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what are you reading today?


almondcrush

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Just started reading "Nausea" by Sartre and it's interesting how much he draws from earlier french modernists. I really like it though. I just finished "Jakob von Gunten" which is basically swiss kafka before kafka existed. The writer Robert Walser was a pretty interesting guy, and the book was excellent. I recommend it highly.

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Aye 1 tells me I gotta read Kav n' Clay. I would too, but I have a habit of picking up whatever the hell is closest to me when I'm done with whatever I'm reading. And, I don't buy books, ask for 'em as gifts and borrow them from foes.

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All that talk about Infinite Jest has gotten me more interested. Will def check out sometime in the near future.

Anyways, about 2/3rds of the way done with "A Wild Sheep Chase" and it's pretty interesting contrasting it with "Kafka on the Shore" since that was the last Murakami novel I'd read (Yeah, weird way to go around his bibliography, probably gonna start reading them chronologically after this). The writing definitely changes, and his characterization certainly improves, but you can also see some aspects of the story or characters being carried over from Sheep Chase to the others.

Also just finished "The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea" and it's probably the most enjoyable Mishima novel I've read so far, which is pretty good for me, since before this, I'd just finished "Temple of Dawn" before getting around to this and it's probably my least favorite from what I've read from him. It just didn't work as well as "Spring Snow" or "Runaway Horses" for me. Will need to read again though as the whole philosophy section was just dense (and really slowed down the pace a lot). But the Sailor Who Fell From Grace was great. I loved the tension in the last chapter. Really have to think about how the story works with Mishima's overarching beliefs though, since the most surface level reading of it is much more chilling than even the depictions of "purity" in Runaway Horses. It might just be Mishima's way of questioning himself. Dunno. Also deserves another read through sometime.

After Sheep Chase, I've borrowed Lolita and No Exit from my schools library, so I'll be getting around to that soon enough.

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My friend was reading this when we were on holidays recently. He would actually groan as he read certain parts. The "technical" product descriptions feel like a failed attempt to mimic the greatness of Gravity's Rainbow for the iTard consumer generation.

I read this instead. Definitely not Murakami's best, but still enjoyable. Good, easy, holiday reading.

kafka.jpg

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My friend was reading this when we were on holidays recently. He would actually groan as he read certain parts. The "technical" product descriptions feel like a failed attempt to mimic the greatness of Gravity's Rainbow for the iTard consumer generation.

I read this instead. Definitely not Murakami's best, but still enjoyable. Good, easy, holiday reading.

kafka.jpg

out of curiosity, which of his did you like more than this?

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I found both The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles and A Wild Sheep Chase to be more enjoyable, opinion only. Of course, they were some of my earliest Murakami novels and I think the novelty of his style may have worn a little thin. I really love reading his books, and there is something unique about his style, but his scope as a writer is fairly limited.

It's hard to express what I mean, but the nearest comparison I could make to represent what I'm trying to say is someone like Chuck Palahniuk. You know you're reading a Palahniuk novel from the style and characters, but once you've read a few you have effectively read them all.

Let the flaming begin...

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I read this instead. Definitely not Murakami's best, but still enjoyable. Good, easy, holiday reading.

I disagree; I think Kafka might actually be Murakami at top form -- and, if not this, then Hard-Boiled Wonderland.

I get what you're saying with his style, which does wear thin on overuse, but a lot of the nuance essential to appreciating his voice is lost depending on translator. Comparing him to Palahniuk is the worst way to highlight his weaknesses as a writer (of which he has many, but let's be fair in describing them). His faults are more in line with Raymond Carver or John Cheever-type missteps since, even when he goes into the realm of the fantastical, it's not go-for-the-gut Palahniuk-style shock-value -- it's mostly grounded in the mundane.

Edited to say: when he fails, it's because he's completely going for mood and nuanced character development (seemingly the same protagonist over and over, which gets really dull once you've stopped identifying with him) and hasn't even thought about the plot, not because (like Palahniuk) the plot is the only thing that's propping it up.

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today i re-read The Little Prince (Antonine De Saint-Exupery), forgot how good it is...

this book made me take french in 7th grade instead of spanish. That and Madame Esmay, who was super cute and super french.

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Hard-Boiled Wonderland.

This is my favorite too.

Most of the other novels (excluding maybe Wind Up Bird Chronicle), although enjoyable in a casual way, don't really stand out in my mind and tend to blend together. Like you said, I think he is strongest when the plot is appropriately developed and has depth, and it--rather than the characters-- is the focus. Plus, he also seems to be especially good at the dreamscape type stuff which was more prominent and effective in both of these.

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Hardboiled Wonderland is insane, i love it. There was a "end of the world" thread in supertrash recently and what i posted was a nod to Hardboiled but i dont think anyone got it.

i agree with salaryman. a lot of the novels share similar themes and characters, whereas Hardboiled really stood out on it's own. Another one that I consider one of my favorites and stands out to me is South of the Border West of the Sun, which has none of that alternate reality surrealism stuff I enjoy from Murakami. i don't know what it is, i'm not expressive enough to describe why it's so powerful to me. but yeah, it's my most re-read murakami book. maybe because its short and sweet.

Kafka is good and a fun read, especially if you've read all his earlier novels, since it plays off borrowed themes and elements of his other works.

if anyone wants to discuss the stories, bump the sufu haruki thread: Murakami thread

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