First Person Singular by Haruki Murakami and Philip Gabriel (translator)
Genre: Fiction
I bought this because I'm a major Murakami fan, but I had to remind myself that short story collections may be hit or miss and are often more subjective than long-form novels. But I really liked this snappy and compelling choice. What have I been, what will I become, and who am I? The first-person narrators of the eight stories in First Person Singular, the latest collection of short stories by critically and commercially successful novelist Haruki Murakami, are troubled by these problems. He switches back to the short stories after his sprawling novel The Murder of Commendatore. He stays committed to his world: His fantastic classic tales transport us to a world of romanticized flashbacks to earlier years, former relationships, philosophical considerations, literature, music, and baseball. They deal with failed romances, made-up music, the Beatles, Schumann, and a talking monkey, among other topics. These tales, which subtly toy with the line between fiction and reality and never fail to surprise, are heartbreakingly depressing, engrossingly intellectual, and tragicomic in the most tremendous sense. This is a collection of allegorical tales with many flairs if you like Murakami's frequently absurd, consistently unpredictable, and occasionally ambiguous stories. He has always made even the most routine, everyday routines intriguing to read about through beautiful writing. Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey, With the Beatles, and Cream are three of the five stories given; they were taken from older pieces. The final five stories are only found in this anthology. A true Murakami, First-person Singular is a sensitive, moving book that stays for a very long time. Highly suggested.
The stories in the book:
- On a Stone Pillow
- Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova
- With the Beatles
- Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey
- Carnaval
- The Yakult Swallows Poetry Collection
- First Person Singular
The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami
Genre: Fiction
The Elephant Vanishes, and with this collection by Haruki Murakami, so did my brain cells. I learn more about the topics of the guy's stories as I read more of them. His work's primary focus is how various people respond to specific circumstances, such as marriage and their place in it, societal changes, unhealthy interpersonal relationships, etc. The problem is that you must develop mental muscles to decipher his symbols. You see, with Murakami, symbolism is everything.
This book has some beautiful stories. Others are simply decent. All of them are good. After reading all of them, I pondered whether there would ever be a day when I would stop praising Murakami.
The stories in the book:
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel (translator), and Jay Rubin (translator)
Genre: Fiction
It's pretty similar to dreaming of reading Murakami. He included 24 of his short stories in this book. I observed that Murakami has the gift of writing a few introductory lines that just grab you and make you race through the story, in contrast to some short story collections I've read. But sometimes, what appears to be uncomplicated, like an important romantic relationship, turns out to be nothing more than a firefly trapped in a jar or an interminable journey to the south pole. Some of the stories are unfinished or don't have clear endings. They leave you with some food for thought, the final few lines of words spreading out and overlapping like pond ripples. It's similar to how you feel when you wake up after a dream in which various seemingly unrelated people, things, and locations interact. You can't help but think about the dream, and sometimes you even tell your best friend about it, even if it makes no sense when you woke up. This book covered that.
The stories in the book:
- Birthday Girl
- New York Mining Disaster
- Aeroplane: Or, How He Talked to Himself as if Reciting Poetry
- The Mirror
- A Folklore for My Generation: A Prehistory of Late-Stage Capitalism
- Hunting Knife
- A Perfect Day for Kangaroos
- Dabchick
- A 'Poor Aunt' Story
- Nausea
- The Seventh Man
- The Year of Spaghetti
- Tony Takitani
- The Fall and Rise of Sharpie Cakes
- The Ice Man
- Crabs
- Firefly
- Chance Traveller
- Hanalei Bay
- Where I'm Likely to Find It
- The Kidney-Shaped Stone That Moves Every Day
- A Shinagawa Monkey
Murakami‘s fan boy
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