Dance Dance Dance
by Haruki Murakami
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Read in July, 2007
"The whole scene seemed artificial and more than a little absurd. There wasn't anything specific that seemed odd. It was more the sense that i had happened upon the stage of an elaborate parody."
When you read a Murakami novel, you often find yourself placed in a world filled with (not so?) subtle references to other great works. Example one: in Dance Dance Dance, the narrator is taken to the local police station and interrogated in a manner that brings to mind Franz Kafka's ...more
When you read a Murakami novel, you often find yourself placed in a world filled with (not so?) subtle references to other great works. Example one: in Dance Dance Dance, the narrator is taken to the local police station and interrogated in a manner that brings to mind Franz Kafka's ...more
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Read in May, 2007
This book is a beautifully written social commentary, mystery novel, and of course fantasy. Set in Japan in the 1980s, at the height of the country's economic rise, it tells of a solitary magazine writer who suddenly has a strong urge to search for his old girlfriend. The only lead he has is a hotel he stayed in with her once, the Dolphin Hotel. As he tracks her down, he first finds that the hotel has changed from a tiny dump into a luxury high-rise, and yet there is a mystery within it. He ...more
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Read in October, 2007
Antes, umas combinações: leio e escrevo em português. Daqui pra frente vou dar todos os dados dos livros aqui do Brasil - os gringos que cuidem de si mesmos.
Um Obsessivo, pra psicopatologia, é alguém de cinde radicalmente a emoção e o pensamento, optando pelo último como lanterna na vida.
Esse é um livro-escola sobre obsessão. E, surpresa!, retrata um processo de redenção(você, obsessivo, terá sorte se conseguir o mesmo tanto - pois a vida não é literatura).
Um fulano p...more
Um Obsessivo, pra psicopatologia, é alguém de cinde radicalmente a emoção e o pensamento, optando pelo último como lanterna na vida.
Esse é um livro-escola sobre obsessão. E, surpresa!, retrata um processo de redenção(você, obsessivo, terá sorte se conseguir o mesmo tanto - pois a vida não é literatura).
Um fulano p...more
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
Anyone leaving Asia
I was in the airport, waiting for my flight to board back to New York, as our month long trip through the Philippines and Thailand was ending. It was my first trip to Asia, and my interest in all things Eastern had grown enormously. So I browsed the mostly magazine store in Narita, and came across a large section of titles devoted to this one author, whose name seemed vaguely familiar.
The truth is I wasn't ready for the trip to end, was dreading the return to my New York routine, and this was...more
The truth is I wasn't ready for the trip to end, was dreading the return to my New York routine, and this was...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
people who have already read the wind-up bird chronicle and who are somewhat forgiving
Murakami reached his top form with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and followed it with the (not as good, but still fantastic) Kafka On The Shore. That being said, this novel was written in 1988 when Murakami still had a ways to go.
The same elements of his style are all here: the main character who is somewhat a loafer and who takes pleasure in simplistic daily routines, the precocious young female character who he sort of falls in love with but is more just friends with, the elements of magical...more
The same elements of his style are all here: the main character who is somewhat a loafer and who takes pleasure in simplistic daily routines, the precocious young female character who he sort of falls in love with but is more just friends with, the elements of magical...more
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Read in November, 2006
I absolutely adore Murakami's way of creating bizarre incidents that aren't necessarily explained or tied together nicely like a typical mystery novel. Mind and reality clash in his works, and Dance, Dance, Dance is one of his most fascinating journeys of this clash.
The story centers around a place: a hotel that was once charmingly seedy but has undergone a complete transformation. When the protagonist tries to figure out what happened to the hotel's former existence, people get nervous. Rem...more
The story centers around a place: a hotel that was once charmingly seedy but has undergone a complete transformation. When the protagonist tries to figure out what happened to the hotel's former existence, people get nervous. Rem...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Camilla by:
spencerrecommends it for: someone who would make it into a movie
I found this book so bewitching that I was incapable of putting it down. I read it during the space of 24 hrs, in which I also played laser tag and had some insomnia. I was actually surprised to be enjoying it so much, as the first Murakami book I read last month kind of left me cold. This book seemed much more human, mostly to do with the narrator, who is much more charming and easier to relate to than the one of the other book. The only trouble I had with this book, as with the other, was the ...more
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I just could not relate with the main character who was kind of a loser who becomes obsessed with finding out about an ex-girlfriend who never really liked him. His "whatever happened to her" thoughts take over his mind and he decides to live in a hotel where they once stayed in order to track her down. So if they weren't that great together, why does he change his whole life in order to find her? I don't get it.
The hotel is very surreal. It's as if he's living in a dream that is b...more
The hotel is very surreal. It's as if he's living in a dream that is b...more
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Read in July, 2007
RALAT! the book turned out to be GRRRRREAT! superb! mencengangkan! the best fictional writer ever and I am serious. if you dont believe it, read it!
it arised some doubts about my plan (and all the confidence) in writing a fiction.. i mean, now that i really know how good a fiction could be.. :(
reviewan sebelumnya saat masih gelap mata dan baru baca seperempatnya:
now I know how Murakami writes :) aaand.. not a fan. a bit popular-ish.. aww, what's the literature word for that...more
it arised some doubts about my plan (and all the confidence) in writing a fiction.. i mean, now that i really know how good a fiction could be.. :(
reviewan sebelumnya saat masih gelap mata dan baru baca seperempatnya:
now I know how Murakami writes :) aaand.. not a fan. a bit popular-ish.. aww, what's the literature word for that...more
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I can't really justify my love of Murakami. As far as I'm concerned, he writes novels specifically for me to read them. It would probably save us both a lot of time and trouble if he'd skip the publishing process and just slip his finished manuscripts under my door. So I'm biased, you could say.
