Haruki Murakami

twenty-four stories

Blind willow, sleeping woman

Just spoon-feed me Murakami stories and I’ll be fine.

Frederik De Bosschere

Sarah Sammis

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman is the first book by Haruki Murakami I've had the pleasure of reading. It won't be the last. This slim book contains twenty-four short stories that range from subtle character studies of ordinary folks to journeys into the surreal.

These stories were translated beautifully by Philip Gabriel and Jay Rubin who have translated many of his other books. Gabriel did the English translation of Kafka on the Shore, for example.

My favorite story is "Chance Traveler" which recounts a series of coincidences. First the author injects himself into the story explaining his weird moments with jazz and from there launches into a wonderful story about a piano turner who ends up reconnecting with his sister after the meeting with a stranger. "Chance Traveler" captures the magic of serendipity and how it inspires our some of our most important actions in life.

Another story that tickled my fancy was the more surreal "Dabchick" that has a wonderful Twilight Zone pay off. It's a completely silly story and written for laughs just as Asimov's "Shah Guido G" was.

My least favorite was "A Perfect Day for Kangaroos" because the characters didn't understand kangaroos. Like all marsupials, kangaroos are born extremely premature. A kangaroo joey won't leave the pouch until it is at least 3 to 4 months old, not 1 month old as described in the story.

The entire list of stories is:

 1. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
 2. Birthday Girl
 3. New York Mining Disaster
 4. Airplane: Or, How He Talked to Himself As If Reciting Poetry
 5. The Mirror
 6. A Folklore for My Generation: A Pre-History of Late-Stage Capitalism
 7. Hunting Knife
 8. A Perfect Day for Kangaroos
 9. Dabchick
 10. Man-Eating Cats
 11. A "Poor Aunt" Story
 12. Nausea 1979
 13. The Seventh Man
 14. The Year of Spaghetti
 15. Tony Takitani
 16. The Rise and Fall of Sharpie Cakes
 17. The Ice Man
 18. Crabs
 19. Firefly
 20. Chance Traveler
 21. Hanalei Bay
 22. Where I'm Likely to Find It
 23. The Kidney-Shaped Stone That Moves Every Day
 24. A Shinagawa Monkey

A young man accompanies his cousin to the hospital to check an unusual hearing complaint and recalls a story of a woman put to sleep by tiny flies crawling inside her ear; a mirror appears out of nowhere and a nightwatchman is unnerved as his reflection tries to take control of him; a couple's relationship is unbalanced after dining exclusively on exquisite crab while on holiday; a man follows instructions on the back of a postcard to apply for a job, but an unknown password stands between him and his mysterious employer. In each one of these stories Murakami sidesteps the real and sprints for the surreal. Everyday events are transcended, leaving the reader dazzled by this master of his craft. Blind Willow, Sleeping Womanis Murakami's most eclectic collection of stories to date, spanning five years of his writing. An introduction explains the diversity of the author's choice.

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

“The world felt out of kilter. He could hear as it creaked through this new orbit. Something had happened, he thought, and the world had changed. Everything was out of order, and would never get back to the way it was.”

---------------------------------

On a quest to finally read every unread book on my shelves, I have realized that there are some books that I suspect I might have read before, a long time ago when they were first published, but do not remember anything from them. This was one of these cases. I am a big fan of Murakami’s works in general, so I thought I would pick it up again to jog my memory. Perhaps, I have read this before, and perhaps not, because none of the stories seemed at all familiar to me, although we see a lot of typical Murakami elements in the stories that are frequently found in his longer works.

Unfortunately, I can never enjoy his short stories as much as his novels, as the stories feel too short; I am used to follow the winding storylines through all its strange twists and turns in a slow and steady pace, except in their shorter form, it feels like the story just whizzes past so fast that i have lost sight of it by the time I take the first turn. Although they still contain Murakami’s unique dreamy quality, his spirit and style, it is always too short to really immerse yourself in the story. It just feels like something is missing, something very small but essential.

Unfortunately, it was not very memorable for me once again, but Birthday Girl, The Mirror, The Seventh Man and Where I am Likely To Find It are definitely the most enjoyable stories in this collection, and are worth a revisit once in a while to get the Murakami hit in a short time.

