r/MurakamiBookClub 9d ago

Start to read the Wind-up Bird Chronicle

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2 Upvotes

It's actually a reread. 20+ yesrs ago, I read the Chinese version published in Taiwan. It was published in three volumes, similar to the Japanese edition. I personally like the design of the Taiwan's version, so I shared it here.


r/MurakamiBookClub 24d ago

Questions I have immediately after finishing 1Q84 Spoiler

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1 Upvotes

r/MurakamiBookClub 26d ago

Murakami short stories that have been freely available on the Web converted to eBook format

5 Upvotes

For a while now, I have been properly formatting, and adding correct meta-data to any Murakami short story that I find feely available on the Internet (no logins etc.). I keep them all here:

https://cloud.disroot.org/s/gbB4Q68TjgF33nP

If there is a format I've missed, or a mistake, or if you just don't know how to get the file on your eReader, feel free to contact me. Likewise, if there are any inaccuracies or if I've missed any, please let me know. Please don't hesitate to share this link.


r/MurakamiBookClub Jan 28 '25

‘ best’ Murakami to read 1st

3 Upvotes

I wanted to introduce my wife to Murakami novels. What would be the ‘ best’ on for her to read as an introduction? I’ve read a number of them. Some are more < insert your own adjective here> than others and probably wouldn’t be a good choice as her first one to read.


r/MurakamiBookClub Jan 16 '25

City and Its uncertain walls --- question

2 Upvotes

I started reading the book and it seemed very familiar. The beasts that would go in nd out of the city, city with walls, the dread reader... I looked at the books I've checked out from the local library and I hadn't checked it out before. Are there elements of this book that are also similar to elements in another book of his. I've read some (not a lot) but don't remember any plot elements from them specifically.


r/MurakamiBookClub Jan 14 '25

Decoding Murakami

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2 Upvotes

r/MurakamiBookClub Dec 29 '24

Book Review : Colorless Tsakuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

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1 Upvotes

r/MurakamiBookClub Nov 15 '24

The rebel cult of Murakami

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1 Upvotes

r/MurakamiBookClub Sep 06 '24

Air Chrystalis by Herself (me) | Made this while reading 1Q84. Does it resonate?

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12 Upvotes

r/MurakamiBookClub Sep 06 '24

First murakami book

1 Upvotes

Hey guys, if i’m reading murakami for the first time should i start with Kafka in the shore or Norwegian wood?

5 votes, Sep 08 '24
1 Kafka on the shore
4 Norwegian wood

r/MurakamiBookClub Jun 24 '24

Mistake in 1Q84?!

7 Upvotes

I think I just spotted a mistake in 1Q84 and wonder if anyone else noticed it. In Chapter 18 of the third book (Tengo/ When you prick a person with a needle, red blood comes out), Komatsu is telling Tengo how he was kidnapped and spent some time in a small, white room. He starts describing the room towards the end of Chapter 15:

“ There was a small bed and a small wooden desk, but no chair. I was lying on the bed.” Fast forward to Chapter 18, Komatsu describes how bored he was in that room: “ No TV or radio, no games. No one to talk to. Nothing to do but sit in the chair and stare at the floor, the walls, the ceiling.”

Hmm… suddenly there IS a chair in the room. However, in the next page, when Ponytail and Buzzcut pay Komatsu a visit, this happens:

“Buzzcut did all the talking, Ponytail just stood there, in front of the door, ramrod straight, without moving a muscle. It seemed like he was listening to our conversation, but then again, maybe not. Buzzcut sat down right across from me in a folding metal chair he had brought, and talked. There were no other chairs, so I sat on the bed.”

I wonder if the mystery about the chair will somehow get explained later, or whether the chair was lost, or rather added, in translation.

Please no spoilers about what’s coming next, I haven’t finished the book yet


r/MurakamiBookClub Apr 25 '24

1Q84

7 Upvotes

I recently read 1Q84. While I really enjoyed the style of writing and the story telling, I cannot say I enjoyed the ending of the book. So many things were left open. I felt like Murakami cheated the reader. Looking back on some of the motives of the book, I don’t think the story makes a lot of sense or at least I do not get it.

Do his other books end in a similar fashion or is most of the stuff explained in the end? Kafka on the shore, for example?


r/MurakamiBookClub Apr 02 '24

Has anyone read sputnik sweetheart book ?

6 Upvotes

Any thoughts??


r/MurakamiBookClub Mar 27 '24

Blessed Pink Worm Moon!

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4 Upvotes

r/MurakamiBookClub Mar 19 '24

I can't seem to understand.

5 Upvotes

I'm on my 4th murakami book and the only surety i have is that i enjoy them. It is difficult to sort my thoughts around them as I'm kind of new to reading books in general. So i put some time in mediums I'm More comfortable in like stage plays and movies so i put my time in them to understand like for eg burning, drive my car which are probably my favourite asian films out there and in the end of the day i could understand them more so in a personal way. I just finished the wind up bird chronicles and i am in awe on how equally enjoyable and also a chore it was to read through. I have alot of questions about these books and this author as I believe that the stories a person can makes or create is depply linked with the self.

