Readers may be curious about Haruki Murakami due to the rave reviews of his full-length novels (ex: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, 1Q84, Kafka on the Shore), and their popularity in translation throughout the world. Those who may have resisted the call to undertake his lengthy and fantastic works might be encouraged by starting with Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, a collection of 24 short stories. With varying lengths and levels of inscrutability, the stories contained in the book are an excellent and accessible introduction to Murakami’s magical realism. The book could be described as a sampler of his gorgeous symbolism and elusive but incisive reflections on universal experience. Each story contains a provoking vision of the human condition, including such themes as: predestination; haunting choices and consequences; yearning for individual meaning; withstanding loss of love and identity; loneliness and isolation. The joys of Murakami’s prose justify the praise he has received, and any effort to decipher the layers within the tales Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman will encourage new fans to his other works. Once experienced in small bites, many will be lured into his novels-thereby immersing themselves more deeply and lingering longer in his beautifully rendered worlds.

 

Good for: Readers new and old to Murakami; those looking for International Fiction in translation; highly rated award-winners; fans of fully formed but linked short story collections; psychological and symbolic works of fiction.

 

You may like this book if you like: Kazuo Ishiguro, David Mitchell, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Luis Borges and Vladimir Nabokov.

1 star stories: New York Mining Disaster, Airplane, A Perfect Day for Kangaroos, Dabchick.

2 star stories: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, Hunting Knife, A Poor Aunt’s Story, Nausea 1979,  The Year of Spaghetti, The Rise and Fall of Sharpie Cakes, The Ice Man, Crabs, Where I’m Likely To Find It.

3 star stories: Birthday Girl, Mirror, A Folklore for my Generation, Man-Eating Cats, Tony Takitani.

4 star stories: The Seventh Man, Chance Traveler, Hanalei Bay.

5 star stories: Firefly,  The Kidney-Shaped Stone That Moves Every Day, A Shinagawa Monkey.



Reading Murakami could be like looking at a painting. Sometimes, it makes perfect sense, sometimes it is frustrating, sometimes it is puzzling. But sometimes, it talks to you. And when it is does, it stays in your heart. While Murakami is best known for his surrealistic, dream-like storytelling, I’ve always preferred his stories that are firmly rooted on reality. And that is the reason I gave up on Wind-Up bird chronicles. It wasn’t the fault of the story but of its reader. As I’ve mentioned before, reading Murakami is like looking at a painting and whatever that you grasp, is completely reflective of you.


“Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” contains of 24 short stories which range from philosophical to plain out wacky, or should I say, dream-like. There are a few stories that are great, few that are thought-provoking and the rest are puzzling.

“Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman”, is a story of reflection and of stagnation of a young man.

“Birthday Girl” is about a girl being granted a wish on her 20th birthday and having it actually come true. The wish in itself is never elaborated, but is hardly the point. This is more of a what would you do story while trying to make a point on individuality.

"A Poor Aunt’s Story" could be an allusion of depression or any other sad emotion for that matter, if not about writing.

"The Rise and Fall of Sharpie Cakes", while puzzling and pointless at first, seems funny after having the prelude where Murakami reveals that it's about the literary world and what his opinion of it is.

"The Ice Man", again, was puzzling at first. While it seemed like a story about loneliness, change and marriage, it was clearly apparent that it was more than that. Then, I had the chance of reading that the "Ice Man" indicates a "gaijin" and from then on, the story seems horribly xenophobic. But then again, not knowing if it is indeed true, I'd like take it on it's face value, as hard that is now.

"Mirror" is a nice little spooky story that raises a question of individuality.

"A Folklore for my Generation" is (as much as I can recall) a nice little story that talks about love, sex and the relationship between the two.

"Man-Eating Cats", which was later developed into "Sputnik Sweetheart" is a nice story about life, the choices one makes and how your decisions can change you or devour you.

"Tony Takitani" is a story about loneliness, but I had the feeling that it was under-developed. There's a brilliant tale underneath that can be great if told right but the actual story felt as if it fell short.

"The Seventh Man", one of the better stories in this collection that talks about fear, letting go and facing your fear, getting strong and attaining peace.

"Hanalei Bay", again is a story of an old lady forming a motherly bond with two teenagers albeit having had a failed relationship with her dead son. It is about letting go, moving on and of realization.

"Firefly", later to be developed as the novel "Norwegian Wood", is one of the best stories, if not the best. The story is about teenage love, angst, letting go and of maturity. The allegory of Firefly is quiet apt and beautiful. Almost all of it present in Norwegian Wood, but it was much more realized, melancholic and better, not to mention its central theme of Life vs death being better handled than the theme of this one, maturity.

"The Kidney-Shaped Stone That Moves Every Day" comes right next to "Firefly" as the best of the lot. A deep psychological story about relationships and love, this one too, has a very nice allegory of a stone.

"A Shinagawa Monkey", a poignant tale of a monkey that steals names and about living life as you would wanna live it and taking the good and the bad on its stride.

1 star stories: New York Mining Disaster, Airplane, A Perfect Day for Kangaroos, Dabchick.

2 star stories: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, Hunting Knife, A Poor Aunt’s Story, Nausea 1979, The Year of Spaghetti, The Rise and Fall of Sharpie Cakes, The Ice Man, Crabs, Where I’m Likely To Find It.

3 star stories: Birthday Girl, Mirror, A Folklore for my Generation, Man-Eating Cats, Tony Takitani.

4 star stories: The Seventh Man, Chance Traveler, Hanalei Bay.

5 star stories: Firefly, The Kidney-Shaped Stone That Moves Every Day, A Shinagawa Monkey.



