TMST: Favorite Authors

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post on Rainy Day Ramblings where Rainy discuss a wide range of topics from books to blogging. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog.

  

Who are some of your favorite authors?

I have sooo many different authors I adore. I'll just name a few just to save space and time!

Jane Austen

Kate Quinn

Tricia O'Malley

J.R.R. Tolkien

Lauren Willig

Edgar Allan Poe

Sandra Schwab

Haruki Murakami

Cecy Robson

Courtney Milan

Hannah Fielding

Book Review: Hard-Boiled Wonderland & The End of the World by Haruki Murakami

Author: Haruki Murakami
Title: Hard Boiled-Wonderland & The End of the World
Genre: Fantasy, Magical Realism, Sci-Fi, & Mystery
Pages: ebook
First Published: 1985
Where I Got It: My shelf (friend gifted it to me)

Unicorn skulls and voracious librarians, John Coltrane and Lord Jim. Science fiction, detective story and post-modern manifesto all rolled into one rip-roaring novel, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is the tour de force that expanded Haruki Murakami's international following. Tracking one man's descent into the Kafkaesque underworld of contemporary Tokyo.





Honestly, Murakami is becoming one of my favorite authors. Sadly, this was not one of my favorites. It was okay. The others ones I've read are better so far. 

The beginning was slow, interesting, but slow. The jumps in the fantasy world and the "normal" world seemed awkward at times and it didn't make sense until near the end. After a while (once I understood what that fantasy world meant to the main story plot), I actually enjoyed those little fantasy point of views. I can't say, but it is important to the story plot. Honestly, it was clever how the author made the world parallel to the main story going on.

The man character was odd, but I did like him. He has a lot of little quirks that don't seem to make any sense to the story until later on. 

I also liked the chubby girl. She was an odd duck and even tho she was only 17, I was rooting for them to get together, but he wasn't interested in relationships and his heart was divided between the chubby girl and the other girl (I believe she was a professor or librarian I believe). I wanted to smack the Scientist. >_> Playing around with people's brains is not cool - I totally get WHY and I'd be tempted, but still....

I think there were some translation issues from time-to-time. I would love to read this in the original language.

Oddly enough, I really did like the ending. I felt bad for the shadow and I anticipated it was going to happen (once I understood the correlation between the real world and the fantasy world), but I was hoping it wasn't going to happen. The ending, also made me understand the title of the book and especially my wanting to call this "Hard-boiled eggs". haha. The book club chuckled at me calling it that, but it makes sense. People call smart people or people stuck in their heads egg heads. And *SPOILER ALERT* the fantasy is in the main guys head. It's his own world. The "end of the world" is because one of the worlds is going to end; reality or the fantasy world. What happens to an egg when you boil it or crack it? Its the end of the life inside the egg - thus the end of the world for one of the lives in the main guy's head. It all makes sense! *END OF SPOILER* Thus my nickname for the title. 

In the end, this was good. Not the best from the author's previous works I've read. I can't wait to read more! I highly encourage to start with "After Dark". The ending was good, sad, but good. There were a lot of slow spots, some translation issues, and some confusion until about halfway. Out of five stars, I shall stamp this with 3 stars. More like 2.5 but since I do not give decimals, I rounded. 

Book Review: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Author: Haruki Murakami
Title: Norwegian Wood
Genre: Fiction, Romance, and Tragedy
Pages: 296
First Published: 1987
Where I Got It: My shelf (Bought at Barnes and Nobles)


"Toru, a quiet and preternaturally serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before.  Toru begins to adapt to campus life and the loneliness and isolation he faces there, but Naoko finds the pressures and responsibilities of life unbearable.  As she retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself reaching out to others and drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman.

A poignant story of one college student's romantic coming-of-age, Norwegian Wood takes us to that distant place of a young man's first, hopeless, and heroic love."

Yet again...the summary does nothing to really capture the book and what is going on in it. This is no simple story about a young man's "coming of age" or whatever. This goes through the concept of death, love, and finding ones way into the world. It also goes over that strange line that is between the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s. I strange time in world history. One can always blame the hippies for that ;). haha

This is my third book by Haruki Murakami and he has not disappointed yet. I was afraid at first, because I read a few reviews that completely bashed the book by saying this was the "crappiest book out of all his books" and because the first 25 pages bored me to tears. However, I keep going and the Murakami magic happened by page 26. THANK GOODNESS! I was so worried. From that point on, I could hardly put the book down. 