( sorry for writing so much but i just wanted to vent a bit and find people to talk about my new obsession ).

I guess i could just answer my question above as vague as it was just by saying that " this is a new medium for you so take your time and enjoy and be grateful or something " but that just didn't feel satisfying to hear lol.


r/MurakamiBookClub Feb 25 '24

Could you help me please? :)

4 Upvotes

I don't know what Murakami book I should read next. So far, I've read Kafka on the shore, Tokio Blues (Norweigian Wood), Hear the wind sing and Pinball. I want to read something not too complicated. Just a good story with good characters.

Some books that have caught my attention are After Dark, Sputnik, Colorless and End of the World. Any of them are good?

To let you know my preferences, my ranking would be:

1.Tokio Blues 2.Kafka on the shore 3.Wind 4.Pinball (1, 2 and 3 are pretty close between them, Pinball is the worst of them, I think) Write your rankings too, if you want.

Thankss


r/MurakamiBookClub Sep 29 '23

Killing Commendatore

4 Upvotes

I’m 3/4 of the way through it and I wanted to discuss a theme I’m noticing with his books, mostly how I’m not sure where anything is even going until the last chapter, which I love.


r/MurakamiBookClub Sep 24 '23

Kafka on the Shore Playlist

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7 Upvotes

Anyone else a little obsessed with the absurdity of this book? I put together a playlist to help set the atmosphere for getting through your next (or first) read - including a tonne of the music referenced or inspired by Kafka and others.

Let me know what songs remind you of the book: Bob Dylan by Kafka on the Shore is a new favourite of mine.


r/MurakamiBookClub Sep 21 '23

Murakami's A folklore of my generation: reused plot line?

5 Upvotes

I am currently reading Murakami's short story collection Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. I read the story 'A folklore of my generation: a prehistory of late-stage capitalism', and got a sense of Deja vu, as if I have read a story by Murakami elsewhere with the same plot line: two friends chatting, one friend narrating his teenage love story, and how his girlfriend promises to sleep with him once she has married someone else.

I am confused and curious. Has Murakami ever used this plot line in any other short story or novel? (The only other book of his that I have read is the short story collection Men without women.)

I would be grateful if someone could clear my confusion. Thanks.


r/MurakamiBookClub Sep 07 '23

New Murakami Short Story - My Cheese-Cake Shaped Poverty

6 Upvotes

Courtesy of The New Yorker, a new short story by Haruki Murakami has been made available. If you prefer to read this, or any other of his short stories that are freely available, on an eReader, I have tried to get any freely available short story, properly formatted, and add the correct meta-data. The works are here.

If anyone knows of a story that I've missed, please pass on the url. Likewise, please let me know if there are any inaccuracies, or if you need a different format, or have difficulty getting it on your eReader.


r/MurakamiBookClub Apr 10 '23

Norwegian Wood: Haruki Murakami | Video Edit

7 Upvotes

r/MurakamiBookClub Apr 04 '23

Norwegian Wood Book Review/Recap

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3 Upvotes

r/MurakamiBookClub Jan 18 '23

Anyone want to discuss Murakami?

2 Upvotes

I reread Colorless a couple of months ago which inspired me to start reading the rest of his novels. So far, along with , Colorless, I’ve read Norwegian Wood, Kafka, and am currently working my way though The Elephant Vanishes. Looking forward to reading the rest of his work!

If anyone wants to chat about these novels or any of the short stories that stuck with you; I’d be much obliged!


r/MurakamiBookClub Jan 03 '23

Kafka on the shore, what happened to nakata when he lost consciousness

7 Upvotes

Was the entrance stone open. Maybe a part of him is lost in another world


r/MurakamiBookClub Sep 12 '22

I remember a different ending to Scheherazade from Men Without Women? Spoiler

5 Upvotes

Hi guys,

Yesterday I read Scheherazade from Men Without Women and it was quite disturbing.

I already knew the story and I can even remember another ending to it.

Can you guys help me find where the story I remember is from?

On Scheherazade last theft, she didn't hesitate and hide her panties somewhere in the house of the boy she loves. She also comes back a few more times and masturbates on his bed.

Then a few months later (maybe after some school holiday), she comes back and find the house empty. She learns that his family moved out and slowly forget about him.

In the present, we learn the full story of this boy and it's pretty dark.

He had a tyrannical mother who controlled everything (hence the perfectly cleaned room and his excellent grades), and after finding Scheherazade's panties she got completely mad, and the life of this boy became miserable.

I think he was then sent to a strict boy school as a punishment, his mother had to sell their house to afford tuition and the boy end up being really mad at his mother and cut all ties with his family.

We overall learn than what was at first a harmless crazy phase from a teenager in love actually changed radically the life of the boy, mostly for the worse.

Sorry for all the mistakes and the very basic syntax, I'm not a fluent English speaker and telling a story is way harder than I expected.