In short: this is early (ish) Murakami. If you dig it you'll dig it, if not you won't. I dig it.
Just make sure you've read his "Trilogy of the Rat" before reading this. Seriously. ...more
In short: this is early (ish) Murakami. If you dig it you'll dig it, if not you won't. I dig it.
Just make sure you've read his "Trilogy of the Rat" before reading this. Seriously. ...more
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Read in January, 2008
I love this book. I know Murakami is constantly associated with Kaftka, and the associations are obvious once you read some of his stuff, but he is really in a class of his own. His books are metaphysical, mysterious, funny, and all the while he manages to give great commentary on modern values. I point in particular to a sex scene in Dance, Dance, Dance where the narrator beds prostitute Mei, and mentally marvels throughout at the wonder of modern capitalism. There is also a terrible, selfish n...more
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Read in September, 2007
I do love the way he writes, but to be honest, I'm less than thrilled with were this story ended up. There's an intriguing introduction to a fantastical parallel world, but its an unsatisfactory interplay by stories end. It feels rather mundane and unexceptional as if the dank, dark world the protagonist frequently slips into is just another part of his every day life. Perhaps this is the point. But given what its compelling opening, this shift is frustrating and feels lazy, as if the writer cou...more
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Read in October, 2007
It's been said often enough that Murakami has his fixations: disappearing women, American jazz, alternate worlds, ridiculously hot sex scenes, lone men's platonic relationships with teenage girls. There's a lot of deja vu with his books, but "Dance Dance Dance" is a literal sequel to "Wild Sheep Chase," except that parts of it aren't continuous, which makes it feel a bit like a semi-amnesiac dream. Predictable or not, and as quickly as it is to read his stuff, he is as satisf...more
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Read in March, 2007
recommends it for:
Good mystery lovers
This book is a Murakami classic. Once you've read a few of his books, you start to see connections and monotonous themes between them, which makes reading them even more interesting. His stories are extremely unique and imaginative, his writing poetic without being verbose. He has a great ability to relate to the reader with his characters, regardless of how bizarre they are.
Like some other of his novels, this is a story of a man trying to figure out the meaning and direction of his life wh...more
Like some other of his novels, this is a story of a man trying to figure out the meaning and direction of his life wh...more
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Read in April, 2008
We shall see if the hype is warranted ...
It wasn't, actually. I can see why people might be fans of Murakami -- he does have gems of ideas and concepts that grab you, for example, in Dance, Dance, Dance the notion that everything that exists is somehow connected, if only we could find the connections, and that a character (the Sheep Man -- real, imaginary, past, present, future, who knows, because the lines are blurred anyway) functions as a "switchboard", making the connections. Nic...more
It wasn't, actually. I can see why people might be fans of Murakami -- he does have gems of ideas and concepts that grab you, for example, in Dance, Dance, Dance the notion that everything that exists is somehow connected, if only we could find the connections, and that a character (the Sheep Man -- real, imaginary, past, present, future, who knows, because the lines are blurred anyway) functions as a "switchboard", making the connections. Nic...more
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Read in December, 2007
My recent trip to Japan prompted me to dive in to yet another Murakami novel. This one is great so far, though I still think that Hard Boiled Wonderland is my favorite. So maybe this has nothing to do with this book, but what better forum to share this tidbit? I had a few moments in Japan when I really felt like I was living inside of one of this dude's books ... particularly one jet-lagged morning when I wandered into a dingy underground coffee shop filled with people smoking and eating hard bo...more
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Read in February, 2005
The mediocre sequel to A Wild Sheep chase. Our nameless protagonist once again goes off searching, this time for his perfect-eared girlfriend, Kiko, who disappeared at the end of the previous book. I think the hero hangs out with this precocious teenage girl named Yuki, goes to Hawaii, sleeps with some random women, etc. Pretty boring, actually. Who cares about Kiko? I guess she has perfect ears, but the search for her isn't nearly as interesting as the search for the sheep. This book is ok, but...more
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
Murakami fans, and few others, really.
So, anyone who's read more than a couple of books by Murakami knows that his main characters tend to be incredibly similar, but it doesn't usually matter since the stories he tells are so fascinating and his use of language is beautiful. The key word, however, is usually: I found the main character of this book to be just as repetitive as in his others, but the story just wasn't as compelling or memorable as other Murakami books I've read. There were definitely some pretty decent parts, but over...more
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Read in August, 1998
recommended to Henry by:
My cousin Sarahbethrecommends it for: anyone
In my opinion Murakami's best book, very mild-mannered but full of fantastic characters, surreal events and situations. The voice of the novel has a strong pull. The first sentence, "I keep dreaming of the Dolphin Hotel," (or something like that) is classic Murakami. His later books are, in my opinion, good but overlong, and more intriguing than intense. This novel does not pretend it's about anything more than a good story, a strange journey, something extraordinary through an ordinar...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
people who like an imaginative read
I'm a Murakami fan. This is one of my favorites.
Once again we have the theme of a man pursuing the ghost of lost love, but this time in the context of a haunted hotel.
In particular, I love Murakami's riffs mixing contemporary characters into movies that run in his head. Jodie Foster as Cleopatra gave me the grins.
This book seems a lot freer, a lot more whimsical than most of his other writing. If you are a fan, don't miss this book. If you are unfamiliar with this author, this is ...more
Once again we have the theme of a man pursuing the ghost of lost love, but this time in the context of a haunted hotel.
In particular, I love Murakami's riffs mixing contemporary characters into movies that run in his head. Jodie Foster as Cleopatra gave me the grins.
This book seems a lot freer, a lot more whimsical than most of his other writing. If you are a fan, don't miss this book. If you are unfamiliar with this author, this is ...more
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