Haruki Murakami

A mind-bending new collection of short stories from the internationally acclaimed, Haruki Murakami. The eight stories in this new book are all told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator. From memories of youth, meditations on music, and an ardent love of baseball, to dreamlike scenarios and invented jazz albums, together these stories challenge the boundaries between our minds and the exterior world. Occasionally, a narrator may or may not be Murakami himself. Is it memoir or fiction? The reader decides. Philosophical and mysterious, the stories in First Person Singular all touch beautifully on love and solitude, childhood and memory. . . all with a signature Murakami twist.

Stories

First Person Singular

Nkechi A

…I was curious to find out what lay behind the invitation-if, indeed, there was a motive. Why, after all this time, send me an unexpected invitation?

Erste Person Singular

Emma Kim

 »Ich glaube, dass die Liebe der Brennstoff ist, der uns am Leben hält. Vielleicht endet die Liebe eines Tages. Oder sie trägt Früchte. Aber selbst wenn die Liebe verblasst, selbst wenn sie verschwindet, bleibt uns die Erinnerung, jemanden geliebt zu haben. Und diese Erinnerung wird uns zu einer kostbaren Quelle der Wärme. Ohne diese Wärmequelle würden die Herzen der Menschen - und auch die der Affen - sich in eine kalte und unfruchtbare Ödnis verwandeln, auf die kein Sonnenstrahl fällt, wo weder Blumen des Friedens noch Bäume der Hoffnung wachsen. Hier in meinem Herzen bewahre ich die Namen der sieben schönen Frauen, die ich einst geliebt habe. »

Haruki Murakami hat einen guten Humor glaube ich 

Heraus kam ein einfaches gebundenes Buch in einer Auflage von fünfhundert Exemplaren, die ich sämtlich mit einem besonderen Stift signierte. Haruki Murakami, Haruki Murakami. Haruki Murakami ... Erwartungsgemäß fand mein Werk kaum Abnehmer. Wer für solche Dinge Geld ausgibt, hat in der Regel eine Vorliebe für Kuriositäten. Tatsächlich verkaufte ich im Großen und Ganzen etwa dreihundert Exemplare. Die Übrigen verschenkte ich an Freunde und Bekannte. Heute ist das kleine Buch ein wertvolles Sammlerstück, das zu einem erstaunlich hohen Preis gehandelt wird. Man weiß nie, was passiert. Jedenfalls befinden sich nur noch zwei Exemplare in meinem Besitz. Hätte ich mehr behalten, wäre ich ein reicher Mann.

Eigentlich war es das Bild des jungen Mädchens, das die Platte an sich drückte wie einen Schatz, wel- ches mich so in seinen Bann geschlagen hatte. Doch wer weifß, vielleicht hätte mich ihr Anblick ohne das Plattencover nicht so stark fasziniert. Natürlich war da auch die Musik. Aber da war noch irgendetwas anderes, was über sie hinausging, wodurch die Sze- ne sich mir als eine einzigartige spirituelle Moment- aufnahme einprägte. Sie hatte nur an diesemn Ort und zu dieser Zeit entstehen können. Nirgendwo sonst.

« Mach die Augen zu und denk noch mal gründlich nach. Denk an einen Kreis, der viele Mittelpunkte und keine Be- grenzung hat. Wozu hast du deinen Verstand? Er ist dazu da, dir unverständliche Dinge verständlich zu machen. Du darfst nicht faul und nachlässig sein. Jetzt ist der entscheidende Zeitpunkt, an dem sich dein Herz und dein Hirn entwickeln.« 

The eight stories in this new book are all told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator. From memories of youth, meditations on music, and an ardent love of baseball, to dreamlike scenarios and invented jazz albums, together these stories challenge the boundaries between our minds and the exterior world. Occasionally, a narrator may or may not be Murakami himself. Is it memoir or fiction? The reader decides. Philosophical and mysterious, the stories in First Person Singular all touch beautifully on love and solitude, childhood and memory. . . all with a signature Murakami twist.

Bastien Vaucher

WHAT I FIND STRANGE about growing old isn't that I've gotten older. Not that the youthful me from the past has, without my realizing it, aged. What catches me off guard is, rather, how people trom the same generation as me have become elderly, how all the pretty, vivacious girls I used to know are now old enough to have a couple of grandkids. It's a little disconcerting-sad, even. Though I never feel sad at the fact that I have similarly aged.

