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Well, that explains the title.

I am a slow reader. But Murakami has such a smooth delivery, I never feel like a slow reader reading his books.

[note to self: Cezanne paragraph as it relates to my claim that writing is my drug of choice.]

The power of art is opposed to illusion: it inheres in the revelation of realities that underlie the partial perceptions of our ordinary model of the world.

Martel argues that artifice's intent (or those that create it) is to entice us to desire or loathe something. It is pornography or propaganda, while art reaches the inner person and has a different, unintentional, effect on each viewer. It is a truly democratizing element, whereas artifice attempts to objectify the viewed and the viewer, to subjugate to the whims of the creator of the artifice.

Mandela effect, engaged.

c.f. my utter hatred for Tarantino and his movies. And, yet, I have to admit they affect me. Though I loathe them. And him even more.

Note to self: quote from "Why" isn't a problem science can't lick [to] Art as manifested in myth is a way for human beings to share and celebrate their unknowing.

Note to self: quote from "Why" isn't a problem science can't lick [to] Art as manifested in myth is a way for human beings to share and celebrate their unknowing.

Note to self: quote from "Why" isn't a problem science can't lick [to] Art as manifested in myth is a way for human beings to share and celebrate their unknowing.

From the position I adopt in this book, art is an objective pursuit with the same claim to truth as science, albeit truth of a different order . . . art bears witness to the bafflement that the mere fact of existence elicits in our brains, which the imagination has cleaved from the rest of creation.

Martel cleverly weaves self-referential threads into his analysis. For example: At the literal level, Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" (1845) features a bleak November night, a black bird, and a dead woman - only this and nothing more. But taken as a whole it embraces the fullness of life and death.

See what he did there? If not, go read "The Raven," and you will understand. Clever. Tricksy. Smart.

Astonishment has an intellectual as well as an emotional component - in it, the brain and the heart come together. Far fro distracting us from the strange and the uncanny in life, the astonishment evoked by great artistic works puts them square in our sights . . . the world is not what we thought it was: something hidden, impossible to communicate . . . [is] clearly expressed in the work.

Homo Sapiens is the animal that means something, or that desperately wants to mean something. Undoubtedly our thirst for meaning has a lot to do with our petrifying awareness of death, itself a side effect of the imagination, and one that makes our unique position as much a curse as it is a gift.

Drips with nihilism, and yet, in the midst of it, a call, a ritual, to the embrace of one's ancestors in the midst of the grip of deep winter. Beautiful.

Thus far, though, my favorite piece in here is "In Lonely Distant Temples We Dream of Freedom from the State". A most unlikely title, and not what you might think. I love the insight and writing in this piece, as well as the legerdemain of title to content.

. . . art is inseparable from puzzlement itself.

I wonder how much Tengo's writing process mirrors that of Murakami himself. The details are so carefully described (though generalized) that I think this might be a touch autobiographical, at least the sections about writing and editing. Or maybe Murakami is just messing with me by making it seem so. Who knows?

The United States and the Soviet Union working on a cooperative moon base. Something isn't right here . . . and I like it.

Intriguing. "Little people" and Fuka-Eri. Is this Murakami trying to update Machen, I wonder? I hope so. I sincerely hope so.

Aomame has suddenly become much more intriguing as a character.

it feels more than appropriate to listen to retro synthwave music while reading this.

Best hardbound Machen collection under $150?
Best hardbound Sarban collection under $150?

I'm looking for opinions here. I'm guessing "Tartarus Press" is the obvious answer in terms of publisher, but which collection from T is best for each author? Or are there non-T printings that are equally as good or better?

I know some of you are experts in this realm. I'd love your opinions!