة مختلفة للعيش، وعديد من الطرق للموت، ولكن في النهاية .. لا يبقى سوى الصحراء"
."
" الحقيقة المحزنة أن بعض الأشياء لايمكن أن تعود إلى الوراء حين تبدأ في السير إلى الأمام لايمكن أن تعود كما كانت إذا انحرف شيء صغير يبقى هكذا إلى الأبد !"
"كم من هذا الشخص الذى ادعوه انا هو فى الواقع نفسى ؟ وكم منه ليس انا ؟"

show 1 hidden update…(less)

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Dec 26, 2008 Connor Scanlan rated it 5 of 5 stars

On page 15:

"Her hand, which up till then had laid on the back of the sofa, she now placed on her knee. I stared vacantly at her fingers tracing the plaid pattern of her skirt. There was something mysterious about it, as if invisible thread emanating from her fingertips spun together an entirely new concept of time. I closed my eyes, and in the darkness, whirlpools flashed before me. Countless whirlpools were born and disappeared without a sound. Off in the distance, Nat King Cole was singing "So...more

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Jul 07, 2010 Zee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: japanese, contemporary, booksread2010

The passage of time is hard to understand. It runs to its own improvised beat, slowing down and speeding up according to the moment - just like a jazz tune. There are times when the world seems to grind to a painful halt, your breath catches in your throat and your heart beats wildly at the sight of a ghost from the past. Then there times when it seems the years have slipped by like a thief in the night, taking with it your youth, your dreams, your very 'self'.

Yes, the hours of our borrowed lif...more The passage of time is hard to understand. It runs to its own improvised beat, slowing down and speeding up according to the moment - just like a jazz tune. There are times when the world seems to grind to a painful halt, your breath catches in your throat and your heart beats wildly at the sight of a ghost from the past. Then there times when it seems the years have slipped by like a thief in the night, taking with it your youth, your dreams, your very 'self'.

Yes, the hours of our borrowed life come and go like the tide of a distant shore rising unexpectedly to the cusp of our existence. Sometimes it leaves cryptic messages in its wake, dredged from the murky depths of memory; and at other times it withdraws in cruel silence, erasing the delicate footprints to our past.

Murakami's novel follows Hajime, a middle-aged man, who recounts the erratic ups and downs of his incomplete life. It documents his loves and losses, his betrayals and sacrifices, his fears and desires. 'South of the Border, West of the Sun' is a story full of a very human reminiscence of what might have been, if only things were different. It underlines the instinctive need felt by all people for recognition; a recognition that can only be fulfilled as a reflection of the self in another human being. In Murakami's novel this translates into a fervent, never-ending search for Hajime's first love Shimamoto, a mysterious girl with a lame leg.

What began as childhood friendship slowly blossomed into something more, but just as Hajime and Shimamoto began to bond, Hajime had to move to another neihbourhood. However this separation does nothing to sever the bond between them and years later when Hajime has settled down with two children, Shimamoto once again enters his life; this time with devastating consequences. Hajime must cope with the burden of choosing between right and wrong and the intoxicating desire that has matured within him for Shimamoto.

Despite the bad decisions that permeate Hajime's life I found myself thinking of him as a character. I neither liked nor disliked him. Instead to me he was just a disembodied voice, narrating the erratic flow of his story - pointing bravely to the rights and terrible wrongs of his personal journey. The women however were very vividly portrayed. I identified with their emotions far more readily than I did wth Hajime's. The fates of the women in particular concerned me, especially the haunting state of Izumi, a girl full of life and laughter, that experiencs a most mind-blowing betrayal she certainly does not deserve.

Murakami is a word-artist in this beautiful, realistic yet painful analysis of love and heartache. He paints as honest a portrayal of male mid-life crisis as can possibly be written laden and the consequences of uncontrolled desire. Recommended to men and women alike, especially those who wonder why we sometimes do the things we do, and suffer the fate brought onto us.

I give this 4/5 stars. I'm still thinking Murakami has a better story in him, and I'm hoping to find it.(less)

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Oct 13, 2012 Dita rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lipo, zanimljivo, ne odlažeš dok ne pročitaš... ali Hajime mi se malo gadi.

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Apr 22, 2010 Evan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: asia, yearning, 2010-reads

Eh, this was Orange Crush trying to masquerade as champagne.

