Haruki Murakami 村上春樹コミュのWhat's Your Favourite Murakami Book?

Rick,

Hear the Wind Sing, The Wild Sheep Chase, and Dance Dance Dance are called "early trilogy of Murakami works".
There are connections between them; such as "the Rat" and "Dolphin Hotel", which i don't think appeared in "Hear the wind sing" but in other two.
One of my favorite thing about reading series of Murakami works is finding same characters in different stories, which is like seeing old friends in different places. Sometimes it seems just a person who has same name, though. Like Watanabe-kun appears too many stories to be one person.

Rick, I really appreciate that you started this community. I like it.

Masayon: Actually, I was just going to make a topic about similar things in Murakami's books! You can find so many similar things, especially people's names and place names etc., and especially in short stories. It's kind of funny, and always interesting. I love it too. It's nice to see we have a lot in common.

I'm really happy you like this community -- I am also happy I started it... it's so interesting to talk about Murakami.

ゆうさん: You're English is perfect!! Anyway, the important thing is that you make an effort, and I'm glad you want to talk about Murakami in English. Norwegian Wood is my favourite too! I want to reread it again soon.

Nice to meet you.
I love Murakami Haruki's works, too.
Particularly, I like "世界の終わりとハードボイルド・ワンダーランド”and ”ねじまき鳥クロニクル”.
I prefer longer story, though the shorter are not bad
because I think that the longer his works are, the brighter they are.
Other writers are bored if they write longer story, I think.

By the way, I sometimes have a trouble if I read his works.
Its trouble is that I can't return real world immediately when reading concentrately.
For example, when I read "Dance dance dance", I had got feeling like "death"...though I can't explain that.
And, I was very very scared!!!!

since that incident, too concentrating his works is dangerous in a sense, I think.
But, of course, I love his works and keep reading them.

Lastly, "Kafka on the Shore" was interesting, and I like ”星野さん”and"ナカタさん”very much.

I want to listen to other people's opinions.

Nody,

yes i agree with you. sometimes i indulge myself too much in his stories and it makes me difficult to readjust to "reality". but hey, isn't it one of the pleasure of reading books?

as for 星野くん and ナカタさん, i found they were called just "Hoshino" and "Nakata" in the english version. it makes me wonder if these uniqueness could be expressed enough. most of japanese, i believe, should immidiately notice the strangeness of the way of Nakata-san's talking and it have to be Nakata-san (nakata in Katakana) not in Kanji nor just Nakata.
how did the translator write this unique atmosphere around Nakata-san in english, rick?
i wrote i'd read Kafka on the shore in english somewhere in my past post. However, i haven't read it yet.
now i'm reading a book by John Irving, which i believe a familier name among Japanese Murakami readers.

everyone, how do you like Murakami's translation works?

Nody: Thanks for joining! Your favourite book is titled, "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" in English, and it's one that I really want to read again soon. I haven't read it for a long time, but you know, I think about it a lot.

Masayon: Good question. Translation is an art. In many cases the translators should be authors themselves. As for why they call Mr. Nakata just "Nakata" and likewise with "Hoshino", is because it is unnatural to call one of the main characters 'Mr.〜' through the whole story without a good reason. We usually just use someone's first name in the stories etc. In this case, it is just Nakata and Hoshino -- I think because the author wanted them to be more mysterious. Even in Japanese "Hoshino" and "Nakata" are very common names.

Masayon: Thank you for your message. I'm very very glad that someone has what I am saying understand.
Moreover, I want to read his works in English version
if I go to this community. I would like to know how to express sentences of his works, though it is hard for me to read through them for some time because I have no time.

Rick: I'm amazing that "In this case, it is just Nakata and Hoshino". I thought that such cases were another expression, such as Nakata-san. Though I have not experienced English books, of course, Haruki's works, I would feel like my different emotions or ideas and so on. Do you have recommended his workd in English version??
Please tell me about it if you don't mind.

