One of those typical, quirky, dreamy works by Haruki Murakami, this compilation of short stories plays to the strengths and weaknesses of the author, delivering a work easy to enjoy, particularly by his fans, but that doesn't break any new ground and that, for some of his fans, may seem repetitive or empty of significance.
The stories of this short book are just five, and all have a length of around 40 pages. There is the piano tuner and the causalities that abound in his life, there is the mother of the surfer that keeps going back to Hawaii after her son's death, there is the writer and his 'second' love, there is the woman that keeps forgetting her name, and there is the wife whose husband suddenly disappeared.
All have Murakami's trademark style of reality infused by dreams, of quirky situations and of characters that take random events as totally normal. It is all charming enough, and Murakami does a great job of introducing the reader to his world and making the reader believe what he is reading (maybe the last one, the "品川猿", is the one where things make less sense and the story is stretched thinner). But at the same time, even if his writing style and the way he develops the story entrances the reader, the delivery, the ending seem always to be a little bit half-baked, and that takes some of the strength from the stories. It is an interesting enough reading, but probably better for fans.
The best: the writing style; the dreamy world; it is very easy to feel immersed in the stories
The worst: normally the endings are a little bit forced; "品川猿" is the weakest by far, with a resolution that seems out of bar conversation about how to create silly stories, surprise for the sake of surprise has a limit
Further reading: I am not the number one fan of Murakami, so I can just recommend "Sputnik Sweetheart" (not the biggest fan of "Norwegian Wood"). In this case "Infinite Jest" is for sure a recommendation, even if their worlds and writing styles are really different. Maybe "The House of Nire" by Morio Kita would be an interesting companion, or "Jo confesso" by Jaume Cabré, an author with some similarities to Murakami.
6.5/10
(Original Japanese)
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