The book's lynchpin is a lifelong unrequited or dashed youthful romance that obsesses the protagonists, Hajime (he) and Shimamoto (she), each -- unknowingly to the other -- holding a candle over a vast span of time. Unfortunately, Murakami is no Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and this glass of soda pop novel is no Love in the Time of Cholera.

I'm not a guy who requires plot, per se, but what plot there is here is perfunctory; Murakami makes thi...more
Eh, this was Orange Crush trying to masquerade as champagne.

The book's lynchpin is a lifelong unrequited or dashed youthful romance that obsesses the protagonists, Hajime (he) and Shimamoto (she), each -- unknowingly to the other -- holding a candle over a vast span of time. Unfortunately, Murakami is no Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and this glass of soda pop novel is no Love in the Time of Cholera.

I'm not a guy who requires plot, per se, but what plot there is here is perfunctory; Murakami makes things way too easy for his protagonist Hajime in order to grease the skids from point A to B. His main strategy seems to set up a longing, create a vast bridge of banality in between, and then get to where you know the thing is obviously going, to the poignant reunion. There's never any sense of tension or anything earned or that resembles real life; he skates over vast periods of time and whole lifespans in a few sentences. Most of the book is an academic exercise in biding time until the inevitable encounter with the exalted lost love. The essence of Hajime's work life is reduced to sentences such as "I hated my job. It was boring." Things seem to happen too easily for him; his marrying into money and opening a chic jazz bar (what a great atmosphere for a noirish reunion) come off as a deus ex machina more than anything. Anytime Murakami wants to add any kind of flavor or to flesh things out, he resorts to easy pop cultural markers, Nat King Cole records, Casablanca and such.

A relatively large amount of time is spent tying Hajime to his father-in-law's shady dealings, yet nothing comes from all the set up. There are a lot of things like that in the book. Foreshadowings to nothing. I assume that some have even suggested that this may be a ghost story; there are numerous indications of this, but let's not get into spoiler territory.

This reminded me of a lesser Philip Roth novel, specifically, Indignation; another coming-of-age tale, well enough done and wistful but also half-hearted and ho-hum. Nothing here you haven't encountered before. Based on this, Murakami is no Kawabata or Mishima. It's entertaining and moves along, readable in a couple of hours; but is mostly shallow and forgettable. (less)

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Dec 26, 2011 Boysie Freeman (not my real name, it's just my Internet name) rated it 1 of 5 stars

At first I dislike this book but now I am confident to say that I hate it.

It's about this shallow and whiny man who wronged every women he put his hand on (probably because he is so deep, no one can understand him since he's the only child, yes, you gotta remember how painful it is for this Hajime guy to be the only child)... except his childhood sweetheart who is so deep that she never has a real personality but some random emo appeal which cannot make me care less. The author tried so hard bu...more

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Apr 12, 2012 Alexandra rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: asien, belletristik

Ich war ja schon sehr gespannt auf dieses Buch, da es jenen Eklat im Literarischen Quartett auslöste, der der Anlass (nicht die Ursache) für einen Zerfall des Trios Löffler, Reich-Ranicki, Karasek war.

Und ehrlich gesagt, verstehe ich die Frau Löffler sehr gut. Dieses Buch ist so versteckt aber dennoch massiv patriachalisch, dass es jeder Frau, die nur einen Absatz in den Werken von Alice Schwarzer und Elfriede Jelinek gelesen hat, die Zehennägel aufrollen muss.

Der ständig unzufriedene Hajime,...more Ich war ja schon sehr gespannt auf dieses Buch, da es jenen Eklat im Literarischen Quartett auslöste, der der Anlass (nicht die Ursache) für einen Zerfall des Trios Löffler, Reich-Ranicki, Karasek war.

Und ehrlich gesagt, verstehe ich die Frau Löffler sehr gut. Dieses Buch ist so versteckt aber dennoch massiv patriachalisch, dass es jeder Frau, die nur einen Absatz in den Werken von Alice Schwarzer und Elfriede Jelinek gelesen hat, die Zehennägel aufrollen muss.

