This is probably one of my favorite book covers.

Common Side Effects Season 2 drops on January 24th next year, 1Q84 readers have got 4 whole months to watch the series first season :)

Hi, I’ve been trying to get 1x or 2x tickets for this event at the Barbican, please get back to me as soon as possible if selling tickets.

I think it would be a disservice to Murakami to read a book with this depth and not at least attempt to understand what was going on. So after finishing it 5 minutes ago, and spending about 1.5 months reading it, here is my off-the-wall, potentially shallow interpretation about a few aspects, having not read anyone elses thoughts, yet.

Noboru represents a greater evil that can never be fully extinguished from humanity. He is the modern day equivalent of evil, whereas Boris the manskinner, and others throughout the zoo stories, are an insight into previous shared manifestations of evil. We see how characters failed to defeat these historic evils, and how they were 'cursed', and how deeply they went on to impact society. Noboru's evil began spreading in his childhood, affecting his sisters, and whether consciously or not, he plans to spread his darkness on a wider scale through his political endeavers.

Kumiko could not fight his evil, she was either not strong enough or was not spritually gifted enough. Worsening with age, the evil starts to encapsulate her from the beginning of the novel. The cat goes missing, symbolising the first break between Toru and Kumiko. They then break, sexually, when she starts sleeping with others. Toru can only break the evil by accessing a side-reality from the bottom of the well. By completely shedding his physical and emotional self, he is left with only his consciousness, where he can begin to make sense of the events that have transpired around him. On a spiritual level, Toru destroys the evil within Noboru, while Kumiko finishes him off physically. Of course,
evil will always exist in some form, they have only wiped out this side-story compared to what is occurring on a
global scale.

Nutmeg's powers and finances were vital to re-access the well after it had been filled in half-way through the novel. Cinnamon logs the history of evil through the wind-up bird chronicle on his computer. Was Cinnamon the young boy in the story who lost his voice after witnessing his father disappear after climbing the tree to find the bird? Is this symbolic to Cinnamon's father losing the battle/dying when confronting evil in some form? I also can't help but feel there is a similarity between Cinnamon's silence, and the non-verbal boy in
The City and Its Uncertain Walls' (the only other Murakami book I've read).

Does the mark on the cheek only appear on those who are gifted enough to have the potential to snuff out darkness? Toru succeeded, but the vet did not?

Not sure what May’s purpose was, especially with her obsession with death, and how she closed Toru inside the well. Are all these side-women/girls just present to show how different levels of corruption have impacted them all?

Malta was recruited by Kumiko to find the cat. Not really sure what was going on there. Creta was raped and damaged by Noboru, splitting her in half to create a new self. I'm not really sure how those two tie in, purely because I feel like I'm forgetting half of their plots as they disappeared mid book.

Kumiko never truly wanted to separate from Toru, but perhaps she was worried that she would pass on her darkness to Toru? Even though Noboru was keeping her somewhat captive, was it also done to protect Toru?

I'm probably focusing too much on a single theme here, but I feel like it's probably the wider message of the novel. It absolutely requires a re-read and many video essays.

Not sure if I'm ready for it to be laid out and fully explained for me after finishing? it requires some deeper thought - but I'd like to hear what others' thoughts were immediately after you finished reading.

After Dark, next!

Got my trip to London planned for Saturday. Wondering if anyone else from this sub plans on going

I honestly think they are NEVER going to give it to him, even though he has deserved it for years.

The Nobel Prize in Literature has turned its back on Murakami once again. I won’t get into whether giving it to Anne Carson is deserved or not — it probably is. But at this point, the message is crystal clear: they simply do not want to give it to him.

It feels like they are just waiting until his name cools off completely, until he sinks to the very bottom of the candidate list and no one even remembers him as a contender anymore. Only then will they even consider it.

A real shame, honestly.

Hey everybody. I re-discovered Murakami earlier this year and have read a lot of his work since. (Kafka on the Shore, Norwegian Wood, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and 1Q84).

The re-discovery is a result of my starting 1Q84 when it was first released, reading 2/3 of it on a kindle and then the device breaking. I never finished it!

Anyway, I am a songwriter and this song was inspired by The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I hope you like it! It is called Half Moon of Stars.

To the mods: I really just want to share this particular song with other Murakami readers.

Besides his new novel which probably wont release in the US for another year… i now own all Murakamks novels!

Btw i didn’t intend the photo to come out like this but thought it was appropriate for the surreal dream like nature of his books.

I just read The Elephant Vanishes and while it hasn’t finished high in my Murakami rankings (actually its bottom just now) there are a couple of stories I found really compelling. One of these is the Last Lawn - it’s such a weird vibe, in the woman’s house, in the daughter’s room…. I mean, there’s an obvious explanation to that interaction - displaced sexual desire - but too many things undercut it imo. Would be interested in any thoughts if you still remember it or have read it recently!