Akasaka: Well, I'm not sure about the Japanese name for the book, but in English "After the Quake" is a book of his short stories, and they're good. There's also "The Elephant Vanishes", which is a bit longer and also great! Both contain some stories from longer works, like Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but many others are also Originals. There's also "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman" coming out in ENglish later this year -- and I think it's based on a book of short stories which came out in Japanese last year. Again, I don't know the title though.

holy moly i completely agree with masayon i was just gonna say the same thing.. it is really like seeing your old friends and you feel so much for the two characters, 'i' and the rat, well perhaps 3 including jay. the interesting thing is, i read 'a wild sheep chase' first, then １９７３年のピンボール and i'm currently reading 風の歌を聴け. so it almost feels like i met 'i' in his early 30's and he's telling me all these things that happened to him and the rat, which is what murakami writes in 'a wild sheep chase'. at the end of his story, he sees that i'm quite at loss (i didn't really 'get' the ending of how he came to that emotional state), consequently deciding to fill me in of his and the rat's past, as he figured that that would help me better understand where he's coming from..

haha yes i know this sounds pretty weird.. but i gotta say that i'm loving it:)

ok so my fav murakami book so far.. is 海辺のカフカ. i immensely enjoyed the random discussions thrown in here and there on literature, music, philosophy etc.. and i won't even start on the surreal yet real nature of his characters (esp nakata-san!) and the plot... $#@*%^@$%^!!! it's just sensational..

props to you rick for starting this community. you're the man!

リック、赤坂さん
"after the quake" is called 「神の子どもたちはみな踊る」 and "the elephant vanishes" is 「象の消滅」. the former collection is more weird and a little darker in a way, i think it because the theme is on Hanshin-Awaji Great Earthquake. i would recommend "the elephant vanishes", if you like his earlier works.
since i like earlier works in terms of short stories, i would recommend「蛍、納屋を焼く、その他の短編」,「TVピープル」or「カンガルー日和」, if you are going to read them in Japanese.
well, i seem to be an out-of-date murakami reader... i like earlier ones better because sometimes it seems to get too "surreal" in recent ones; in other words, i think, the border between "our everyday world" and "murakami wonderland" was more blur in the earlier works. it's about the balance, i guess.
let us know what do you think after you read some short stories, 赤坂さん。

oh yeah one more thing.. has anyone read 海辺のカフカ in both eng and japanese? i've only read it once in japanese and although i own a copy in eng, i haven't really had the time to read it with uni work and all.. so anyways, for anyone who has, do you reckon it's better in 日本語 or eng? and why?

i'm asking this question cuz i really loved the way nakata-san's dialogues were written in the japanese one: constantly and perhaps overly polite, humble and a touch sweet..:P i'm really curious how all this is translated in eng w/o losing the feel of his character which is superbly expressed through the japanese language.

pardon me for going off topic.. but i would really love to know what you all think..! cheers.

ryohei,
please read it now and let us know what YOU think.
i have EXACTLY same interest as you have. i admired nakata-san's dialogues too and for me he cannot be just nakata in any language.
i'd call myself "a reader" but relatively new in english. i don't know if i can appreciate its feeling when it comes to engligh. but i will give it a try anyway.
i am looking forward to hearing from you and all.

masayon-san,
yes i will let you know as soon as i read it! easter break is coming up so hopefully i'll have it done by mid-april..

there is actually one thing that i can say prior to reading kafka on the shore in eng. i have a funny feeling that i'll be biased.. this is because i've already fell in love with '中田さん' whose character i've grown to love through his actions, but even more so through the language he uses, which i believe depicts his mental and intellectual state quite distinctly. and this particular state which was caused by the accident, really shaped the character of '中田さん' whose 'shadow was a bit too light'. so what i'm trying to say is, that since his language describes the state that he's in, and the latter being the foundation of his character, the language itself must have influenced his character in a great degree. if that were true, even the slightest change in his language could really alter his being, which means that in the english 'kafka on the shore', he would not be '中田さん’ but instead become 'nakata' because the eng language is simply incapable of inheriting the versatility (i.e. 敬語、方言) of the japanese language..

but wait.. now that i think of it, i guess it's true vice versa.. there's no way you can describe an aussie, scottish, american, or whatever accent in japanese w/o using english and actually demonstrating it... but that's beside the point! i just pulled out the copy of the eng one which is translated by Philip Gabriel but 'nakata-san' just does not seem to be the same..