Der ständig unzufriedene Hajime, den ich übrigens überhaupt nicht leiden kann, grübelt philosophiert und trauert trotz Familie, guter Ehe, Erfolg im Beruf zwei seiner Jungendlieben hinterher und spielt ständig Was-wäre-wenn-Spielchen. Als er seine große Liebe, die er als 12-järiger Junge anbetete, wiedertrifft, stürzt er sich in eine gefährliche Liebschaft. Wunderbar poetisch wie immer in Murakami-Qualität werden Szenen aufgebaut und Realität mit Phantasie sanft verwoben.

Nun kommt aber der riesige Ärgerfaktor für mich - es ist eine reine feuchte völlig unrealistische Männerphantasie. In der Sexszene wird der Mann nur bedient, die Geliebte wünscht gar keine eigenen Bedürfnisse zu haben. Die Ehefrau, die ihn auf die Affäre anspricht - nicht einmal beichten muss dieser unsägliche Versager - ist nicht einmal wütend, sauer oder eingeschnappt, im Gegenteil sie philosophiert mit ihm verständnisvoll über seine Defizite und wartet glücklich und geduldig wie er sich entscheidet. Es gibt wiklich keine gegenwärtige Gesellschaft, in der Frauen nach so einem Verrat nicht einmal still leiden sondern sich glücklich und verständnisvoll in ihr Schicksal fügen. Da der Roman aber ausschliesslich im Hier und Jetzt in der heutigen Zeit spielt, und auch keine Alternativwelten konstruiert wurden, ist dieses Verhalten extrem inkonsistent und unglaubwürdig. Fast scheint es so, als würde sich der kleine moderne Japaner alle Frauen als Geishas aus dem letzten Jahrhundert zusammenbasteln.

Warum ich dennoch 4 Sterne gebe, ist leicht erklärt. Ein Buch, das mich von den Charaktären, Szenen und Aussagen her extrem ärgert, ist für mich zwangsläufig kein schlechtes Buch, sofern es mich nicht langweilt und die Sprache, der Aufbau und die Konsistenz ausgezeichnet sind.

Wenn ich mich in Elfen, Zwerge, Autisten, Personen mit mulitpler Persönlichkeitsspaltung, Scheibenwelten, Multiversen etc.... hineinversetzen kann und mich darauf einlasse, darf ich bei feuchten unrealistischen Männerphantasien auch nicht so streng sein.

Fazit ein gutes Buch - aber ein Männerbuch(less)

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Apr 19, 2009 Aneen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

لم تكن هذه الروايه أول روايه شرق اسيوية
قرأتها فقد سبق وأن قرأت مجموعه قصصيه صينيه منذ فتره
تمتد للسنتين .. عندما بدأت هذه التي الروايه كنت اشعر أن هناك شيء ما
تحمله بين طياتها رغم أن الاحداث تمر ببطء وبطريقه عاديه جداً
لكن اعجبني بها الترجمه ترجمتها رائعه جداً لم أشعر بغرابة تركيب الجمل
او تشويه للمعنى في اي جزء منها وهذا ما جعلني النتهي منها في 3 ايام فقط
وربما كنت سأنتهي منها في وقت اقصر لولا انشغالي

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لعل بطل الروايه الذي بدأ حياته وحيداً
لم يستطع تخيل حياته كامله أو ممتلئه لذلك
كان هناك كثير...more

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Apr 22, 2009 Gertrude & Victoria rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: japanese-library

South of the Border, West of the Sun is a story of one man's struggle with his past - a past of unrealized first love. We find the main character, Hajime, some twenty years later, at the beginning of a crisis, when his first love from elementary school, Shimamoto, suddenly appears at his jazz bar one rainy night. The depiction of Hajime is an interesting character study, where his ideas of marriage, fidelity, and family are revealed.

Murakami's descriptions are vividly real, yet, shrouded in fant...more

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Apr 12, 2008 Maria rated it 2 of 5 stars

En Al sur de la frontera, al oeste del Sol contemplamos a un nuevo personaje prototípico de Murakami, Hajime. Un hombre que, a pesar de disfrutar de una sólida posición económica, una vida matrimonial estable, dos hijas a las que quiere, su propio negocio y un BMW, vive obsesionado por el torturante recuerdo de su amable y serena amiga de la infancia, Shimamoto, hija única como Hajime, que compartía también con él la afición por la música y con quien escuchaba, dos veces por semana, las obertura...more En Al sur de la frontera, al oeste del Sol contemplamos a un nuevo personaje prototípico de Murakami, Hajime. Un hombre que, a pesar de disfrutar de una sólida posición económica, una vida matrimonial estable, dos hijas a las que quiere, su propio negocio y un BMW, vive obsesionado por el torturante recuerdo de su amable y serena amiga de la infancia, Shimamoto, hija única como Hajime, que compartía también con él la afición por la música y con quien escuchaba, dos veces por semana, las oberturas de Rossini y la Pastoral de Beethoven, mientras tomaban té.