Prima persona singolare

I really liked this book and I think that, like all Murakami’s books, this was incredibly well written and just descriptive enough to be perfect.

It is not getting five stars from me just because I found two or three of the stories present in the book not extremely interesting… but that is also maybe because I didn’t have much knowledge on the topics described.

Overall though, I loved this book, and I feel like it leaves you with a lot to think about.

Teresa Cervone

I really liked this book and I think that, like all Murakami’s books, this was incredibly well written and just descriptive enough to be perfect.

It is not getting five stars from me just because I found two or three of the stories present in the book not extremely interesting… but that is also maybe because I didn’t have much knowledge on the topics described.

Overall though, I loved this book, and I feel like it leaves you with a lot to think about.

Primera persona del singular

Paoovi

Me aburrió demasiado. Lo concluí esperando que me atrapará pero es muy lento y descriptivo. No me emocionó.

Eva Ströberg

Let me start by saying that I'm a huge fan of Murakami, and somehow I feel like either you love or hate Murakami.

Some of the stories are quite odd (like the first story: Cream), what's that all about? I know Murakami loves to make puzzling stories, but the first one is way too odd. The one that I like the most was the one with the Monkey. That was very strange, but in a good way.

Anyway, the book was very enjoyable and I love reading more from Murakami

Ghofran Mustafa 

I always like the protagonists in Murakami stories.. like they're the same person.

Birinci Tekil Sahis

Beni çok tatmin etmedi Murakami'nin bu eseri. İçinde değişik değişik öyküler var ancak pek de eğlenceli gelmedi bana.

Ender Ahmet Yurt

The First Person Singular

More Murakami stories. Just not his best.

Frederik De Bosschere

idk how to describe this book tbh, it wasn’t very memorable or particularly interesting but fsr i enjoyed it?? idk.

tam 🕴️

"In order to create those enduring, long-suffering words, or else to find them and leave them behind, you must sacrifice, unconditionally, your own body, your very own heart. You have to lay down your neck on a cold stone pillow illuminated by the winter moon."
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Perhaps a little more underwhelming than his novels, this collection of short stories nonetheless has the unique Murakami touch with references to iconic music, Japanese culture, and the cozy everyday life shadowed by faint magical realism elements in a dream-like context.
However, as is the case with most story collections, First Person Singular is a bit of a hit or a miss (although I am sad to say that the hits are fewer than the misses). Cream, Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova,and Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey are definitely highlights of the book, while the rest definitely are too underwhelming, dull, or rambling to make a lasting impression. I definitely would not recommend this one for Murakami beginners.

I will end the review with a direct quote from one of the stories, which I believe sums up this collection quite well:
"Theme? Can't say there is one. It's just about an old monkey who speaks human language, in a tiny town in Gunma Prefecture, who scrubs guests' backs in the hot springs, enjoys cold beer, falls in love with human women, and steals their names. Where's the theme in that? Or moral?"

2.5/5

Farah Aisha Shabrina

Finished it in one go. Definitely my #1 of Murakami’s stories collection, #2 of all his work. I’m not saying that all the stories are perfect and that there’s no one single story that I don’t treasure as much as the others. There are some that I don’t force myself to understand (most of it are about hard-core jazz or even classic that I know nothing about lol), but it’s still quite enjoyable. It’s just that most of the stories really get into me in a quaint way and have become an integral part of me. Though I don’t have to mind you to anticipate any illogical, thought-provoking ideas of his mind as most people would already know the consequences of reading Murakami🤣

TL;DR Cream, With the Beatles, Confessions of Shinagawa Monkey, Carnaval, First Person Singular are my favoo