if i remember correctly, hoshino-san uses the word, 'orecchi' and 'occhan' quite a bit. Philip Gabriel simply uses 'i' for 'orecchi' and 'gramps' for 'occhan'.. plz don't get me wrong, i'm not in any way criticising the translator! i'm just simply a big fan of hoshino-san who looks over at nakata-san and says, 「おっちゃんは心配しないで、俺っちに任せとけ！」

..:):)

but i really shouldn't rush my conclusions! 'nakata' could be just as fascinating as '中田さん'! must read the english one.. then i'll get back to you masayon-san. cheers:)


dan-san,
hi dan-san. i'm sorry but i am unable to answer your question, as i have only read one of murakami's translations ('a wild sheep chase' by Alfred Birnbaum). my flatmate owns a copy of 'kafka on the shore' translated by Philip Gabriel, and a friend lended me 'the wind-up bird chronicle' by Jay Rubin, but i have yet to read both novels..

i would love to read both versions of 'norwegian wood'! well that's also on my to-do-list now..

do you mind telling me which murakami's translation is your favorite? would that be the same in japanese? cheers!


ryohei

Wow! Lots of new people and comments. I'm glad to see so much enthusiasm about Murakami and using English. Keep it up!!

I am a big BIG fan of A Wild Sheep Chase. Though, the sequel, Dance Dance Dance is arguably a better work. The aspect that I like most about this work is Murakami's incredible knack for taking the supernatural and bringing it down to a level that almost seems ordinary and commonplace for the implied reader, while at the same moment inverting the natural aspects of life that we effortlessly take for granted and breathing into these moments an air of the supernatural. I love this paradigm that he utilizes in A Wild Sheep Chase to construct his narrative. I realize that one could say that this is a characteristic of Murakami’s writing style, and can come across as nuance in his word choice, but in this novel…for lack of a better description at the moment, it simply makes me feel happy. By chance, anyone else know what I mean?

I know exactly what you mean, Sorin. He does indeed make the science fiction or world of the bizarre seem very tangible and reachable to every one. He can make us feel very much like it is accessible and even like we are a part of it through the narrator.

I wasn't aware that Dance Dance Dance was supposed to be a sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase, though I was definitely aware of the overlap in place, names, etc.

hello.
I can not say what is the my best..almost all of his books.(chuckle)
But if I say daringly,『HEAR THE WIND SING』is my fav book.
I had been looking for books of Derek Heartfield for a while.hahaha.
No his books no life☆☆☆
thanks.

Hello! Now,I'm reading 'Kafuka on the shore'.This is good. But,I'm interested in 'Underground'.I was rellly impressed by this book. You know,this book is about Tokyo subway's gas attack by Aum. When this happend , I was mid teen,but,I really remember this case.The interviews of victims are amazing!

>Dan,
i meant to make a reply your question much earlier. it's been a month and 1/2 since you raised it. i hope you still check this community once in a while.
>have you read Murakami's translations of other authors (such as Raymond Carver)? How do they compare?

i liked some of his translations of Raymond Carver, John Irving and Tim O'brien.
he said in one of the books he talked about translation with Shibata Motoyuki, another super popular translater, something like that your translation should just be very acculate to what the original authers wrote and should not be in your writing style. if so, you would find no relationships between them. however, i think there are something make you think of murakami's works in his translations. it's my guess; he seems to pick stories to translate in his preference, so it naturally tends to reflect his own style.
recently i started reading those books in english and noticed i sometimes had similar feelings when i read them as i did murakami's own works.

i'd like to hear what other people think about Murakami's translation works.

みぃ: I read "Hear the Wind Sing" very quicky and I think I should read it again. It was short, but very nice, and even though I'm not from Japan or remember many of those things, I could feel nostalgic. Anyway, thanks for joining.

KFC: "Underground" is the only book by Murakami I haven't read yet. Maybe because it's non-fiction. But I will read it soon. Thanks for joining.

Ojaga: Welcome. I love that book too! Quite long, but very very interesting.

Wow! I'm so glad to see so many english speakers here! :) And of cousre it's very good to see native Japanese speaking english here, too!

