Chip Kidd from Knopf talks about how they designed the book jacket for Murakami's new release, 1Q84.
http://io9.com/5851834/chip-kidd-talks-about-designing-the-cover-for-haruki-murakamis-new-novel-1q84
What are your Murakami favorites?
Thank you for the link, cool stuff. I've only read a handful of Murakami's books but I thought After Dark was the best mix of story and style I've seen from him.
Kafka on the Shore was the first I'd read by him, so it has a special place on my bookshelf, but I think the Wind-Up Bird Chronicles is my favourite.
Wind-up Bird and Hard-Boiled Wonderland. But I've only read 4 total so I'll peek at your suggestions.
Reading 1Q84 for a future LitReactor review. It's my first Murakami and I am quite liking it.
I read a bunch of his stuff in a 2 month long splurge years ago. I remember liking A Wild Sheep Chase and Dance, Dance, Dance a lot. Sputnik Sweetheart was really good. I think my favorite was Hard -Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
I haven't read anything by him since that splurge though. I should probaby give him another go.
I think his style is very similar to Paul Auster's, but his content is much different.
Thanks for the link. So excited for Tuesday, and jealous of Josh regarding the early copy. I've heard it's 900+ pages of pure opus. We'll see.
Kafka on the Shore has been my favorite of his thus far, but I think Wind Up Bird is probably a better story overall. I just love the idea of living in a library.
I've heard it's 900+ pages
That it is, sir, but it reads real easy-like.
I've read all but the latest one. My favorite is his first, Hear the Wind Sing, which he dislikes (and I believe he refuses to let it be released in the US). It's a weird little book, lacks any of the complexity of his later stuff, but I really like Murakami's atmosphere and mood as much as anything, and it's told in a very clean and innocent voice and is pretty heartbreaking.
I've liked all of his novels, particualry Wind-Up Bird and Kafka, but there's something in every novel that's left me just a little dissatisfied (I can't really put a finger on it).
For my money the best thing he's ever written is the title story "The Elephant Vanishes." It's a brilliant story and I think a pretty good distillation of all the things he does well.
Unrelated news, above he was mentioned in relation to Auster. In the Paris Review Interviews vol.IV, Auster and Murakami's interviews are back to back, and are both excellent reads if you get the chance.
The only one I've read is Kafka on the Shore, which I really enjoyed. One of those books that when I finished, I was already looking forward to re-reading. I just picked up Hard Boiled Wonderland and will definitely be checking out 1Q84.
There was a write up on Murakami a couple days ago in the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/magazine/the-fierce-imagination-of-haruki-murakami.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
The only one I've read is A Wild Sheep Chase, and I liked it very much. It is one of those books that I had to finish as soon as possible because I couldn't get the thing thing out of my head while I was doing other things throughout my day. It was disconcerting, but in a good way...
I feel them same way about A Wild Sheep Place. Like all Murakami's novels, it leaves you without a definite conclusion, but more so than any of the six or seven of his other novels I've read. Great writer. I always go back to him when I feel a little disilussioned with reading.
Dance, Dance, Dance is the sequel to that. You both should check that one out too.
It's a Sheep trilogy, no? Pinball, A Wild Sheep Chase, Dance Dance Dance
No, the trilogy ends with A Wild Sheep Chase. There are two books before it. But I don't think they are available anymore (at least in the States).
Dance Dance Dance is the sequel, but not part of the original trilogy.
@Pete my mistake - I read all his books in such short succession, much of them is a blur.
that said, Tales from the Underground - his interviews with survivors and people involved with the Sarin gas attacks in the Tokyo subway in 1995 was decent as well - I was living there until the year before it happened. The man has an incredible sensitivity.
@postpomo: Yeah I think I stated above, I read most of his books in like a couple of months.