Reading Murakami could be like looking at a painting. Sometimes, it is easily understandable, sometimes it is frustrating, sometimes it is puzzling. But sometimes, it talks to you. And when it is does, it stays in your heart.

While Murakami is best known for his surrealistic, dream-like storytelling, I’ve always preferred his stories that are firmly rooted on reality. And that is the reason I gave up on Wind-Up bird chronicles. It wasn’t the fault of the story but of its reader. As I’ve mentioned before, reading Murakami is like looking at a painting. Whatever that you grasp, is completely reflective of you.


“Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” contains of 24 short stories which range from philosophical to plain out wacky, or should I say, dream-like. There are a few stories that are great, few that are thought-provoking and the rest are puzzling.

“Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman”, is a story of reflection and of stagnation of a young man.

“Birthday Girl” is about a girl being granted a wish on her 20th birthday and having it actually come true. The wish in itself is never elaborated, but is hardly the point. This is more of a what would you do story while trying to make a point on individuality.

"A Poor Aunt’s Story" could be an allusion of depression or any other sad emotion for that matter, if not about writing.

"The Rise and Fall of Sharpie Cakes", while puzzling and pointless at first, seems funny after having the prelude where Murakami reveals that it's about the literary world and what his opinion of it is.

"The Ice Man", again, was puzzling at first. While it seemed like a story about loneliness, change and marriage, it was clearly apparent that it was more than that. Then, I had the chance of reading that the "Ice Man" indicates a "gaijin" and from then on, the story seems horribly xenophobic. But then again, not knowing if it is indeed true, I'd like take it on it's face value, as hard that is now.

"Mirror" is a nice little spooky story that raises a question of individuality.

"A Folklore for my Generation" is (as much as I can recall) a nice little story that talks about love, sex and the relationship between the two.

"Man-Eating Cats", which was later developed into "Sputnik Sweetheart" is a nice story about life, the choices one makes and how your decisions can change you or devour you.

"Tony Takitani" is a story about loneliness, but I had the feeling that it was under-developed. There's a brilliant tale underneath that can be great if told right but the actual story felt as if it fell short.

"The Seventh Man", one of the better stories in this collection that talks about fear, letting go and facing your fear, getting strong and attaining peace.

"Hanalei Bay", again is a story of an old lady forming a motherly bond with two teenagers albeit having had a failed relationship with her dead son. It is about letting go, moving on and of realization.

"Firefly", later to be developed as the novel "Norwegian Wood", is one of the best stories, if not the best. The story is about teenage love, angst, letting go and of maturity. The allegory of Firefly is quiet apt and beautiful. Almost all of it present in Norwegian Wood, but it was much more realized, melancholic and better, not to mention its central theme of Life vs death being better handled than the theme of this one, maturity.

"The Kidney-Shaped Stone That Moves Every Day" comes right next to "Firefly" as the best of the lot. A deep psychological story about relationships and love, this one too, has a very nice allegory of a stone.

"A Shinagawa Monkey", a poignant tale of a monkey that steals names and about living life as you would wanna live it and taking the good and the bad on its stride.

Hello!

 

November turned out to be a really great reading month. I finished reading a total of 6 books! Unfortunately, only one of these books was from my November TBR. 

 

The first book that I read and completed was Wilderness Tips by Margaret Atwood, which is a delightful short story collection. I have already posted my review.

 

After that I started reading Haruki Murakami's Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, which I was unable to complete. I got stuck around the half-way point and lost motivation to read this book. This is unfortunate because I really love Haruki Murakami, but for some reason I find it hard to get through his short stories. This is not at all the case when it comes to his novels.

 

The next book I was able to complete was Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews. I read this in a single sitting and really enjoyed it. It was the perfect thing to get me back into the rhythm of reading. I have already posted my review for this. 

 

The next book that I read was actually a manga! I really love manga and anime, but I haven't had the chance to read in this medium for quite a while. Not since high school! I read the first volume of Pandora Hearts, which was written and illustrated by Jun Mochizuki. I really enjoyed this first volume, and I'm definitely considering picking up the next volume. I do not plan on doing a full review for this.

 

Then I read Elizabeth Smart's By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept. This book was recommended to me by my Canadian Literature professor last summer. It's a very poetic and musically written book that focuses on the author's affair with British poet George Barker. This was an interesting read with highly emotional prose. As such, I don't think that I was able to fully grasp the work on a first reading. 

 

After seeing the new and amazing Catching Fire movie, I couldn't help but rereading Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins! I really enjoyed reading this book this time around. I liked it when I first read it in high school, but I feel like watching the movie actually made this book better. I know. Weird. It was great having the chance to reread a book. I don't get to do that often. 

 

The last book that I completed this November was John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Such a lovely, haunting read. I did a full review, which I have already posted. If you haven't already read this, I would really encourage it. 

 

So, that's my reading wrap up for November. Even though I didn't stick to by TBR, I regard November as a reading success! What did you all read this month?

 

Bye! 

 

So I recently took advantage of a huge discount with Tantor...between the sale prices and the discount, major score (just over $100)...here is what I have so far:

 

• Riley Jenson Series - All the books in CD's and MP3's, (I feel a series binge coming on)
• Perdition
• The Others Series - filled in the gaps with 3 I did not already have with audible
• Psy-Changling series - Picked up 3 I did not already have
• Animal Attraction
• Midnight Secrets
• The Morcai Battalion
• Lord of the Changing Winds
• Allie Beckstrom - picked up 3 of the books in the series
• Blind Woman, Sleeping Willow
• On The Hunt
• Hollows - Picked up books  4, 5  & 6
• Elder Races - Books 4-6 (1/2 way through 6 now)
• And picked up 6 other books as gifts.....

 

 

I just love a good sale with a bonus discount....... now I just need to figure out what to listen to next