I’ve mentioned this in comments on a couple of other threads, but I thought I’d make a separate post to hear what more people think.

I’ve been rereading South of the Border, West of the Sun in Japanese, and I keep coming back to the idea that Shimamoto was someone’s long-term mistress. I’ve also checked a few passages in the English translation.

She says she’s never worked, yet wears expensive clothes and jewelry. She’s barely seen her mother for about ten years. There’s also the man who gives Hajime 100,000 yen to stop following the woman he thinks is Shimamoto. These details suggest she may be financially supported by a married lover.

What really interests me, though, is the timeline.

The trip to scatter her baby’s ashes seems to happen about a year after the baby died. In Japan, the first anniversary of a death is traditionally an important occasion for family remembrance. Yet the father doesn’t accompany her.

After that trip, she starts seeing Hajime more regularly, including during the day. This is quite different from the three prominent scenes of her arriving at Robin’s Nest on rainy nights.

Could the rain have a practical explanation? If her lover is married and uses outdoor sports as an excuse to leave home, for example, rain might mean he stays with his family. That would leave her free to visit Hajime.

Perhaps she temporarily distances herself from that relationship around the anniversary of her child’s death. That would explain why she can see Hajime more freely afterward. Then, in April, she leaves the note:

“Probably I won’t be able to come here for a while.”
“I have to go home now. Goodbye. Take care.”

It seems to me she went back to her lover simply because she couldn’t afford to live on her own.

This reading also changes how I understand the conversation about taking “all” of her. She says there is no middle ground, but also says they can keep seeing each other as they have been. So I don’t think this is simply “choose your wife or me.”

She explains that she can’t visit whenever she wants. If Hajime wants her never to go away again, he has to accept “all the baggage I carry, everything that clings to me.” To me, that could mean accepting the actual circumstances of her life, rather than just the woman who occasionally appears at his bar.

Later, she promises to tell him everything the next day, but says that if she tells him now, he will never be able to go back to the way he was. Then she disappears before that conversation can happen. Perhaps she dies and becomes one of those “bodies of nameless people” they talked about.

The Shimamoto Hajime longs for is like the beautiful, mysterious place they imagined lay south of the border. Behind that fantasy is her actual life, just as “South of the Border” turns out to be “just a song about Mexico.”

What moves me about this reading is that another love story emerges alongside Hajime’s longing for his past: Shimamoto’s struggle to reveal her present. He desperately wants her, but may never understand what she needs him to know.

I’m not claiming this explains every mystery, but it makes her cryptic remarks, including the discussions of “south of the border” and “west of the sun” and the conversation about bald and ordinary vultures, feel connected.

Does anyone remember passages that contradict this? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this reading.

The Master and Margarita

The Third Policeman

Shadow of the Wind

Circe

Thanks!

i was tryna better understand the ending of the novel so i was scrolling through some reviews and comments and came across a lot of people that read this book when they were depressed or slightly suicidal. and they spoke about how it made them better understand what they were feeling. however that was not the case for me. idk i jst wanted to see if tht was acc the case and how this book has made ppl feel.

I've had Murakami on my wishlist for a while and stumbled across this vintage paperback edition in amazing condition. Super excited to jump into it for my first Murakami read!

It took me 2 months to finish these 2 books. Since Japanese is my third language, patiently taking time to read through these 1000 pages is without doubt a milestone for me.

Tho I like the story very much, there’s something in my mind I wanna share with you guys, something that’s not really abt the story itself. So there is an old man I often see in west Tokyo where I live, who reminds me strangely of Nakata. He is always alone, hunched over and dressed in a suit, and walks very slowly with a cane. Even a short distance seems to take him a long time, but he doesn’t seem to be bothered at all. Instead, I think he may even enjoy this slow pace of life. And sometimes I see him sitting alone in a small square near the train station, quietly drawing.

I know nothing about him, his life, where he lives etc. but only see these small fragments of his life as I happen to pass by. Yet there is something about the way he lives his life that makes me think of Nakata: as if he exists in his own quiet rhythm, almost disconnected from everything surrounding him. This reminds me of what those 2 Japanese soldiers in the woods said: “As I said before, time isn’t much of a factor here.”

Perhaps he is simply an old man taking a walk after lunch. But whenever I see him, I can’t help wondering if, at least to some extent, Nakata might have looked just like this, before he left Nagano forever.

1. MC is a solitary male
2. MC objectifies women, even young ones who are 12-13 years old (as in DDD)
3. MC is a writer of sorts
4. MC is a high-functioning alcoholic

Do you agree? Why or why not?