"Un testimonio del talento y la perdurable creatividad de Murakami." Publishers Weekly "Lo que une todas estas historias es el amor del narrador hacia algo o alguien: una mujer, una canción, un equipo de béisbol, una escena del pasado; un amor vivificante a la vez que profundamente melancólico. Unos relatos magistrales." Booklist "El maestro japonés se interna en la rareza de lo cotidiano, exponiendo los conflictos que hierven a fuego lento dentro de todos nosotros." Oprah Magazine Amores de adolescencia evocados con serena nostalgia, jóvenes apenas vislumbradas, reseñas de jazz sobre discos imposibles, un poeta amante del béisbol, un simio parlante que trabaja como masajista y un anciano que habla del círculo con varios centros... Los personajes y las escenas de este esperadísimo volumen de relatos hacen saltar por los aires los límites entre la imaginación y el mundo real. Y nos devuelven, intactos, los amores perdidos, las relaciones truncadas y la soledad, la adolescencia, los reencuentros y, sobre todo, la memoria del amor, porque "nadie podrá arrebatarnos el recuerdo de haber amado o de haber estado enamorados alguna vez en la vida", asegura el narrador. Un narrador en primera persona que, a veces, podría ser el propio Murakami. ¿Es entonces un libro de memorias, unos relatos con tintes autobiográficos o un volumen exclusivamente de ficción? El lector tendrá que decidir.

Murakami nos trae 8 cuentos distintos en temática, desde mundanos hasta fantásticos en donde el punto en común es él. Recuerdos, música, mujeres, espacios muy personales en donde Murakami deja su ingenio.

Hice una reseña de este libro en mi blog:

http://lectorcompulsivo.com/?p=2737&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=2736

Jose Vera

Murakami nos trae 8 cuentos distintos en temática, desde mundanos hasta fantásticos en donde el punto en común es él. Recuerdos, música, mujeres, espacios muy personales en donde Murakami deja su ingenio.

Hice una reseña de este libro en mi blog:

http://lectorcompulsivo.com/?p=2737&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=2736

Lorraine

I think this was a really good introduction to Murakami. It’s a collection of eight short, unique stories. I liked some a lot more than others, with Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey being my favourite. I liked the quirkiness of the book and will read more from this author.

altlovesbooks

Not his best work. Not even one of his mediocre works. I thought this was a pretty lame attempt at trying to be Murakami, from Murakami himself. I thought the first short story ("Cream") was fine and almost what I was looking for out of Murakami short stories, but it was mostly downhill and rock bottom from there (looking at you, "Caravel". One can only read about Murakami's thoughts on ugly women for so long). 

The only exception was "Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey", which I thought was fun and conjured up some amazing mental images. A talking monkey scrubbing someone's back and making smalltalk? Sure, I'm here for that. 

I'd pass on this one though, even if you're a Murakami fan. Maybe for completion's sake once you've read just about everything else by him. It's a quick read, if nothing else.

Hellboy TCR

I like the stories Shinagawa Monkey and With the Beatles. There is lot of music in this, of course, I have been listening to lot of "Murakami" music over the last couple of months and i love them, they enhance the experience too. Not his best collection though.

Finn Salter

I’ve read lots of murkami’s books and at this point it feels like he’s just regurgitating the same stories. It was still written beautifully but lacked anything new or interesting.

Ashley 

Didn’t get the meaning behind the words. 

Seda Zorlu 

A mindbending new collection of short stories from the unique, internationally acclaimed author of Norwegian Wood and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. The eight masterly stories in this new collection are all told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator. From nostalgic memories of youth, meditations on music and an ardent love of baseball to dreamlike scenarios, an encounter with a talking monkey and invented jazz albums, together these stories challenge the boundaries between our minds and the exterior world. Occasionally, a narrator who may or may not be Murakami himself is present. Is it memoir or fiction? The reader decides. Philosophical and mysterious, the stories in First Person Singular all touch beautifully on love and solitude, childhood and memory... all with a signature Murakami twist.

Ezgi Çilingiroğlu

Kath Lau

It’s not his best short story collection in my opinion but I still enjoyed most of the stories. All the stories have one thing in common – they’re all written in first person POV. They’re atmospheric, imaginative, and don’t make sense at times. But these are some of the many reasons why I love and admire his style.

Jales

solid writing, interesting stories, perfect length, reflective, a very fun read, jazz as always.
the only one i didn't feel really connected with was the baseball one, but the rest of 'em i felt good about, so valid points were done.

on the last one, he says he looks in the mirror for a long period of time and doesn't recognise himself. felt that.

First Person Singular Stories

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