Journal Entry 1 by quico from Coimbra (cidade), Coimbra Portugal on Thursday, February 24, 2005

The world of Haruki Murakami is a very normal world where strange things can happen, because, as we all know, much of life is truly unknowable.
In "Sleep", a young woman suddenly finds she no longer needs it. The protagonist of "The Second Bakery Attack" notices that his wife has a gun and ski masks in their car, even though neither of them had ever skied. In "The Elephant Vanishes", an elephant disappears with its keeper from the enclosure where it has been kept. The "Dancing Dwarf" takes place in a factory that manufactures elephants. "TV People" are human reduced by twenty to thirty percent. And "On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning" is just one of the best, most beautiful and sad short stories I've ever read.
This was my first book from Haruki Murakami but not my last. 

Journal Entry 2 by quico from Coimbra (cidade), Coimbra Portugal on Saturday, March 26, 2005

Journal Entry 3 by quico from Coimbra (cidade), Coimbra Portugal on Monday, April 04, 2005

Sent to tho. Enjoy it! 

Journal Entry 4 by tho on Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Received yesterday :-) Will start reading ASAP ... 

Journal Entry 5 by tho on Monday, April 11, 2005

This collection of short stories is a pleasure to read :-) Once more, Murakami's words cannot fail but touch you while describing the strangest situations ... each story is like a dream where the unexpected always happens. Of course, being a true romantic at heart, my favourite story is "On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning" - just perfect ...
(my second favourite was the Kangaroo Communiqué, I really enjoyed that as well .. and also I kept wondering, why are several of the characters named Noboru Watanabe?)

Will be passed to BlossomU at today's BC meeting. 

Journal Entry 6 by BlossomU on Monday, April 11, 2005

Noboru Watanabe is the hero on The Windup Bird Chronicle, strange! Ok, as seen from this JE book is now with me, I started reading it on the subway but the very first story seems to be the first chapter of the WindUp Bird Chronicle ( which I have read and liked though am sure I did not totally understand) so i skipped it. Am already reading it and as before, i do like Murakami´s writing very much. I have other rings/rays here so I will be alternating these short stories with other books. Thanks quico! 

Journal Entry 7 by BlossomU on Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Finished reading it last night and really enjoyed it - I thought perhaps the more recent stories in After the Quake might have an edge over this collection. There is this quality to these stories, they are impossible to describe in having a point or sometimes a plot, they seem to speak more directly to the reader, echoing unnamed feelings in us. Marvelous.

On a little note, I thought the barn-burning story was the only Murakami where I really got the feeling I was understanding something the author planned and the main character did not - chilling. Tho, you totally right about N Watanabe, wish I knew why!

Book was shipped to bookmanu today. Thanks quico! 

Journal Entry 8 by bookmanu from Cascais, Lisboa (distrito) Portugal on Thursday, April 28, 2005

Thanks Quico and BlossomU! It was waiting for me when I got home last night.

It's my first venture into Japanese literature.After reading the previous JEs I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

Like BlossomU before me, I intend to alternate reading these stories with other books I'm busy with at the moment.

 

Journal Entry 9 by dodau from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Arrived yesterday but didn't get online to journal it. Next to be read 

Journal Entry 10 by dodau at Surface Mail in Fellow Bookcrosser, A Bookray -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Released 6 yrs ago (7/19/2005 UTC) at Surface Mail in Fellow Bookcrosser, A Bookray -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

 

Journal Entry 11 by arturogrande from Coalville, Leicestershire United Kingdom on Friday, July 22, 2005

I absolutely love Murakami. Thanks for making a ring of this book, as it's been on my wishlist for quite a while.
I've got another bookring ahead of this one, but I should be finished with that in a couple of days. I'll hurry, as I'm really looking forward to reading this. 

Journal Entry 12 by arturogrande from Coalville, Leicestershire United Kingdom on Saturday, August 06, 2005

Haruki Murakami is one of the most poetic writers of prose around. Every sentence is a joy, which really ought to be read two or three times, relished and savoured.
I thought at first that the longer form of the novel was better suited to Murakami's surreal style, but after I got into the rhythm of the short stories, I saw that this form works beautifully as well.
None of the stories tie up into a happy resolution - in fact, many of them have no resolution at all. But that's not a flaw of Murakami's work, as it gives a sense of lives continuing to be lived 'off the page'.
I also like the device of giving a number of the characters the same name, Norubu Watanabe.
I don't think Murakami was trying to say this was the same character, I think he was illustrating the universal experience - this is something that could happen to anyone.
I was sorry when I came to the end of this volume.
Thanks so much, quico, for starting this ring.
It's now on its way to geishabird in Canada.
 

