J wrote: "My first Murakami novel was Norwegian Wood. A friend who was hooked on his stuff recommended it, and my attention was caught from the get-go. It remains one of my favourite Murakamis, so intense an..."

I just finished reading 'Norwegian Wood'. Heartbreakingly beautiful is such a nice way to put it, J.

I started off with Wind-up Bird Chronicle and never looked back. I love the weirdness. My next favorite is Hard Boiled Wonderland. All the others I've read I've love, except for Norwegian Wood. I think it was too "normal."

I lost my Murakami virginity to The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and to this day it still remains my favourite book of all time.

My first Murakami was "The Wind-up Bird Chronicle". It took me ages to read, finally finishing it pool side on a sun bed in the canaries. it left me with more questions than answers, it didn't put me off murakami, but made me more inquisitive, I'm currently reading "Norwegian Wood". i've also been out and bought, "After dark", "South of the border, west of the sun" and "Hard boiled wonderland and the end of the world" I don't know which one i'll read next.

I first read After Dark (reviewed at http://bookbirddog.blogspot.com/2007/04/...) after coming across it by chance at a new book sale. I was immediately enthralled by Tokyo at night and by the relationship between the two sisters - Mari who tries to help her, and Eri Asai who deals with her reality through constant sleep.

First one was Norwegian Wood - last month. This month I finished up Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. I'm fairly confident in saying that he's one of my favorites - certainly my favorite living author.

I've heard some high praise for Kafka on the Shore, so I'll be checking out that one next, probably sometime over the summer.

Bought two titles yesterday - HARD BOILED WONDERLAND... & THE ELEPHANT VANISHES. Every time I read a Murakami, I am left dazed. So engrossing, each one of them. Norwegian Wood was the first one I read some four years back... Still can't forget what I felt when I read it and I recommend all my friends to start with that one if they've never been exposed to Murakami.

A wild sheep chase was my 1st. A guy working at the book store recomended it. I want to thank him but I never see him there any more. He opened up a whole new world for me!

My first HM book was "Sputnik Sweetheart"... At first, I found it somehow dull, but as i was reading it, it reminded me of Mulholland Drive (a David Lynch movie you have probably seen) so i made a parallel between the book and the movie. Made me feel better.
I also read "A Wild Sheep Chase", "South of the Border, West of the Sun" and then I've decided to join this group... =)

Ana Maria wrote: "My first HM book was "Sputnik Sweetheart"... At first, I found it somehow dull, but as i was reading it, it reminded me of Mulholland Drive (a David Lynch movie you have probably seen) so i made a ..."

I can see a few parallels between Murakami's writing and Lynch's work too; the Sheep Man from AWSC seems to me very Lynch-esque.

... The Wind Up Bird Chronicles for me... I read it, couldn't believe my luck in finding someone I would love to read, and discovering he had written all those other gems too.

The first book I read by Murakami was Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. I was amazed by how he could move between the character's waking life and his dream life. What I liked was how the dream life seemed to be "perfect" at first because nothing good or bad happens, but the longer the protagonist was in this dream life the more he began to long for real life, even if it means suffering. Haruki Murakami makes the reader question where they would rather spend their time. After reading this book, I immediately read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which only fueled my interest in Murakami's work.

#62 "Haruki Murakami makes the reader question where they would rather spend their time."
That comment is very apt. As you read more of his novels, After Dark, for example, you'll see its a common theme of his. You might want to explore this idea further as a new thread.

After Dark

I was left dazed. the void of surrealism grew and grew; it had to be filled. it was then i reached for The Elephant Vanishes...and so it began.

Kafka on the shore

I'm new and enjoying reading the discussions. My first was Kafka two years ago, a friend recommended it as a book you cannot put away once you start. I came across Norwegian wood in an airport shop this winter (one of the few direct translations to my mother language, otherwise I read HM in english, which might be an additional reason why I like reading him so much). Ever since I'm buying anything I can find and I just can't stop reading once I start.

I agree with Angie, some books are more "normal" than others and N.W. is one of them. In spite of that I read it in almost one piece.

I also prefer novels over short stories.

