[InsaneRain]

Hey, I'm a massive fan of Haruki Murakami, I think he is one of the best modern writers and I've read practically all his books. I wondered if there are any other Murakami fans lurking about here, if so, what's your favourite book of his?

[.Scout.]

I LOVE MURAKAMI

I only discovered his work about 6 months ago, I have since gone on a massive Murakami binge and read them all.

I think my favourite would have to be Sputnik Sweetheart purely because I felt that I connected with Sumire. For some odd reason I REALLY identified with her.
Sputnik Sweetheart is typical Murakami due to the themes of loneliness, alternate worlds and telephones etc yet for me this book really stands out from all the others probably becauase of the fact that the characters were all SO well developed.

It's for that reason that I really didn't enjoy After Dark. The characters just seemed to superficial, like I really didn't care if Eri came back from the alternate world or not. Infact I did't even see the point of Murakami using this device, what was he trying to say? At least Sputnik Sweetheart seemed to be going somewhere...

I also love Windup Bird Chronicle too.

[mrs_bellamy]

I am also a huge Murakami fan, have been since a friend introduced me to his books three years ago. I haven't read them all yet, as I am trying to savour them! Have read Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Norwegian Wood, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, A Wild Sheep Chase and 1Q84 (books 1, 2 &3). I have loved them all and am excited to gradually read more over the next few years!! I finished my most recent Murakami in December, so I think I am due another one very soon.

[bananafish]

my dad's a big Murakami fan, he's got all his books. I used to sneak them from his collection when I was a kid. I do agree that he's one of the best writers of today. My favourite book of his is south of the border, west of the sun, it's poetic, bordering on depressing, but certainly well written.

[Tochai]

I only discovered Murakami quite recently. I've read Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore and about half of Wind Up Bird Chronicle.

[Bernard Black]

I found out about him a few years ago (though I don't really remember how) and I just love his work. My favourite book is probably Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman and I'm currently reading Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

[Phantom_X]

Really love Murakami, I actually read some of his works in Japanese, which is a lot more poetic than english translations!

[.Scout.]

I'm rereading Norwegian Wood right now

[Pi!]

The Elephant Vanishes is a superb collection of short stories.

[Norfolkadam]

I'm a huge Murakami fan. I think my favourite is probably The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles. I've finished 1Q84 about 2 months ago and I'm at a bit of a loose end for what to read as I've read all his books now.

[ophqui]

Try some other japanese authors if you like murakami. He is a little bit overrated in my opinion. Some books are good (Kafka, Windup bird, Norweigan wood) and others are a little lame but are lapped up by fans of murakami anyway (IQ84 being a prime example of overlong murakami waffle).

Try Junichiro Tanizaki, Soeski, Kenzaburo Oe or Yukio Mishima

[.Scout.]

(Original post by ophqui)
Try some other japanese authors if you like murakami. He is a little bit overrated in my opinion. Some books are good (Kafka, Windup bird, Norweigan wood) and others are a little lame but are lapped up by fans of murakami anyway (IQ84 being a prime example of overlong murakami waffle).

Try Junichiro Tanizaki, Soeski, Kenzaburo Oe or Yukio Mishima

I don't think Murakami is overrated at all!

I agree with the Mishima recommendation, though. I studied him last year as part of one of my uni modules and loved his work - he certainly wrote some bizzare stuff!



Has anyone seen the film of Norwegian Wood? If so, is it a good watch and does it stay true to the book? I saw the trailer and wasn't sure what to make of it. I'm kinda curious to see how a Murakami novel would be made into a film but at the same time, I don't want the book to be ruined for me!

[mrs_bellamy]

(Original post by .Scout.)
Has anyone seen the film of Norwegian Wood? If so, is it a good watch and does it stay true to the book? I saw the trailer and wasn't sure what to make of it. I'm kinda curious to see how a Murakami novel would be made into a film but at the same time, I don't want the book to be ruined for me!

I was really unsure about watching the film, as Norwegian Wood is one of my favourite books, but I absolutely loved it. It is so beautifully done, and I believe it does stay true to the book. The scenery and filming is gorgeous. I did find it so much more depressing than the book though. I cried several times and came out feeling almost slightly traumatised, whereas despite the book obviously also being very sad, I ultimately found it more manageable. I would recommend watching it though, and if you do I hope you like it. I can't imagine how any of his other books that I have read could be made into films without ruining them, but as Norwegian Wood is the most 'normal' of his books (no magical realism etc) I think it was the best choice for a film version. I would recommend seeing it at a cinema if you can, although it was barely shown anywhere here when it came out, so I imagine chances of that are slim now.

[.Scout.]

(Original post by mrs_bellamy)
I was really unsure about watching the film, as Norwegian Wood is one of my favourite books, but I absolutely loved it. It is so beautifully done, and I believe it does stay true to the book. The scenery and filming is gorgeous. I did find it so much more depressing than the book though. I cried several times and came out feeling almost slightly traumatised, whereas despite the book obviously also being very sad, I ultimately found it more manageable. I would recommend watching it though, and if you do I hope you like it. I can't imagine how any of his other books that I have read could be made into films without ruining them, but as Norwegian Wood is the most 'normal' of his books (no magical realism etc) I think it was the best choice for a film version. I would recommend seeing it at a cinema if you can, although it was barely shown anywhere here when it came out, so I imagine chances of that are slim now.

Unfortunatly it wont let me +rep you as apparently I've done so recently but thanks, you've convinced me to give it a watch!

[Paramore<3]

Hands down my favourite author. I think I've read about 10 so far - a best book is really hard to choose! I think it would be either The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, Norwegian Wood or Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. I really admired Norwegian Wood for its relative 'normalness', and the other two were just spectacularly haunting. I've got the DVD of the Norwegian Wood, which I still have to get round to watching...

I bought the Japanese version of After Dark when I was out there, so I'm trying to create my own parallel text with the English version. Murakami's work also led me to buy Penguin's new Japanese parallel text short stories, one of them being Murakami's. Really helpful for someone like me learning Japanese!

[mrs_bellamy]

(Original post by .Scout.)
Unfortunatly it wont let me +rep you as apparently I've done so recently but thanks, you've convinced me to give it a watch!

Great, I hope you like it!

[Im_a_cyborg]

(Original post by .Scout.)
Has anyone seen the film of Norwegian Wood? If so, is it a good watch and does it stay true to the book? I saw the trailer and wasn't sure what to make of it. I'm kinda curious to see how a Murakami novel would be made into a film but at the same time, I don't want the book to be ruined for me!

I saw the film before reading the book as it was shown at a cinema near me, it was dreadful, missed out lots of details about the characters so you could never truly engage with the story and characters. I persuaded myself to read the book and thought it was fantastic.

[Pi!]

I disliked the film of Norwegian Wood. It was fairly dull and just felt like a summary of what happened in the book.

[.Scout.]

(Original post by Im_a_cyborg)
I saw the film before reading the book as it was shown at a cinema near me, it was dreadful, missed out lots of details about the characters so you could never truly engage with the story and characters. I persuaded myself to read the book and thought it was fantastic.

(Original post by Pi!)
I disliked the film of Norwegian Wood. It was fairly dull and just felt like a summary of what happened in the book.

Yeah, I read some reviews online and it seems like they follow the plot yet don't go into much depth within the film. Like fair enough they can't include everything but it seems as if Reiko's back story was completely omitted and this is kinda important. Without all this surely the film would be visually striking yet really hollow...Maybe I will give it a miss then, I've never been one for book to film adaptations.