Journal Entry 13 by geishabird from Toronto, Ontario Canada on Thursday, August 18, 2005

Received today; thank you! Very good timing - I have *just* finished Murakami's "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" and am still in an appropriately surreal state of mind...

Should be able to start on this in the next day or two.
 

Journal Entry 14 by geishabird from Toronto, Ontario Canada on Thursday, August 25, 2005

A very enjoyable collection. As quico said, Murakami's world is a very normal world where strange things can happen -- and they very often do. I like the variety in this volume; short vignettes and longer narratives all jumbled together, just like the events within them. Favourites would have to be: "Lederhosen" -- a very funny and sharply honed little tale; "Barn Burning" -- quite disturbing and unsettling; "A Slow Boat To China" -- great character sketches; "The Last Lawn Of The Afternoon" -- a very touching and poignant story about finding a place in the world; and "Silence" -- probably the most straightforward story in the book, and I felt that the last few pages were eerily reminiscent of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle which I recently finished -- Aoki is rather like Noboru Wataya, the soul-sucking "villain" in that novel. (Murakami certainly seems to like the name Noboru.) I'm not always quite sure where Murakami is going when I start reading him, but I'm always willing to go along for the ride.

Mailing to KarenZero tomorrow. 

Journal Entry 15 by geishabird from Toronto, Ontario Canada on Friday, August 26, 2005

Just mailed...enjoy! 

Journal Entry 16 by KarenZero from Brooklyn, New York USA on Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Will read ASAP!

09/27/05: sorry for the delay, I've been caught up with quite a few bookrings. I hope to ship this out by the end of the week! 

Journal Entry 17 by KarenZero from Brooklyn, New York USA on Monday, October 10, 2005

This was my first Murakami book and I enjoyed it a lot! I am not usually one for short stories, but I enjoyed many of these. Murakami is really able to write about the mundane elements of a typical existence in an interesting way. I am looking forward to reading other Murakami books, especially "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle". Thanks for sharing the book, quico! 

Journal Entry 18 by KarenZero at Controlled Release in Controlled Release, --by post or by hand (ie ring, ray, RABCK, trade) -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Released 6 yrs ago (10/10/2005 UTC) at Controlled Release in Controlled Release, --by post or by hand (ie ring, ray, RABCK, trade) -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Popped in the mail yesterday (although it will probably go out today because of Columbus Day). It shouldn't take too long to get there! 

Journal Entry 19 by danadoodle on Sunday, October 23, 2005

recieved in the mail yesterday from karenzero.
robert-walker had recommended this book, so will give it a go. its my first murakami. 

Journal Entry 20 by affinity4books from Bryan, Texas USA on Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Safely arrived in Texas! I've enjoyed some of Murakani's longer works, so I am looking forward to trying some of his short stories~ Thanks for sharing. 

Journal Entry 21 by affinity4books from Bryan, Texas USA on Tuesday, June 06, 2006

I enjoyed this collection. I spaced the stories out so I could take each one in on its own and not run them together. I was intrigued by the first story, so I'll definitely put The Wind-up Bird novel on my Wishlist. Some of my favorites were The Dancing Dwarf, set at the factory where they manufacture elephants (how creative~ I never would have come up with that setting!), Barn Burning, and Sleep. Sleep makes an interesting counterpoint to Banana Yoshimoto's short stories about similar themes in her book Asleep (I reccommend her work if you like Murakami~ not as off-the-wall but still surreal). I didn't like the ones that seemed to have a paranoid or horror-movie feel to them, such as TV People and The Little Green Monster. These two also seemed to not have much point? I don't know, maybe I didn't "get" them. Overall I am glad I read this book and will continue to look for more by Murakami in the future. Thanks for sharing! 

Journal Entry 22 by affinity4books at Bookray in By Mail, BookCrosser -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Released 5 yrs ago (6/5/2006 UTC) at Bookray in By Mail, BookCrosser -- Controlled Releases

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mailed by media mail 

Journal Entry 23 by dospescados on Saturday, June 10, 2006

Thanks, I'm looking forward to it! 

Journal Entry 24 by dospescados on Sunday, August 27, 2006

I've spent the past few weeks reading this, reminding myself that I really don't like the short story format much, even if I really love the author. I don't really like Murakami as a short story writer either. Some of the stories I did enjoy but others were just "WTF?!?!" I'll say The Dancing Dwarf was my favorite just cos it was a wonderfully horribly twisted fairy tale, of course, as only Murakami could've written it.

It'll be off to sqdancer this week.