Ésta no es una simple novela de amor ni es tampoco la novela de una obsesión por una mujer fascinante. O, al menos, deberíamos decir que no es sólo eso. Los tópicos genéricos del amor reencontrado actúan como mero marco referencial para una apasionante historia sobre la propia identidad y sobre las trampas del pasado. Hajime y Shimamoto dejan de verse a los doce años, cuando cambian de colegio, y se reencuentran a los treinta y siete en un famoso club de jazz del que Hajime es propietario. Shimamoto se ha convertido en una mujer enigmática y llena de secretos que adivinamos atroces, secretos que aluden a su pasado y que la sitúan a los ojos de Hajime y a los ojos del lector en un lugar fronterizo con la irrealidad. Es entonces, tras su reencuentro, cuando Hajime comprende que ha vivido todos esos años sin ella en una especie de ficción estéril, hundido en un pozo desde el que era incapaz de ver la luz. Pero, ahora que Shimamoto ha regresado, él puede dejarlo todo por ella. Puede abandonar a su esposa, a sus hijas, dejar su trabajo, y correr detrás de esa luz increíble que Shimamoto le ofrece. Siempre ha sentido una sed indescifrable que nada era capaz de calmar. Y ahora, por fin, vuelve a encontrarse con la única persona que hará desaparecer esa constante sensación de vacío. De esta forma, Hajime, ávido de una catarsis, manifiesta un salvaje deseo de cambiar de piel. Desea reinventarse a sí mismo y convertirse en una persona distinta (en la persona que podría haber sido si no hubiera dejado de ver a Shimamoto tantos años antes). Al igual que los campesinos de Siberia, de los que habla ella mientras ambos escuchan a Nat King Cole cantando South of the Border, quienes un día descubren que algo ha muerto en su interior y comienzan a caminar hacia el oeste sin pensar en nada, sin comer ni beber, hasta que se derrumban y mueren, Hajime ignora lo que hay al oeste del sol, pero se ve impelido a buscarlo aun sabiendo que arriesga su propia vida.

Al sur de la frontera… explora con tremenda brillantez el sutil límite entre lo real y lo imaginado. La pericia para plasmar la incertidumbre en su estado más destilado es difícil de encontrar pero, más allá de los muy frecuentes intentos vanos, triunfa el talento. Algunos escritores lo tienen y otros no. Murakami lo tiene.

Un libro como raro, no termina pasando nada...

www.pilaradon.com
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May 10, 2007 Kelly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: japanese

Murakami's South of the Border, West of the Sun chronicles the very extent of human desire. How even with time and absence, a human spirit can be drawn to another with such great force that the novel's protagonist, Hajime, is willing to risk everything to "have" a woman. It's a beautifully written and memorable piece of work, with Murakami having the ability to put abstract concepts into such elegant and tangible prose.

It begins with Hajime's narrative of his childhood, where he spends hours wit...more

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Apr 14, 2011 Nash Tysmans rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was read right after Norwegian Wood. It's been sitting on my shelf for a while now but the impulse to read never presented itself until after I got first whiff of Murakami and decided that I couldn't let the previous story end. Though I'm not a big fan and I secretly mourn the lack of translators willing to do work on other notable Japanese writers like Kenzaburo Oe, I have to say that Murakami is difficult to put down. His characters, especially the ones that narrate his stories, are so we...more

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Jan 03, 2011 Nina rated it 2 of 5 stars

Like Norweigan Wood, the main character was unintersting, selfish and cowardly, yet he had women that obsessed over him and were wildly sexually attracted to him and over whom he had an unhealthy level of emotional control. The fact that this is true of the only two books I have read by Murakami is making me a little suspicious of his interpretation of the world and it has turned me off to reading any more of his books. Also like Norweigan Wood, this book frustrated me because his occasional int...more

