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

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

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. 

Ana Maria Vera

First time reading Murakami and I think it didn't disappoint. The stories are thought-provoking,  introspective and kind of comforting. They are all different but I always found myself being intrigued and surprised as the narrators described their extremely absurd / unbelievable life situations. Very enjoyable, fast-paced read!

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.

Ryan Brewer

Becky Carpenter

Roy Zwambag

A riveting new collection of short stories from the beloved, internationally acclaimed Haruki Murakami. The eight masterful stories in this new collection are all told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator, a lonely man. Some of them (like "With the Beatles," "Cream" and "On a Stone Pillow") are nostalgic looks back at youth. Others are set in adulthood--"Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova," "Carnaval," "Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey" and the title story, "First Person Singular." Occasionally, a narrator who may or may not be Haruki himself is present, as in "The Yakult Swallows Poetry Collection." Is it memoir or fiction? The reader decides. The stories touch beautifully on love and loss, childhood and death . . . all with a signature Murakami twist.

The First Person Singular

Patrick Ludewig

Gulshan Hasanzada

wylan

Anli Tamaribuchi 

Camille Wenner

Joe Zimet

These eight stories, all told in the first person, showcase Haruki Murakami's reality-bending skills at their very finest. From memories of youth, meditations on music, and an ardent love of baseball to dreamlike scenarios and imaginary jazz albums, together these tales challenge the boundary between the mind and the real world. Here we encounter men having a beer with a talking monkey, analyzing tanka poems written by a former lover, and in the throes of Beatlemania. And, occasionally, a narrator who may or may not be Murakami himself. Philosophical and mysterious, the stories in First Person Singular all touch beautifully on love and solitude, childhood and memory. . . with a signature Murakami twist.

First Person Singular Stories

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