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UPDATE: I feel bad giving Murakami 3 stars. Not that I've read anything else he wrote yet, but the reputation precedes him. But for me, this book was meh. I did care enough about the plot to read lots of pages per day, but I felt the ending was really predictable. I also felt the writing in some parts -
especially the beginning - was choppy, sounding robotic, reminding me of the worst of Hemingway. (Acknowledgement: I know that could be poor translation.) I was excited about ...more
UPDATE: I feel bad giving Murakami 3 stars. Not that I've read anything else he wrote yet, but the reputation precedes him. But for me, this book was meh. I did care enough about the plot to read lots of pages per day, but I felt the ending was really predictable. I also felt the writing in some parts -
especially the beginning - was choppy, sounding robotic, reminding me of the worst of Hemingway. (Acknowledgement: I know that could be poor translation.) I was excited about ...more

As usual, another beautiful writing by Haruki Murakami. Still featuring a lonely, sensitive guy who is shocked to know that he was being cut off from his group of friends because of something that he didn't understand.
Years later, Tsukuru Tazaki met a woman who told him to face his mystery, confront the issue directly with his ex-friends. Otherwise, he would not be happy for the rest of his life.
So Tsukuru embarked on a journey to confront his past. But what he found is more than he had expected ...more
Years later, Tsukuru Tazaki met a woman who told him to face his mystery, confront the issue directly with his ex-friends. Otherwise, he would not be happy for the rest of his life.
So Tsukuru embarked on a journey to confront his past. But what he found is more than he had expected ...more

Despite Murakami's near-cult following and international awards, I sometimes find his writing a little inconsistent, though it's sometimes hard to know whether it's really his writing or the translation that's to blame. (Side note, it was translated by one of my former Japanese professors!) That said, he's better than almost anyone at capturing certain emotions, moods, listlessness, longing. His stories are all strange but interesting enough to keep you guessing. I recommend listening to the Lis
...more

Murakami is always good, but I like him best when he's a little more weird than this.
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Jul 09, 2014
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