Sarah's comments (member since Mar 01, 2008)

Sarah's comments from the Murakami fans group.

There was discussion of Tony Takitani in an older thread here. The DVD is available through both Netflix and Amazon for those interested. It is a wonderful short film.

Steve wrote: "sorry if this is a little off-topic, but does anyone know when david mitchell's new book is coming out?
"

Some time next year...

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/f...

Well I finally saw it, and I have to say that I was profoundly disappointed. I went on Halloween, and the crowd on whole seemed to be pretty disinterested (eg. the two couples sitting in front of my friend and I kept commenting on how bad it was, and a man sitting just to our right began snoring at one point). In general, the vibe in the room was pretty bad and that may have negatively impacted my experience, but I was still disappointed. The story seemed extra-lean, and we all know that you can never include everything from the book - esp. a book such as Kafka - in a public performance; but they really took out some integral parts of the story. I also felt that the characters of Oshima and Miss Saeki were grossly miscast. The former came across almost campy (and the gender issue was never addressed) and the latter was played as voluptuous stroke victim. Did anyone else see it? Am I being too harsh? I really wanted to like it. But I just couldn't.

...you mean when the white sox win the world series, again.

i'm going to see kafka on the shore on halloween, and i am really looking foward to it. i'm glad to hear that your response was overall pretty positive, as i would hate to go into it with low expectations. interested to see how they re-work it for the stage (and thanks for not giving too much away here).

I really found all of After the Quake to be completely marvelous. I any collection there are some stories that are better than others, but the leanness of ATQ combined with the shared focus of the works really makes it read like 5 parts of a whole - each story can stand on its own, but when read together they sort of coalesce into something magnificent and really powerful. So I'm going to cheat here and say that ATQ is my favorite Murakami short story, or perhaps that I like all 5 stories equally. Much in the same way that you'll never get a mother to tell you which child she loves more than the others, I will not be forced to choose here.

Tony Takitani is available for sale on amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Tony-Takitani-Isse...

i bought mine from borders, so i know you can get it there as well, although you may want to check your store for availability.

hope this helps!

Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre is hosting a production of Kafka on the Shore, adapted for the stage, this fall. Anyone in the area who is able to check it out should. I'm curious as to how it is going to translate to the stage (esp. the characters Johnny Walker and Colonel Sanders...).

I'll most certainly be going.

More here:

http://www.steppenwolf.org/boxoffice/pro...

i did! i couldn't help but read it in a single sitting (even though i had meant to pace myself so as to make the feeling last...). i am also a runner, although nowhere near murakami's level, and i found his perspective on running and how it relates to his work and his life in general completely fascinating. i'm curious to hear other readers' takes on it.

david mitchell is a huge murakami fan, and it shows in his writing. the absurd coexists with the mundane in his novels. i recommend cloud atlas to everyone, and black swan green has elements of kafka on the shore to it (less oedipal, more modern bildungsroman). number 9 dream is also quite good, and i'm currently reading his first one, ghostwritten, which is blowing my mind.

In terms of starting a Murakami reader off with Wind-Up Bird, although that would be the one to draw them in the quickest due to the fact that it is so preposterously good, where do they go from there? Also, I agree with Anthony in the sense that some readers may shy away from such a hefty volume for an introduction. I tend to recommend After the Quake to those who are more fans of the short story format because it is so good - and short. Even those who are not fans of the format tend to be won over by that one. Although Wind-Up Bird is my favorite, I often wish that I hadn't read it already because that feeling I had when I read it for the first time was incredible: never wanting it to be over but at the same time so wrapped up in Toru's life and how it was going to unfold. Thankfully, Murakami almost demands multiple readings to fully understand and appreciate all the layers of the story.

i feel betrayed, lied to, and utterly destroyed. wind-up bird is my favorite; perhaps it is finally time to start learning japanese...

thanks for sharing this, i had no idea.

thanks for the update! i know that i've been waiting for its english-language release for a while now, and i'm sure i'm not the only murakami-fan/runner here, am i?

i haven't read anything regarding current translations, however, i did spot this article on murakami's newest japanese-language work:

http://www.abc.net.au/arts/news/artsnews...

Thanks for bringing this one up! I just added it to my netflix and moved it to the top of my queue.