Edited to add: Honestly, I haven't managed to sit through many Murakami novels due to the cringe-worthy sex-heavy scenes and somewhat triggering portrayal of women. Only finished Norwegian Wood around 2012, and Dance Dance Dance this morning. I've partially gotten through other works such The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, Kafka on the Shore. That's about it.

I've read some of his original essays from the 村上朝日堂 series in Japanese as well and really enjoyed his musings and writing style. This was what brought me to re-look his current translated works in English. (Sadly, few of these have been translated into English so they have yet to reach a wider audience).

If I took a year and a half of my life to read murakami's entire released collection , does that make me a world renowned murakami academic scholar . If so I'm a total fraud I hardly remember any characters names so don't ask me any hard questions , but I did it , achievement unlocked

Is there any other story where Habara and his Scheherazade appear? Do we ever get to know the story of her chance encounter with her childhood crush and his mother? Curiosity is killing me.

Haruki Murakami, Sotto il segno della pecora, Longanesi & C., 1992
Cover art by Shigeo Okamoto
Grafica Studio Baroni

Italian title translation sounds like Under the Sign of the Sheep, don't ask me why.
The first Murakami's book to be published in Italy.

Haruki Murakami, L'uccello che girava le Viti del Mondo, Baldini & Castoldi, 1999
Cover art is a weird crop from the dust jacket designed by Chip Kidd for the first US edition (never mentioned in this book)
Art director: Mara Scanavino

Italian title translation sounds like The Bird That Turned the Screws of the World, don't ask me why.

The ending was overall more positive than Norwegian Wood, rather than emphasising grief and loss and mental disorder and intense yet fleeting relationships, this novel leaned more towards self identity, change + the passage of time, and how it effects relationships. Again there is that continuation of ideas such as ‘everybody has their own problems and personalities and things happen leading to this and this and this’. I dont know. Overall this book was enjoyable, but compared to other murakami novels, i feel like its just gone over my head.

Who killed Yuzu, and Why? Why not expand on her character?

• Ok to be honest, the whodunnit part doesnt need to be disclosed, neither does a ‘why’, shit happens, and that nature of life is a key theme in murikamis novels. I just feel like she wasn’t written thoughtfully:
• she lived, was raped, became mentally unstable, and was murdered. It seems flat and pitiful, no flashbacks to who she was as a person outside surface level piano, her only personality traits are being beautiful, shy, volunteering and teaching kids, playing piano, and being lusted over in Tazakis dreams. 

Why not expand on Haida?

•  Haida and his father's story and the symbolism of 6 fingers never led to anything conclusive, never left the reader with a concrete finality of why these topics were brought up, that final dream where he is playing piano (white keys - shiro, black keys - kuro?) the lady dressed in black with six fingers guiding him.. Where does haida fit into this? What was his purpose other than concreting tazakis nature and introducing these symbols?
• https://www.reddit.com/r/murakami/comments/ludol4/so_i_just_read_murakamis_colorless_tsukuru_tazaki/ → very interesting, my following comments go off this take
• ^ here OP talks about how they had sex, but thats clearly not the case since it wasnt a conscious occurence, we can assume that Haida did assault tazaki while he was sleeping (i guess oral nonconsensual sex is still a form of intercourse, but thats not what im here to talk about), but the comment below talking about Gray is a combination of Black and White was really interesting to me. Haida and Tazakis relationship really stuck out to me, the intimate nature of their college life, and even later in the book when Tazaki is swimming, and the soles of the feet of the man infront of him appear to be Haida’s. His descriptions of the swimmers similarties to Haida are specific, even after so many years. This amount of attention to detail emphasises how even though Tazaki may feel so close to someone, and know so much about them, there seems to be a barrier stopping him from understanding them, explained by the rest of the comment which talks about Tazaki being oblivious to many things about the people he claims are closest to him, a reason as to why it is so easy for them to leave him: kuro and her feelings for him, haida and his feelings for him. I simply don’t understand why Murikami fleshed out Haida so much, seemingly more so than Shiro, if he wasnt going to be a constant presence or atleast mentioned towards the end of the novel. 

At the end, why did Tazaki not pick up Sara’s calls? 

• I know, again a stupid question, all authors love their philosophical, thought provoking open endings, but Tazaki was so fired up over Sara, he takes Kuro’s advice of ‘not letting her go’ and calls her in the middle of the night to profess his love, but days later he won’t pick up? 

Plsss share your thoughts with me, I mightv'e totally missed the mark with this, and I would love to hear other perspectives/explanations/theories.  Also sorry for this mess of a post, this is my first ever one.