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/lit/ - Literature

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File: 259 KB, 918x1392, dfw w murakami.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4076549 No.4076549 [Reply] [Original]

Are these two writers similar at all? How do their writing styles compare? Is one better than the other?

>> No.4076556

both write pop bullshit that sucks

>> No.4076566 [DELETED] 

If you see someone in public reading them, chances are they will look like hipsters.

>> No.4076650

>>4076549
not to imply that there is any true objective "better" when it comes to writing, but I think most people agree that dfw > murakami
>inb4 twenty people jump in saying that murakami is better than dfw

>> No.4076670

>>4076549

both pop bullshit, avoid at all costs

>> No.4076726

>>4076650
Nobody with any brains would say Murakami is better than DFW. I say that as someone who thinks DFW bamboozled a lot of people into thinking he is better than he actually is.

>> No.4076758
File: 174 KB, 1606x1102, Murakami_guide_fuuuu.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4076758

Might I be able to handle DFW? Is he hard to read at all?

I have read only totally entry-level stuff. My favorites are The Stranger, Wind-up Bird Chronicles, Slaughterhouse-Five, and To Kill a Mockingbird.

I now have a guaranteed two hours per day where I can't do anything but read so I was looking for a more difficult book to tackle. Maybe I should just try more Murakami.

>> No.4076767

>>4076758

>Maybe I should just try more Murakami.

Read Mishima instead.
He's actually worth reading.

>> No.4076773

>>4076767
He's the nationalist, right? I actually have Confessions of a Mask on my to-read list as well. What else would you recommend from him knowing my reading favorites+experience?

>> No.4076777

>>4076758
DFW's not all that difficult. He's unconventional, which may make him difficult to some people, but you don't need to know much coming into any of his books.

>> No.4076776

>>4076758
Hard-Boiled Wonderland is Murakami's best IMO.

>> No.4076780

>>4076773

Read 'Spring Snow' first.
Good entry point plus one of his best.
Will give you a good feel for his style.

But honestly I'd give Murakami a miss. His prose is something you grow out of in a year or two. Mishima has staying power for most.

>> No.4076787

>>4076773
>
He's a nationalist lunatic who staged a coup, kidnapped a Japanese general, then committed hari-kiri. In the 1980s.

He's a really excellent writer.

DFW books aren't hard, they're long. They're fairly complex, but they're not opaque. Nobody, even experts in those books, ever wholly 'get' books. You just get your piece.

>> No.4076789

>>4076780
Reading the wikipedia article - are you sure I wouldn't need any prior knowledge of Japanese history for this?

>>4076777
>>4076787
Would you say I'd be good to try out DFW as long as I am patient?

>> No.4076792

>>4076789
>Would you say I'd be good to try out DFW as long as I am patient?
Yeah, you should be good. Hell, you don't even need to be patient for most of his story/essay collections.

>> No.4076806

>>4076789
Well, only if you think it's worth your patience. I don't think there's any inherent good in reading books. Fiction isn't supposed to be some kind of self-improvement exercise. You don't need to know anything, and you're not missing out, frankly, if you don't 'get' references.

You're just getting something a little different.

>> No.4076831

>>4076806
It's rewarding for me to read a book. When I finish or reread a book I initially found difficult to understand/follow, it's satisfying.

>> No.4076872

>>4076758
Read more Murakami. I don't care what anyone says, he's a fucking genius.

>> No.4076878

>>4076789

>are you sure I wouldn't need any prior knowledge of Japanese history for this?

He isn't as difficult as you think he is. Jump in.