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/lit/ - Literature

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4999539 No.4999539[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

If you were going to suggest a Murakami for a first time reader (and potentially a book club), which would it be?

>> No.4999541

Norwegian Wood

>> No.4999551

>>4999539
Choose another author.

>> No.4999562

>>4999539
Norwegian wood of Kafka on the Shore. For the love of God do not read 1Q84 unless you are alrady very sure that you like Murakami

>> No.4999605

>>4999539
>>4999562
>Norwegian wood of Kafka on the Shore.

yeah keeps seeming to come down to these two...

>> No.4999663

>>4999562
1Q84 was actually the first Murakami book I read and I loved it. It was the quickest I've ever read a book of that length because it flowed so well. I didn't care for the addition of the "ugly spy guy's" chapters in book 3 but that may just be me. Ayomame chapters were much more enjoyable than Tengo chapters. Sorry if I spelled the character names wrong. It's been a while since I read it but it made me a Murakami fan. I did not care that much about Norwegian Wood personally.

>> No.4999670

>>4999605
Love story with a little surrealism(NW) or Kafka on the Shore(a lot more surrealistic)

>> No.4999672

The first Murakami book I ever read was Kafka on the Shore and it made me a fan.

>> No.4999914

I'd start with After Dark.

If you like the length, then move on to things like Norwegian Wood, South of Border West of Sun. If you are intrigued by the more surreal elements, move to things like Kafka on the Shore and 1Q84.

Alternatively if you like short stories I'd check out Elephant Vanishes or Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman.

>> No.4999981
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4999981

>>4999663
I loved Ushikawa's bits. Gave me many feels.

>> No.4999993

>>4999663
The best bits were the Fuka-eri ones I thought.

>> No.5000022

Wind-Up Bird Chronicle's his best work IMO.

>> No.5000549

A Wild Sheep Chase would be a good start.

>> No.5000559

I always found Wind-Up Bird Chronicle to be his best, most enjoyable work

>> No.5000593

>>4999539
>If you were going to suggest a Murakami

I wouldn't.

>> No.5000599

>>5000000

>> No.5000604

>>5000022
Please don't start with Norwegian Wood.

>> No.5000605

>>4999539
Why are there Asian people on most of his books?

>> No.5001122

>>5000605
He is Asian. So is most of Japan.

>> No.5001132

>>5001122
then why is he so obsessed with western culture?

>> No.5001135

>>5000605
GEE I WONDER, WHY WOULD A JAPANESE WRITERU HAVE AZN PPL ON HIS BOOK COVERS

>> No.5001140

The windup bird chronicle
hard boiled wonderland and the end of the world

>> No.5001214

>>5001132
Everyone is. There's a very real sense that to be educated and upper class is to know a lot of Western things - classical music, jazz, Dostoevsky, Kafka, the Beatles, etc. (Not just for superficial reasons, there's actually a lot there - it's part of a refined, smart kind of taste that requires some social training to appreciate - think academics with the bookshelves of classics and the jazz record collections and the children learning how to play the piano and violin.) Lots of Asians are into this stuff

>> No.5001231

>>4999539
fuck this gongo javanese weibo cunt

>> No.5001241

murakami is just the stephenie meyer of the eastern world whom claims that her work is that of a literary work when it in reality it is a mere fantasized sexual fanfictions obfuscated with pretentiousness to appeal to faux patricians and connoisseurs of the genre.

>> No.5001244

>>5001231
>>5001241
Murakami is well-respected for a reason. Fuck off.

>> No.5001247

>>5001241

do you believe your own bullshit? Murakami's magic realism leads to amazing story telling in every one of his novels

>> No.5001251 [DELETED] 

>>5001247
>manchild antics
>respected

yea, right. so legit :D

>> No.5001258

>>5001247
>manchild ramblings and antics
>respected

yea, right. so legitimate...

>> No.5001384

I've started Norwegian Wood one month ago and I'm struggling to finish it.

Murakami is a good storyteller, and that book certainly has some beauty in it. However, many of his characters are very shallow and uninteresting, including Naoko, who is the great lover of the protagonist. Also, he often writes cliché sentences which are really annoying. When he tries to be somewhat shocking (such as with the girl who enjoys watching the house burning and describes her filthy sexual fantasies to Toru), he is unconvincing and even silly. He has some nice descriptions of the student life, though. Sometimes he's also able to be funny.

In my opinion and from what I've read (about 60% or so of the book), he is a good writer, but nothing more.

>> No.5001420

>>5001247
I don't believe YOUR bullshit. Murakami ain't magical realism, dog. He's through and through surrealism-lite. And amazing story-telling is a subjective label, one that many people here, including myself, would disagree with

>> No.5001491

Wind Up Bird Chronicle easily his best and most accessible work.

i've had great success with WUBC in introducing people to read "literary" fiction

>> No.5001889
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5001889

>>4999539
Probably a pinwheel. They're pretty basic. Then maybe move onto a bird.

>> No.5001898

>>4999539
I read three of his books so far
1Q84: Meh...
Wind-up bird: Shit
Dance, Dance, Dance: GREAT!

I'm planning to read After Dark soon

>> No.5001906

>>5001898
>his only semi-decent book
>shit

>> No.5001961

>>5001491
The only possible correct answer

>> No.5003034

Dance Dance Dance