My favorite book is the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I've only read 3 of his works, but this is by far the best I've read. For many reasons; the characters are all very unique and very interesting. I can't wait until his new book is released here in America (I believe in August).

I encourage everyone here to friend me on this site! Some hints as to how things work would be great too; I can read kana well, but my kanji knowledge is pretty much non-existent. :( I've been getting by on reading the URL codes--hah!

Hi Rick and everyone! Nice to meet you.
My favorite is Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of
the World, though I've read only 3 of his works.
(Norwegian Wood , Kafka on the Shore)
I like the scene that the hero found the girl’s memory through the head skeleton in the end of the world.
I'm not sure whether he recovered his consciousness
or not and what happened to him in the real world.
What do you all think?
I agree with the idea of Noddy. I can't be back to
the real world easily after reading Haruki's novel.
When I finished reading "Kafka on the Shore",
I spoke with people like the way how Nakata-san speaks
for the time being....

Rob: Thanks for joining, and thanks for the post. I too like "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle", though it is not my number 1 favourite. I have read almost all of his works (at least, the ones in English). As for new books, the collection of short stories "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman" came out in July this year (or was it June?). His newest novel will not be out in English until August, 2007, unfortunately. So, one more year to wait (it sucks! I am waiting too!!).

さなえ: Thanks for joining. I like Hardboiled Wonderland a lot, but it's been so long since I read it. Unfortunately, I gave the English copy to a friend and I'm not sure where it is now. Oh well. I will maybe buy it again and this time keep it safe. Talking about Hardboiled Wonderland and the end of the world, I think we should make a topic on that novel and discuss it there. Anyway, thanks for the post!

Rick:
Thank you for making a topic on Hardboiled wonderland.
I'm joining this topic soon!

Hi Rick!

My favorite's "The Wind-up Bird chronicle".
I like character of creta and malta in that.

I don't understand occasionally.because his novel is sometime difficult.
(It takes time to read.)

His metaphor is peculiar ,but i think that it is interesting.

さなえ: Thanks for joining. I just re-ordered Hard-Boiled Wonderland and am looking forward to reading it again (I gave my original copy to someone to read and they never returned it!). I look forward to your comments.

7号: I really like that story as well. I have read it 3 times, and every time it is equally exciting to read, even though I know the ending. I want to read it again, but I have to re-read Hard-Boiled Wonderland and A Wild Sheep's Chase. I need to get a copy of pinball first.

今日は！私は村上春樹さんの「神の子どもたちはみな踊る」が大好きです。今までは、「神の子どもたちはみな踊る」と「象の消滅」を読みました。

Hi! My favorite Murakami book is "after the quake". So far, I've read "after the quake" and "the elephant vanishes". I'm not sure which book to read next, but I really look forward to it!

silchiさん：All of his books are great. Some are better than others, but they are all wonderful. I am excited for you to read his next book.

Hello.
I am one of them who read Murakami Haruki's works again and again.

My favorite book is Norwegian Wood, especially.
It never bore me. And I find something new even though I know what will happen next.
Now I'm reading Norwegian Wood in English translation.
Watanabe speaks in English, Naoko talks in English, Nagasawa says something in English, Midori, Reiko. It's really interesting.

I wonder how they depict that world in the movie.

Hi!
Murakami is one of my favourite authors of all times, I love so much his works I can't really choose one favourite.
Besides what I can say is that I found somehow particularly interesting "After Dark". It made me think a lot. I totally share the digression thereby illustrated on the deepness of the night.

Unfortunately I only read Italian translated version for the moment but I'd like to read them all again in English when I have the time.

ゼルダさん：Kafka on the Shore is a fantastic book, and definitely one of my favourites. I haven't read his translations, but I have no doubt they are amazing. His essays are great as well.

すずきさん：I also often reread his books, and am currently rereading A Wild Sheep Chase, which I love because it's part of the so-called 'Rat trilogy'.

Belialさん： Interesting. It's great that you really like After Dark because there are so many people who seem to dislike it. Personally I was disappointed with it, but it wasn't all that bad -- I just thought it was too short and not enough of a story. I agree that all of his works are amazing, though. Like you want to read them all in English, I want to read them someday in Japanese.