After reading this collection of short stories, I really do believe that Murakami in small doses might be better. I was on a bit of a Murakami kick early last year, and read three of his novels back-to-back. Rather depressing. Needed a break from Murakami all the way up till now. Even though "Sputnik Sweetheart" was bittersweetly lovely. :)
I find that all the stories in "After the Quake" end in a somewhat ambiguous way - which isn't necessarily a bad thing; it fits the theme of the book, considering that all these stories were supposed to have taken place in the wake of the Kobe earthquake.
They end on a note of "Now where do we go from here?" where the only bright spark might be the empty sensation of relief that at least there are still choices; like disaster victims picking up pieces while being forced to acknowledge that they are lucky even to be doing so.
3. After the Quake by Murakami Haruki, (whom some may know as "Haruki Murakami", but I write names in the way and order that they're meant to be) completed on 12th February 2012.
Book number 5 shall be "The General in his Labyrinth", by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
I wonder if the way I'm numbering these books seems a bit confusing... you might be wondering, why are you moving on to number 5 after finishing number 3...??
I read two books at a time. One I keep by my bed for nighttime reading, and another I keep in my bag for reading while waiting or when I have nothing else to do while I'm out of the house.
"After the Quake" was a "travelling" book, while number 4, "I Am Number Four", is a bedtime book. That one still isn't completed yet. Hence, the jump from 3 to 5. :)
I wonder if I'll really manage to complete 100 books in this year alone... it seemed a pretty feasible goal at first, but we're already nearly 2 months into the year, and I've only got through 3 and a half books! Sigh. Oh well, I'll just keep at it. No sense in giving up now.
No comments:
Post a Comment