I went over to a friend's house one night and she happened to have a copy of "On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning" from The Elephant Vanishes sitting on the coffee table. I read it and immediately started over and read it again, ignoring everyone else.
I never expected that a five-page short story could tell the most amazing love story I've ever read.
That's where it all started.

Cool. I've read every single Murakami novel published in English except for Elephant Vanishes, which I will read next week while on vacation in Florida. I can't wait!

I'm in the middle of Underground but the nonfiction doesn't resonate with me, all the stories about the people affected by the gas seem to be mundane, not sure why he decided to write such a voluminous book about the subject, it should rather be 100 pages long.

My first Murakami was 'The Wind Up Bird Chronicle'. After finishing the book, I was absoluteley hooked. I'm trying frantically to read the rest of his works.

I'm reading Elephant Vanishes at the moment. It hit me a couple of days ago.. I've read almost everything already, what will I do after the last one? Learn Japan? :(

Joe wrote: "I'm in the middle of Underground but the nonfiction doesn't resonate with me, all the stories about the people affected by the gas seem to be mundane, not sure why he decided to write such a voluminous book about the subject, it should rather be 100 pages long."

I don't think so. The Sarin gas attack was a very serious event in modern Japanese history and clearly it resonated with Murakami. I don't see how survivor accounts can be mundane, these people almost died in the attack. It's fine if you don't relate to the stories, but they're not something that should be reduced to a footnote in history.

Johnny wrote: "My first Murakami was 'The Wind Up Bird Chronicle'. After finishing the book, I was absoluteley hooked. I'm trying frantically to read the rest of his works."

Currently reading this which is my 5th from Murakami. just finished the torture scene which was insane!

i'm looking to read more of his short stories. would you guys recommend elephant vanishes or blind willow, sleeping woman? (i've read after the quake)

Dan, I read the torture scene yesterday(in Wind-Up) and it was one of the most sickening things I've read in a long time!

Beth wrote: "Dan, I read the torture scene yesterday(in Wind-Up) and it was one of the most sickening things I've read in a long time!"

Right??? screwed me up all day at work today! If I am going to recomend this book (very sure i will. havent been disapointed by Murakami yet)then it will definitely come with a warning!

I was reading it outside on my patio, and I was squirming like you wouldn't believe. I hope no one was looking out their window because they'd sure be wondering what in the world I was reading.

Steve wrote: "
i'm looking to read more of his short stories. would you guys recommend elephant vanishes or blind willow, sleeping woman? (i've read after the quake)

"
Steve, I liked Blind willow and Elephant vanishes more than After the quake, so both are good choices. Perhaps older one first. I definetly now read all short stories in a package, becasue I have trouble shifting from Murakami novel to Murakami short story :)

Dan wrote: "Beth wrote: "Dan, I read the torture scene yesterday(in Wind-Up) and it was one of the most sickening things I've read in a long time!"

Right??? screwed me up all day at work today! If I am goin..."

Interesting.. Perhaps it gives a different feeling if you read the book day by day. The feeling I was left with from these historic scenes is this special story-in-a-story (which I now see also in his short stories) feeling of never knowing what from this story has to do with the main story and even though it may aswell be nothing, he wanted to share some part of history with us.. But I would rather not have a warning in advance if I was to yet to read it. The effect is not the same :)

Beth wrote: "I was reading it outside on my patio, and I was squirming like you wouldn't believe. I hope no one was looking out their window because they'd sure be wondering what in the world I was reading."

So I just finished last night. Still trying to take it all in. I'll probably write my review later today, but I was just curious what you thought. One thing I know... If I ever hear that bird I'm going to kill myself. haha!

Hello (hi Beth!)

Thought I'd pop in.

My first was Kafka on the Shore and I really liked it. Second was Wind-up and I'm on my third now, Norwegian Wood.

I don't know what it is about Murakami. I bought Wind-up first, and without reading that I bought Kafka which I read first. A bit of a risk for an author I'd never read or heard of before that fatal discovery in the bookshop.

The bit at the end of Kafka made me squirm more then the torture scene in Wind-up which I thought was bad enough! That made my skin crawl and my hairs stand on end.

