Tips_of_Fingers said:
Koroviev said:
Presently, Woman in the Dunes, a Kafkaesque tale courtesy of Kobo Abe. Was also reading Good Omens, but my interest has tapered off somewhat. Would like to start Richard III in the near future. Also, very much looking forward to Haruki Murakami's latest novel, 1Q84, slated for release at the end of this month.
Good Omens is a good read although I think the hype surrounding it by the time I got my hands on it's pages somewhat ruined the effect. What is Murakami like? I hear many people praise the name but am still unsure about picking up a title.
Good Omens is not a bad light read, so I'll probably get around to finishing it when I am contending with a more difficult book.
Haruki Murakami is probably my favorite living author. His stories are generally surrealist, although the novel that made him famous,
Norwegian Wood, is not. With respect to recommended titles, it really depends on the person. One friend of mine really prefers
Norwegian Wood, an elegiac coming-of-age story set in the 1960s, whereas another friend of mine really enjoyed
Kafka on the Shore. Another excellent one is
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, although it is rather long (628 pages in the Vintage edition).
I would have a pretty difficult time deciding between the three of them, so I'll just take a moment to highlight some key differences.
Norwegian Wood is one of his earlier novels, but other than the lack of a surrealist element, one would probably be hard-pressed to tell. The story has interesting, albeit realistic, characters. It is only about 300 pages and it is a very good book.
Kafka on the Shore is very surrealist and features a remarkable cast of characters, among them an elderly man who can talk to cats, a boy haunted with an Oedipus complex, and Colonel Sanders (I'm serious). The chapters frequently alternate on the basis of perspective, a feature that one of my friends found a bit frustrating.
Wind-up Bird Chronicle was written in the years between the other novels. Its pacing is a bit odd, but it serves a purpose. Namely, to send you reeling as you approach the end of a (purposefully) mundane section that is sent off with some form of bold, often violent, event. The story really focuses on one man, although, make no mistake, there is no shortage of bizarre characters in this one either.
