South of the Border, West of the Sun

If you are the sort of reader who needs answers, Murakami is not your man. Like his other books, South of the Border, West of the Sun leaves the reader with so many questions...

Hajime (interestingly, the main character's name is always seldom used in Murakami's novels) met Shimamoto when he was twelve. They grew up and grew apart - but he never forgot her. His subsequent relationships always lacked something. Then she walks back into his life many years later, a mysterious figure who comes and goes on her own timetable. And just when Hajime is prepared to throw his whole life away for her, she disappears for good.

We never know why Shimamoto does any of these things - although unlike many of Murakami's other novels (and the ones I prefer) there does not seem to be a supernatural explanation. And so, we are just left to deal with that feeling you get, when you can never know the truth.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

If you have ever read much of this blog, you will have to know that Murakami is my new favourite love. But this one took me a long while to read, not because it isn’t good but because it is long and meanders.

“The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” sells itself as a story about stories – and it is true. Our main character, Toru Okada (called “Mr Wind-Up Bird by one of the other characters) meets a lot of interesting characters in this book, and the stories they tell him become interwoven with his own story. It starts when Toru’s cat disappears. Then his wife leaves him, for reasons that appear to be both supernatural and inexplicable. And somehow caught up with his sinister brother-in-law, Noboru Wataya.

How this comes to resolve itself (as much as Murakami resolves anything) are through Toru’s interaction with these other characters. His young neighbour May Kasahara who traps him down a well and gives him the eponymous name. The psychic detective and her sister – Malta and Creta Kano who take an interest in Toru’s story. Lieutenant Mamiya, who was also once trapped down a well (see how the stories become intertwined?). Nutmeg and Cinnamon Akasaka, designers whose “fittings” are a little more than fashion.

There is so much to this text, it is hard to summarise and explain. It is worth reading – all Murakami is – although I still prefer “Kafka on the Shore”.

Kafka on the Shore

Reading Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami is like getting a glimpse into a world that exists parallel to ours. It’s magical and intriguing, and so “other” – and yet we cannot understand it because we are not part of it. Some of us will still appreciate the beauty, and others will be baffled.

Kafka of the title is a fifteen-year-old runaway escaping a negligent parent and a series of disturbing prophecies. But telling you what they are will spoil the tension. He is also strongly connected to a boy named Crow. Kafka is drawn into a small library and lives of Oshima and Miss Saeki who run the library, each of whom has their own secrets.

Meanwhile, Nakata is an old man who is mentally impaired as the result of a childhood ailment. However, he does have the ability to speak to cats. The talent draws him into a world he could never imagine, and this unlikely hero goes on a quest to protect us all from an unsure fate.

This is one of those books that I simply could not put down. Murakami is an artist in terms of how much knowledge to let you have... bit by bit the mystery unravels in front of you. But like After Dark, you can never fully understand it. And somehow, I was not disappointed. It’s like something rare and wonderful. I have bought three more and will ration myself on them in the next few weeks..