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Apr 28, 2013 Andrada rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I finally got around to reading one of Haruki Murakami’s books. Given his popularity, I’m not sure why I was never very attracted to his writing. But I suppose better late than never. He’s got a very smooth flowing style which makes for an easy and enjoyable read. As far as content goes, he reminded me a bit of a dreary existentialist. Not quite dreary enough to put him in the same category with nihilists the likes of Camus, but not very far from it either. I feel like he’s probably one of those...more

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Apr 12, 2010 Nojood Alsudairi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arabic-books, translations, 2010-readings

عجيبة هي النفس الإنسانية! لا ترضى أبدا ولا تقنع بحال. ظل البطل يلوك حب قديم هجره وحب أقل قدما خانه مدة غير قصيرة من الزمن. وحين فتحت له الدنيا أبوابها من كل حدب عاد يصيح الفراغ الداخلي الذي لم تستطع زوجته وابنتيه وأمواله سده. هل كان كل ما مر به هلاوس عقل مجنون لم يستطع الرضا بما قسم؟ أعتقد هذا. أظن بأن النهاية تدلنا على حالة معتادة من الجنون سببها محاولة عيش ما لم يكن.
أحببت بساطة الأسلوب وتعقيد الطرح

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Dec 28, 2008 Danika rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm not sure what to say about this book. On one hand, I couldn't put it down and read it almost nonstop until it was done. I was completely caught up by the story of Hajime and Shimamoto and couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. The down side, is that there's basically no resolution. I didn't like the ending- the book kind of just stops. We never learn Shimamoto's story at all. Add to that some of the other complaints about unlikeable characters, esp. Hajime who treats women with a...more

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Jul 07, 2008 Lori (Hellian) rated it 4 of 5 stars

A meditative and evocative book, it casts a deep spell that I've been under for several hours now since finishing. As with all of Murakami's work, there is a certain loneliness one suffers and how we deal with that loneliness and aloneness is one of the distinctive characteristics of his books. This one is more along the lines of Norwegian Wood in that it follows a simple framework with none of the fantastical elements of works like Wind-up Bird Chronicle. The only problem I had with this was th...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Shireen added it · review of another edition

Here's what I've noticed after reading 4 Murakami books-- (all of which I've loved, except for this last one) The characters are all the same. Does anyone else notice the repetition? The main character is always a man who is described as drab, plain, sometimes even boring, and who is unsatisfied with his life in one way or the other. Job, wife, Destiny, whatever. And the woman/love interest/mother (sometimes one and the same) is always slightly lost and suicidal, or recovering from suicidal tend...more

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Nov 14, 2010 Margherita Dolcevita rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: prestitoscambio, temporaneo

Un peccato che questo libro sia fuori catalogo e quindi di difficile reperibilità. Perchè è meraviglioso.
In realtà la trama proposta è un po’ riduttiva, il romanzo è molto di più. E’ la storia di un uomo e dei suoi tre tempi: passato, presente e futuro. E’ il racconto di un’infanzia e di un’adolescenza, degli amori che le hanno contraddistinte, amori unici, che restano nella mente, che si portano via un pezzo di cuore, amori per i quali la porta è e sarà sempre aperta (onestamente, sfido chiunqu...more

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About Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami (村上春樹) is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator. His work has been described as 'easily accessible, yet profoundly complex'.

Since childhood, Murakami has been heavily influenced by Western culture, particularly Western music and literature. He grew up reading a range of works by American writers, such as Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan, and he is often disting...more

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Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

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Quotes from South of the Border, W...

“I think you still love me, but we can’t escape the fact that I’m not enough for you. I knew this was going to happen. So I’m not blaming you for falling in love with another woman. I’m not angry, either. I should be, but I’m not. I just feel pain. A lot of pain. I thought I could imagine how much this would hurt, but I was wrong.” — 3,332 people liked it

“Sometimes when I look at you, I feel I'm gazing at a distant star.
It's dazzling, but the light is from tens of thousands of years ago.
Maybe the star doesn't even exist any more. Yet sometimes that light seems more real to me than anything.” — 1,360 people liked it

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title link	preview: South of the Border, West of the Sun
avg rating	preview: South of the Border, West of the Sun Goodreads rating: 3.85 (23339 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17799.South_of_the_Border_West_of_the_Sun?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1368869081l/17799.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17799.South_of_the_Border_West_of_the_Sun?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami[/url]

South of the Border, West of the Sun

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