300 deep on 1Q84, definitely enjoying it so far. interesting how its chapters alternate between the two protagonists’ POVs the same way Kafka on the Shore did.

i’m surprised by how frequent the fantasy elements have been right from the jump. glad it’s still retaining an overall realistic tone, though.

also i still can’t wrap my head around how good Kafka on the Shore is. that book is just classic

i got a question for anyone who has read Kafka on the Shore tho.

Do you think Saeki was ACTUALLY, LITERALLY Kafka’s mother? I don’t think she was.

just finished kafka on the shore, insane stuff. whenever i finish one of his books, i feel like the ending isn't satisfying because the story is going to keep going. i also think that makes me appreciate how absorbed i was by the rest of the narrative though. someone in here said that reading murakami is more about the process than the ending and that resonates a lot with me.

have also read windup bird and norwegian wood in the last 2 months, i appreciate this thread for exposing me to his work. not perfect, like im not a big fan of the tropes that he utilizes related to his female characters and they can be pretty intense reads, but the prose and storytelling is unbelievable

which one do you think i should read next, maybe hard-boiled wonderland? i also want to read some frank kafka for the first time

personally i do think she's literally his mother because of her saying she was married for a time when she spoke to nakata & her telling kafka about how she left what was most valuable to her in the forest. i also think it's written the be up to your own interpretation, which i think works pretty well when taken with the other loose ends presented in the book (the entrance stone, 15 year old saekai being in the forest, colonel Saunders etc)

on page 760 of 1Q84, this s*** is taking me sooo long cuz i keep falling off it for a week at a time

been reading consistently lately, though, and it seems like things are finally heading towards a convergent climax for all the main characters. still a ton of different aspects that need explaining, but i enjoy learning a little more chapter by chapter.

also dying @ the inclusion of a third pov and it being Ushikawa’s :koolaid:

I enjoyed wind up bird significantly more but I also loved Kafka

JUST HIT PAGE 1050 ON 1Q84

the inclusion of Ushikawa’s POV has actually been way more entertaining and insightful than i initially thought it would be. a large chunk of the open ended/unknown aspects of the story so far are revealed through his chapters, slowly filling in the missing pieces of the novel so it’s finally all united and running on the same track. some might see this method of storytelling as cheap, but i’ve enjoyed this clever withholding/subversion of my personal explanations and expectations.

the worst part of it is the repetition, but when you’re reading 3 books as one I guess it can’t be helped

its definitely the culmination of everything i like about murakami for me and the most memorable, all the surreal ass stories working together is just so good

my Murakami ranking so far:

Kafka on the Shore
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki
Killing Commendatore
1Q84

loved all of em, but 1Q84 was just a bit too long and repetitive to stand up to the other 3 novels imo.

It's 3AM on a Tuesday night, I napped earlier and couldn't sleep.. i blitzed through Sputnik Sweetheart in one sitting just then I'm too dazed atm to make any thoughts about it but my god did it capture me

this book has randomly been in my thoughts these past few weeks even though I read it lsst year, I can't stop thinking about some of the passages.

Its so mesmerizing

The way the narrator tells the story, I think it really makes it so vivid and gives you a frame of emotions on the events that would otherwise feel slightly too cold if it was from a third person perspective

You're right its mesmerising, which passages do you think stands out the most to you?

Interesting to see a feminist author who's largely influenced by Murakami confront him with questions about the portrayal of women

lithub.com/a-feminist-critique-of-murakami-novels-with-murakami-himself

Hey, sorry for the late reply, I somehow missed this.

My favorite is this one:

"I get up out of bed. I pull back the old, faded curtain and open the window.
I stick my head out and look up at the sky.
Sure enough, a mouldy-coloured half-moon hangs in the sky. Good. We’re both looking at the same moon, in the same world.
We’re connected to reality by the same line.
All I have to do is quietly draw it towards me."

Do you have a fav one?

That one you quoted.. man i've definitely had those thoughts before about someone I fell for so it's affected me on a due to being able to relate. How about for you?

I'm not sure if i have a favourite one off the top of my head, maybe i should highlight those next time i read.. But this one does come to mind after i skimmed through again

"But tomorrow i'll be a different person, never again the person I was. Not that anyone will notice after i'm back in Japan On the outside nothing will be different. But something inside has burned up and vanished"

It just felt so hopeless, at that moment it's like K finally accepts she's gone with no real closure, the whole time he's been on a mission, pondering where, when, why and how but alas nothing, time's up, he can't really explain this to anyone and he's just another person going about their day once he settles into the routine again

I read 'sleep' last night, I find it hard to look deeper than face value a lot of the time I think what I got from it is the yearning for agency. I tried to take into consideration the praise for the portrayal of a woman this story has, perhaps this is relatable for a lot of women? I can't say for sure, but certainly as a human I think that was a central theme for the main character.

The pursuit of agency and living out her little life on her own little life seems to become very, very dark towards the end and I think ||it has to do with SA? At first the figure she mentions seemed to be one of sleep paralysis, but the more I think about it, the more it reminded me of Bob in Twin Peaks.

I'd like to know why she kept going out alone on those drives, was it reckless behaviour? Does the mention of two figures somehow relate to the only other males she mentions in her life? She starts to talk about inevitably despising her husband and son at some point, which is why I think there's some sort of link there

btw for any Wong Kar Wai fans, it seems the story On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning directly inspired Chungking Express

I think I'll target The Wind up Bird Chronicle next

I just finished Heaven by this author, what a great book! Highly recommend

interesting premise, i'll check it out

It's a pretty quick read, although very depressing tbh and I had to stop reading it a bunch of times just because of how in detail the bullying is described.
That's a compliment to the writing of Mieko itself