I truly wished I could have liked Toru....but I didn't. He was one of those nice jerks that everyone can't help but like. He was self-centered and the feelings of others came in third place, but the whole time he was convinced that he was a "nice and ordinary guy", who "never lied". BULLCRAP!!!!! He was little better then Nagasawa. At least Nagasawa was completely honest about being an ass and jerk. After a while, he may tell the truth. He never did tell Midori the complete truth about his "girlfriend" who was locked up in a mental institution in the countryside (if I was to lose my marbles for good and had to go somewhere, this place was awesome. It's not a hospital, but a natural way to find your way again). No. He just told her it was complicated. WHICH brings up the subject of this "girlfriend", Naoko.

She was Toru's friend's girlfriend. However, this boy killed himself for no real reason. I do feel bad for Naoko and I can see why she lost her marbles, because her sister had killed herself years previous and then her boyfriend killed himself. Horrible and would make any sane person flip. However, I resented her for the fact that she dragged Toru around and pretty much used him and gave nothing in return. She couldn't even truly give her heart to him, but she expected him to be there for her always and to "remember" her and visit her and write to her and when she got out to help her. She gave so much, but she had nothing for him. She could never love him, because her heart belonged to her dead boyfriend. I get it. True love and all that jazz, but really? Let's drag around this poor guy, because it makes her "feel good" and "feel better". Meh.

I liked Midori a lot, even though she was a touch off her rocker. 

Well, the story was good even though I wanted to punch a couple of the characters once in a while. Those flaws though made the story the way it is. The flaws were a good thing to install in the characters, because it does show real life in a way. Not everything is as simple as they make it seem especially during this time period. There was a changing in the world, so many people were riding the fault line. Some won't make it and can't handle it. Some flourish. It is the way of the world. I loved every crazy moment! 

In the end, I would suggest starting with 'After Dark' before hitting this one. 'After Dark' is a great way to start reading Murakami books. That is how I started and it seems the best way to. I loved the story even though a few of the characters angered me and made me wonder at their own sanity. Sanity is such a relative term isn't it? Ha. Anyways....I shall stamp this one with 3 stars. It is not my favorite of his books. 

Favorite Character(s): Midori and Reiko
Not-so Favorite Character(s): Nagasawa, Toru, and Naoko 

Book Review: After Dark

Author: Haruki Murakami
Title: After Dark
Genre: Mystery, Fantasy, Contemporary
Pages: 191
First Published: December 2004
Where I Got It: Borrowed from Library

"A short, sleek novel of encounters set in Tokyo during the witching hours between midnight and dawn, and every bit as gripping as Haruki Murakami’s masterworks The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore.

At its center are two sisters—Eri, a fashion model slumbering her way into oblivion, and Mari, a young student soon led from solitary reading at an anonymous Denny’s toward people whose lives are radically alien to her own: a jazz trombonist who claims they’ve met before, a burly female “love hotel” manager and her maid staff, and a Chinese prostitute savagely brutalized by a businessman. These “night people” are haunted by secrets and needs that draw them together more powerfully than the differing circumstances that might keep them apart, and it soon becomes clear that Eri’s slumber—mysteriously tied to the businessman plagued by the mark of his crime—will either restore or annihilate her.

After Dark moves from mesmerizing drama to metaphysical speculation, interweaving time and space as well as memory and perspective into a seamless exploration of human agency—the interplay between self-expression and empathy, between the power of observation and the scope of compassion and love. Murakami’s trademark humor, psychological insight, and grasp of spirit and morality are here distilled with an extraordinary, harmonious mastery."

This is the second time I've read this book and the second book I've read by Mr. Murakami.

Ahhhhhhhh, I needed a good dash of Haruki Murakami's writing in my reading. I haven't read anything by him in a long time and this book flashed in my mind. I remember liking it a lot before, I had given it four stars a while back, but now that I've grown and I have a better grasp of his writing style, I adore this even more.  He reminds me a mixture of Poe and of O'Neill and then thrown in the Japanese flavor with it.There is just something so magical about his stories. There is something so heavy and thought provoking. 

Especially this one.

My brain is still trying to connect all the connections together. Everything in his stories somehow, someway connect. Everything has purpose. I really like that. It really makes your mind avoid wanting to skim, because a clue to what the hell is going on is hidden in the text. Fantastic. I know, I know I'm acting biased because I am in utter awe of the author. Loving his writing makes me feel slightly biased. Haha. Oh well.

