Christopher’s answer to “WHY is this book so loved? I mean, I didn't gain anything out of it. I'm not asking this as an insu…” > Likes and Comments
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"Murakami creates, instead, a feeling that is tied to the environments of his characters." <--- THIS!
And if someone doesn't dig the Murakami vibe, they should never read another one of his books, because they all (except Norwegian Wood) have that dreamlike flavor. For me, I enjoy escaping into his perplexing worlds. They are deep, wondrous and preposterous. Riddles meant to be enjoyed as riddles, not necessarily to be solved.
what you described is precisely the reason I don't want to read Murakami. i completely understand the appeal of dreamlike storytelling, I have enjoyed it myself, and gained nothing from it but poetry, and i am ok with that. but it is so easy to get carried away into a life of sensualism that doesn't ultimately resonate with you. so for people like me, who are on the edge of that life, it makes sense to *need* a book to say something. it's always hard to say until you do try something, but when doing so takes so long (his books are pretty thick), it's better to play it safe.
so anyway, there's nothing wrong with wanting nothing from the novel except novelty, but this is understandably not for everyone.
You realize all of his books are translated in to English right? I read several of his books in both English and Japanese and the experience is completely different, I'm convinced that the books that I've liked the most were those that were translated by a certain translator, because the English version of some of his stories are far better in my opinion. Kafka by the shore was translated by someone new(ish) and I hated the translation.
What a bunch of bull. If what you say is true then anyone can write a bunch of incoherent sentences and claim "art" and a "metaphysical" connection to something the reader is incapable of understanding. SMH...
Well said Christopher, although , like the author, you might not be understood
Sorry, but I have to disagree. Brilliant prose is not an excuse to write pointless stories. At the end of the day, fiction, specially if it claims to have literary merit, needs to take readers on a journey and teach them something in the end. There are many great works of fiction that uses the same surreal, magical-realism technique this book uses. E.G. Life of Pi, Midnight's Children, One Hundred Years of Solitude. Yet, they all have done way better at achieving the objectives of a good literary story than this book. Murakami isn't special and claiming to have liked his books doesnt make you cool.
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"Murakami creates, instead, a feeling that is tied to the environments of his characters." <--- THIS!And if someone doesn't dig the Murakami vibe, they should never read another one of his books, because they all (except Norwegian Wood) have that dreamlike flavor. For me, I enjoy escaping into his perplexing worlds. They are deep, wondrous and preposterous. Riddles meant to be enjoyed as riddles, not necessarily to be solved.
what you described is precisely the reason I don't want to read Murakami. i completely understand the appeal of dreamlike storytelling, I have enjoyed it myself, and gained nothing from it but poetry, and i am ok with that. but it is so easy to get carried away into a life of sensualism that doesn't ultimately resonate with you. so for people like me, who are on the edge of that life, it makes sense to *need* a book to say something. it's always hard to say until you do try something, but when doing so takes so long (his books are pretty thick), it's better to play it safe.so anyway, there's nothing wrong with wanting nothing from the novel except novelty, but this is understandably not for everyone.
You realize all of his books are translated in to English right? I read several of his books in both English and Japanese and the experience is completely different, I'm convinced that the books that I've liked the most were those that were translated by a certain translator, because the English version of some of his stories are far better in my opinion. Kafka by the shore was translated by someone new(ish) and I hated the translation.
What a bunch of bull. If what you say is true then anyone can write a bunch of incoherent sentences and claim "art" and a "metaphysical" connection to something the reader is incapable of understanding. SMH...
Well said Christopher, although , like the author, you might not be understood
YES! He paints with words! You nailed it! That is exactly how I felt while reading this book!
Sorry, but I have to disagree. Brilliant prose is not an excuse to write pointless stories. At the end of the day, fiction, specially if it claims to have literary merit, needs to take readers on a journey and teach them something in the end. There are many great works of fiction that uses the same surreal, magical-realism technique this book uses. E.G. Life of Pi, Midnight's Children, One Hundred Years of Solitude. Yet, they all have done way better at achieving the objectives of a good literary story than this book. Murakami isn't special and claiming to have liked his books doesnt make you cool.
I personally found Kafka too bizarre for me. It just seemed pretentious and 'look, I'll writing anything but I'm Murakami so yay'. I think he has the potential to be a BRILLIANT writer but right now, just not feeling it.
This is just my personal opinion. I don't mean to offend anyone. I just don't like books such as Kafka which go nowhere. I feel like a book must at the very least leave it's readers with sort of an emotion and all Kafka left me with was a low thudding in my head to the tune of 'WHY'.
The reason I asked this question was so because I HONESTLY never understood why this book was so loved and I really wanted to find it because it's supposed to be a literary masterpiece.
I've read a couple of similarly bizzare books but in my opinion, they came together much better than Kafka did.
But thank you for your answer. I genuinely appreciate it. I suppose this is the reason most people not just approve of, but actively regard this book as a masterpiece. I guess I'm just not one of them.
PS - I write too. I think that there's a very fine line between having some truly bizarre plot elements and pulling them together. Kafka just didn't do it for me.