Hi Fiona!!!! Fiona wrote, "The bit at the end of Kafka made me squirm more then the torture scene in Wind-up which I thought was bad enough! That made my skin crawl and my hairs stand on end." I'll be getting to that part soon then, because I have just over 100 pages left to read in Kafka on the Shore. I'm glad to have advance warning. I'll be sure to be in the house when I get to the end, otherwise my neighbors may begin to wonder about me (as if they haven't already)!

Dan, I really loved Wind-Up, although I'm still kind of "digesting" it too. Every time I go outside I look up at the sky and imagine what the view would look like from the bottom of a well. I even asked my husband if we had a dry well in our backyard if he'd ever go and sit in it. He looked at me like I'd lost it.

My first Murakami novel was Wind-up Bird Chronicle. I was hooked when I read the chapters of "Lieutenant Mamiya's Long Story", which I still think is one of the most horrifyingly brilliant pieces of prose I've ever read. The whole way through that section, I wanted to stop reading but couldn't.

I've now read all of his books, except Dance Dance Dance (which is on my shelf waiting to be read).

Hi, new member here. =)

It seems as if I'm the only person who didn't like The Wind-up Bird Chronicle =( It was my first experience of Murakami, and it felt so draggy then I couldn't force myself half way through the book.

I thought, who are these crackpots who say HM is a genius? I decided to give him another try, Kafka on the Shore.

I was hooked. To this day, Kafka on the Shore is my absolute favourite work of HM's. I've read 2 of his other works, The Elephant Vanishes and Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. (I prefer the latter).

So what should be next, After Dark or Norwegian Wood or Dance Dance Dance? =)

Jonathan, You might want to read A Wild Sheep Chase 1st, considering Dance is it's sequal. 2 very good books. Norwegian Wood was very good too. Kafka is next on my list from HM. Can't wait!

I thought Wind Up Bird was incredible, but I think it's because i read a few of his other books 1st and got a feel for his style.

Jonathan, I see Norwegian Wood as slightly different (not in style though), so I would leave it for a bit later. A Wild Sheep Chase would be a good choice now. The Wind-up Bird Chronicle is a difficult one to begin with by my opinion and also Hardboiled Wonderland and The End of the World. I think I read this one too soon :)

I recently read Norwegian Wood and loved it and going to read A Wild Sheep Chase next after my current... I wish I'd read Wind-up later on rather then second. I really liked it but I think I'd have appreciated it more later, especially after Norwegian Wood.

South of the Border West of the Sun.

Which is strange, since I think most people read that book much later after they've read Kafka, Norwegian Wood, and Wind-Up. But I found it at a used book sale at my local library. I touched the cover, opened the book and read the first lines, and then I knew "this was something special" :) To date it's still one of my favorite Murakami books.

I read Dance Dance Dance first and by the middle of it I knew that it wouldn't be the last Murakami I would read. Once I found out it was a semi-sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase I followed up with that one. I liked Sheep Chase but not as much as Dance... I then bought After Dark(which I've recently finished), Norwegian Wood, Kafka(that I'm reading now) and Wind-up. I jsut can't get enough of Haruki Murakami!

The first Murakami I ever read was Kafka on the Shore and it was strange and beautiful in equal measure. Since then I've been picking them up every now and then and my favourite so far has been Hard Boiled Wonderland - the dreamlike qualities of the 'End of the World' chapters is captivating.

As an aside I've got a copy of 1Q84 coming in the post from eBay, and hope to have read the first page by the time the English translation comes out.

Joshua wrote: "I'm surprised so many people have started off with "Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" as a first book. It's my favorite HM but I think people might really get into it more if they've read a few other things ..."

I'm starting out with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and I love it. There is enough symbolism to keep anyone happy, and more than enough mystery to even attract the literary mystery reader. I consider it somewhat of the magical school because I've never had someone have sex with me in my mind, like Mr. Okada does fairly often.