Farah Aisha Shabrina

4.5*

The thing about reading Murakami’s book, be it his novel or the collection of his short stories, is that you could never expect what you are getting yourself into. And that’s kinda the point of it. His stories always go beyond our imagination and our interpretation of the true meaning of the stories themselves. Not that we have lower imagination skill than Murakami, nor than most people who read Murakami. It’s just the way how his stories should be, bringing us close to our personal matters and our intimate relationships with ourselves. A narrative that tells multiform stories.

*-0.5 only because I prefer reading a novel rather than short stories

As I read more and more pieces by Murakami, I become more used to the bizarre elements that are seamlessly woven into the plot. They used to shock me a bit, but now repentant talking monkeys and corporate executive dabchicks are just normal to read about. 

None of these stories are life changing, but they do know how to wiggle into your brain like tiny worms and stay there for a long, long time. You might have a chance encounter that brings up a mild feeling of deja vu before you realize a few days later that it hadn't actually happened to you before - you had read it in a Murakami story some time before. 

Ashlyn

As I read more and more pieces by Murakami, I become more used to the bizarre elements that are seamlessly woven into the plot. They used to shock me a bit, but now repentant talking monkeys and corporate executive dabchicks are just normal to read about. 

None of these stories are life changing, but they do know how to wiggle into your brain like tiny worms and stay there for a long, long time. You might have a chance encounter that brings up a mild feeling of deja vu before you realize a few days later that it hadn't actually happened to you before - you had read it in a Murakami story some time before. 

Here are animated crows, a criminal monkey, an ice man, as well as the dreams that shape us and the things we wish for. Whether during a chance reunion in Italy, a romantic exile in Greece, a holiday in Hawaii or in the grip of everyday life, Murakami's characters confront loss, or sexuality, or the glow of a firefly, or the impossible distance between those who ought to be closest of all. ** Murakami’s new novel is coming ** COLORLESS TSUKURU TAZAKI AND HIS YEARS OF PILGRIMAGE 'The reason why death had such a hold on Tsukuru Tazaki was clear. One day his four closest friends, the friends he’d known for a long time, announced that they did not want to see him, or talk with him, ever again.'

Morgana

** spoiler alert **
           Non mi piace il finale di molte storie, questo perché molte storie un finale non lo hanno proprio. Che senso ha scrivere una storia se poi non si sa come concludere? Il tipo che va a lavoro e deve dare la parola d'ordine, ad esempio, io avrei proprio voluto saperla questa parola d'ordine ed invece chiude senza dirla. L'investigatore privato? Insomma, il marito è sparito mentre tornava a casa a mangiare i pancakes, lui cerca per giorni e poi lo chiamano e gli dicono che lo hanno trovato e non si sa come, non si sa che cavolo ha combinato, non si capisce niente. 
Alcune storie sono assurde perfino per Murakami. 
La zia povera sulla schiena non aveva il minimo senso, e poi per quale motivo improvvisamente dopo tre mesi se ne è andata via? Ed il ragazzo che aveva nausea per 40 giorni dopo le telefonate anomine? "Sai chi sono" sì, ma noi lettori no visto che anche questa volta non lo hai voluto spiegare. Il tipo dei granchi che vomita i vermi mi ha fatto un po' impressione, e sinceramente non ho ancora capito per quale motivo decide di lasciare la ragazza di punto in bianco quando fin ora tutto era andato bene ( solo perché ha vomitato? non ha senso ).

Kath Lau

This is probably a perfect introduction to Murakami's works, in my opinion. My favorites are: Birthday Girl, The Mirror, The Year of Spaghetti, The Rise and Fall of Sharpie Cakes, Firefly, Chance Traveler, The Kidney-Shaped Stone That Moves Everyday.

aywen

Lucas Dietrich

Mario Menti 

Anita

Kris 

Maria

From the surreal to the mundane, an anthology of short fiction captures a full range of human experience, emotion, and relationship in works that chronicle a chance reunion in Italy, a holiday in Hawaii, and a romantic exile in Greece.

Blind willow, sleeping woman twenty-four stories

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