Murakami and His Wonderful Books

Being in a literary mood, I thought I'd discuss Haruki Murakami's wonderful books. I've read six of them now, and am soon to read two more; Wild Sheep Chase and Sputnik Sweetheart. I've tended to avoid getting caught up in any single author before, but I've slowly slid into the Murakami trap. Not that it's that bad a trap to be in. My favourite Murakami books, in order (yes I know everone loves writing lists in order, but no-one likes reading them, but this is my blog so there) are...

1. Norweigan Wood
2. Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
3. Kafka on the Shore
4. Underground
5. Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
6. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

All six are excellant books, there has not been a single disappointment. The only book that comes close in Blind Willow, but purely because I've never been a fan of short stories. Once I get sucked into a book I want to be able to stay there for a while, whereas short stories seem to drag you out just as things are getting good.

I finished Hard Boiled Wonderland yesterday. It's one of Murakami's most surreal, with its (and his) highly publicised Kafka-esque passages, as well as bizarre leanings towards science fiction. Yet its his writing style, his effortless descriptions of every detail of regular life, and his exploration of human relationships, that once again makes it so gripping. You really get inside the heads (quite literally in this book) of Murakami's central characters, and he manages to recreate the reality of relationships and life, particular within urban environments. It's when he focuses on this most fully- and cuts out the surrealism that many find attractive- in Norweigan Wood, that I enjoy his writing the most. Wind-Up Bird is his most discussed book, and the harrowing wartime Manchuria scene in the middle of the book (as well as the host of metaphors that any high school English literature teacher would go nuts over) certainly make it stand out. Yet the narrative itself is stronger in H-B-Wonderland, in Kafka on the Shore, and certainly in Norweigan Wood.

Ultimately its very easy to identify with the characters Murakami creates in his books. You sympathise and understand these imperfect individuals, often thrown into extraordinary situations. Hard Boiled Wonderland has one of those endings where you stop and think for some time afterwards. It's either profound or ridiculous, and I haven't quite worked out which yet.

In other exciting news the staff at my local supermarket, Nishina Food Basket, are now all wearing Santa hats! Cheery people in Santa hats are no big deal. And grumpy people without hats are just depressing. But there's something highly amusing about grumpy people in Santa hats.

Finally, today I prepared a lesson plan entitled Birmingham: City of Dreams. I hope to make it available for download on this blog soon enough, but for now, here's a preview from the introduction...

"Birmingham is the second largest city in Britain.It has the biggest shopping mall in Europe, called the Bull Ring. It also has an excellant football team called Birmingham City Football Club. It has many good restaurant that serve curry. A special curry from Birmingham is called a balti. Birmingham is a special place. The people there are very friendly. It is full of opportunities. It is a City of Dreams!"

I hope to do a follow-up, entitled "Nottingham : City of Gun Crime" soon.