My first was Wind Up Bird Chronicle. The first time that I hit that high # of page count effortlessly. Just can't put the book down

My first Murakami was 'Dance Dance Dance'. It was a birthday gift and I think the decision to buy was based entirely on the front cover. I fell in love with his bizarre and wonderful world and am utterly delighted that I still have many more to read to play catch up with everyone else.

The first was Wind Up Bird. A few months later and I'd run out of material available to me while for nth time in my life I lamented over my inability to read japanese, the blow not at all softened by my struggle to maintain even a very poor grasp on my own language.

Though to be certain, Kafka on the Shore felt like the first, if that makes any semblance of sense in its lack thereof. They all feel that way. So naturally, when I finish, I don't feel like I've actually read anything at all.



For reasons I can't quite seem to put my finger on, or perhaps for reasons my finger would rather altogether steer clear from landing upon, I inexplicably feel helplessly disconnected from other Murakami readers.
Why is that? Please, and I say this with all the love a stranger as much strange as estranged can, don't hate me for hating you.

My first I don't remember. The second was Kafka, in a bad translation into my native language. After that I stuck to the english translations and it worked well.

Norwegian wood was the first I really enjoyed. And Wind-up Bird, definitely, due to its genious ingenuity. The small details, the phones, ears.

Some of his other books are mostly filled with air, but very comfortable and nice soft air. As if Murakami gives you a nice time to breathe, in this messed up world.

And Phaedrus, one of the most important things to me, if I like a book, I have to feel as if I am the only one on the world to know / read it :-)

Nicole, I totaly like your last sentence.

Phaedrus, I'm reading your post over and over and can't quite grasp the feeling you were in when writing this. But I do have a friend who's made a similar comment to yours "I don't feel like I've actually read anything at all" more with simple words "the book was nothing special, I've even skiped some pages" after reading her fisrt and last Murakami, Norwegian wood.

We're simply totaly different as I see it.

Natasa,

If the comments seem similar then it was a fault on my part for not doing better to explain myself, but if you can believe it I meant to imply the exact antithesis of that.

The words all seep into the mind in a way so familiar as to appear that they could in fact be seeping out from it. That it feels like something else altogether, is what I meant.

That's better, yp :)
[appologies and thank you for explaining:]

My first was "Wind-Up Bird Chronicle", and I've been a fan ever since.

I first learned of Murakami from discussions on Yahoo Answers, and after checking out his works on Amazon.com, I decided to start here.

At the time, I wanted to read something that matches my persionality (unique and weird, mainly), and this turned out to hit home.

I think what did it for me was his ability to narrate those ideas and feelings that dance on the edge of my subconscious, that I can't explain myself.

Like, have you ever had a dream that was mysterious and profound, and when you woke up, you carried some of this unique feeling with you, but when you tried to identify or explain it, it faded away? For me, his writing is just like that. It makes you feel like you are experiencing a dream, but gives enough stability to the dream to sustain a story. There is never any absolute to dreams, to these far reaching feelings, just like there is no concrete story taking you from A to Z here and closing all the gaps, concretely, in between. In fact, Toru symbolizes this by often asking someone for a "concrete" answer to a mysterious quesiton, but never getting one. Instead he gets elements of an answer through surreal experiences.

So, I think if you are looking for an intangible but truly unique experience in literature, you will love this book and Murakami. If you are looking for a "concrete", "it was the butler in the library with the pipe - the end" type of book, you aren't going to walk away satisfied.

Here, the beauty is in the detail of the story.

Pinball, 1973, was Murakami's second novel, and also the second novel in his Trilogy of the Rat series. It was printed in English only for distribution in Japan and has been long out of print. There is a terrific blog called readersdiscotheque that covers novels that weave music into the story, which all Murakami's novels do. The blog uncovered a pdf of the original pocketbook edition and received Murakami's permission to make the pdf available for free (the blog has an interview with Murakami in the works). Not only can you download the novel but also all of the songs mentioned in Pinball, 1973. The cover is there, too, and it's amazing. the URL is http://readersdiscotheque.blogspot.com (if you appreciate what this blog is doing, leave a comment on the site)

By the way, on a previous readersdiscotheque post, I had the good fortune to be interviewed about my novel The Red Album of Asbury Park Remixed.