Poor Mari...all she wanted to do was just read her book and forget the world, but no, no, she is forced (due to her goodness) to interact with the people of the night. She is forced to take a glimpse of a world a million miles away from her. However, thanks to her small adventure she gained insight to herself. It made her stronger, more confidence, a chance at love, and a chance to clear up her misty relationship with her sister.

I love nearly everything about this tale...but the only thing that irked me a little was an uncertain ending. He left it up to the reader to dictate what happens. Yes, he gives some possible foreshadows for you to use to create the ending, but still...it's left up to reader to really decide. I HATE THAT! It normally doesn't bug other people, but for me its annoying. I want to know! I didn't make the story, so I don't want to decide what happens. Sighs. Oh well.

In the end, this is a good book. I would recommend this book and the author (himself) to those that love a little bit of darkness, a little bit of humor, thought-provoking theme, interesting characters, and a story that will make you take a second look at society, reality, and yourself. In the end, though, I still have to give this 4 stars, due to the ending.

Favorite Character(s): Mari (reminds me of me in a way)

Not-so Favorite Character(s): Mmmmm the business man (jackass). 

*CaroleRae*

Book Review: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Author: Haruki Murakami
Title: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery
Pages: 613
First Published: 1994
Where I Got It: My Shelf (Amazon)

"Japan's most highly regarded novelist now vaults into the first ranks of international fiction writers with this heroically imaginative novel, which is at once a detective story, an account of a disintegrating marriage, and an excavation of the buried secrets of World War II.

In a Tokyo suburb a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife's missing cat. Soon he finds himself looking for his wife as well in a netherworld that lies beneath the placid surface of Tokyo. As these searches intersect, Okada encounters a bizarre group of allies and antagonists: a psychic prostitute; a malevolent yet mediagenic politician; a cheerfully morbid sixteen-year-old-girl; and an aging war veteran who has been permanently changed by the hideous things he witnessed during Japan's forgotten campaign in Manchuria.

Gripping, prophetic, suffused with comedy and menace, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a tour de force equal in scope to the masterpieces of Mishima and Pynchon."

A missing cat, a wife who vanishes, a WWII veteran who's missing a hand, drywells, a fashion designer, a zoo, a very morbid teenage girl, skinning people alive, a prostitude turned psychic, a not-so-nice politican wannabe, a guy who doesn't talk, baseball bats, crazy dreams, crazy dreams that aren't dreams at all, and so much more! That pretty much sums up the book. Haruki Murakami is a man of my true-heart, because he's so random but random with a reason. Every little random occurance has some sort of meaning to the story being presented.

At first I thought I was catching on and I thought I had the mysteries solved, but I was wrong. The last few chapters left my eyes and mouth wide open. Yes, it was a pretty large novel, but Haruki Murakami could have kept writing and I would have kept reading. I really wanted to know what would happen next, so I kept reading. It took me a while to read this, but it was worth it. An old friend of mine who read this gave me two pieces of advice: 1. Take your time reading this so your brain can make sense of what you read (I listened to this whole-heartedly) and 2. Don't read this before going to bed (which I failed to listen to and paid the price with crazy dreams).

For some reason, I could really relate to Toru (the main dude). I also felt really bad for him, because he just wanted a new job, his wife, and that darn cat. He just wanted a quiet and peaceful life, but that wouldn't be his fate. He's forced to face the unusual people and events that would make the weak of heart runaway. Even though his wife left him, he fought to find her and I find that oddly romantic. If I was Toru I would just let her go after a certain letter she sent. Maybe he's just a better person than me, but oh well.

 Even though I really liked this book, there was a couple things I didn't like. I do believe that it was really too big and maybe it could have used some trimming down. Also, there were some parts that were, well, very detailed and I was rather surprised by the vivid details. I know he why he described these morbid scenes in great detail, because it gives affect, but my poor little unconscious brain gave me some bad dreams.

All-in-all 'Wind-Up Bird Chronicle' makes you question so much about humanity, society, reality, history, and the "unnatural". I really liked this book and I can't wait to read his other books. I recommend this book to everyone who loves a good mind-twisting book and who needs a change in their reading. Out of five stars I grant this one 4 stars.

Favorite Character(s): Toru Okada (main character) and May (the cheerfully morbid teen, she's pretty epic) and Cinnamon Alaska (the man who doesn't speak, seems like the perfect guy, eh?)
Not-so-Favorite Character(s): Noboru Wataya and Boris the manskinner (I wonder why...)

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