i’ve definitely fallen into Murakami’s style now, the very fantastic, science fiction twinged fables. After the Quake, as a collection, was far more striking. but a few of these stories stand out with an obvious sense of humor or enjoyable haunting mysteriousness—“The Dancing Dwarf” and “TV People” respectively. now i am curious to read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle after the short story that appears to have been worked into a novel.
i’ve got a few books in line before i’ll be going to get the wind-up bird chronicle, but we should definitely share impressions.
have you read any other murakami short stories? you should definitely read after the quake but there are some really fantastic ones in this collection too.
i didn’t like the windup bird chronicle after i’d read his shorter novels. i love SPUTNIK SWEETHEART the best.
What about the ending in the short story Sleep. Does the woman commit suicide or is she come upon by bad guys? Need to know.
i don’t believe that story or its ending are as concrete as you want them to be.
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I just read the story “The Elephant Vanishes” a few days ago. Now it’s one of my favorite short stories of all time. I have The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but haven’t had time to invest in reading it yet; I didn’t realize how long it was when I ordered it. We’ll have to share impressions. I do love Murakami, the way the strangenesses in his stories amplify the more acceptable/tolerated weirdnesses of everyday life.