eraofkara's review against another edition
3.0
I read the book in about a week, but it's taken me something like three times longer than that to rate the book. I couldn't quite figure out what I felt about it.
I liked it. I didn't love it. It didn't meet the heights of what I think are Murakami's best (Wind-Up Bird, Kafka on the Shore), but it obviously wasn't awful either. It was curiously colorless, like Tsukuru. Murakami's prose is always gorgeously spare, but here at times it seemed overly simple and matter-of-fact (for a while I actually wondered if this was meant for a YA audience). And repetitious. There's a bit toward the end that was basically a recap of what had previously happened in the book, which seemed kinda silly and old fashioned.
That said, I actually DID like the book as we dove deeper into Tazaki's friends' stories, and I found the ending fairly satisfying. I guess in all, I'd warrant this a solid shrug of the shoulders.
I liked it. I didn't love it. It didn't meet the heights of what I think are Murakami's best (Wind-Up Bird, Kafka on the Shore), but it obviously wasn't awful either. It was curiously colorless, like Tsukuru. Murakami's prose is always gorgeously spare, but here at times it seemed overly simple and matter-of-fact (for a while I actually wondered if this was meant for a YA audience). And repetitious. There's a bit toward the end that was basically a recap of what had previously happened in the book, which seemed kinda silly and old fashioned.
That said, I actually DID like the book as we dove deeper into Tazaki's friends' stories, and I found the ending fairly satisfying. I guess in all, I'd warrant this a solid shrug of the shoulders.
lomas's review against another edition
2.0
I feel bad giving such a low rating, but this just didn't do anything for me.
There was nothing wrong with it at all,I just felt it didn't go anywhere, or nowhere I wanted to go.
I actually put it down several times to do the housework....
There was nothing wrong with it at all,I just felt it didn't go anywhere, or nowhere I wanted to go.
I actually put it down several times to do the housework....
bluebell_x's review against another edition
2.0
Yeah, this guy is as depressing as ever. Someone said he's a one-trick pony and I couldn't agree more. The main character is always the same guy with the same life. All of these stories are the same.
finigan's review against another edition
4.0
I believe that I read this book in exactly the right conditions to really absorb it. I was on holidays to a new city and picked this book on a whim for something to read on the go. Murakami has always been an author with a particular knack for capturing a feeling. In this case, the narrator of the book builds train stations. He marvels at the miracle of an efficiently running public transportation system. I was experiencing the exact same sensation of being in a foreign place. Everything seemed so alien to me. Watching people move seamlessly onto trains. Each person on their own journey.
When I was about halfway through the book, I was on a train heading towards downtown Vancouver when the most surreal thing happened to me. In the glass of the window was the colorful reflection of this book. The woman behind me on the train was reading the exact same book. What are the odds of that? A guy from Saskatoon travels across the country while reading a book about a man going through a his own odyssey only to encounter it being read by a complete stranger behind him on a train in Vancouver. It sounds like the kind of coincidence that Mr.Murakami would approve of.
Murakami has his story arcs that he likes and sticks to them. This book isn't much of an exception. A young man moves through his life trying to find his way in the world. There are elements of surrealism and finding oneself.
It's the way he writes that I find so compelling. Individual characters aren't necessarily memorable, but the feelings his books instill in me are. I love the "Colorless" aspects of Tsukuru. It works as a metaphor for how he feels about himself. The names are a fun touch. The dreams Tsukuru has are well drawn. They could mean nothing in relation to the plot, but I'm not sure if they do. It's also surprisingly moving towards the end. There's a wonderfully ambitious ending, and several storylines remain unresolved. I'd recommend reading this to any wayward travelers.
When I was about halfway through the book, I was on a train heading towards downtown Vancouver when the most surreal thing happened to me. In the glass of the window was the colorful reflection of this book. The woman behind me on the train was reading the exact same book. What are the odds of that? A guy from Saskatoon travels across the country while reading a book about a man going through a his own odyssey only to encounter it being read by a complete stranger behind him on a train in Vancouver. It sounds like the kind of coincidence that Mr.Murakami would approve of.
Murakami has his story arcs that he likes and sticks to them. This book isn't much of an exception. A young man moves through his life trying to find his way in the world. There are elements of surrealism and finding oneself.
It's the way he writes that I find so compelling. Individual characters aren't necessarily memorable, but the feelings his books instill in me are. I love the "Colorless" aspects of Tsukuru. It works as a metaphor for how he feels about himself. The names are a fun touch. The dreams Tsukuru has are well drawn. They could mean nothing in relation to the plot, but I'm not sure if they do. It's also surprisingly moving towards the end. There's a wonderfully ambitious ending, and several storylines remain unresolved. I'd recommend reading this to any wayward travelers.
jasonfurman's review against another edition
5.0
The first book by Haruki Murakami I have read, I thought this was excellent--I found myself completely absorbed from beginning to end in the story of the thirty-six year old Tsukuru trying, at the recommendation of his new girlfriend, to understand the abrupt falling out he had sixteten years earlier with the group of four close friends with whom he had formed a "perfect community." In the course, the story tells of Tsukuru's increased understanding of himself and of the fact that he is more colorful than the self identity he had formed after years of teasing. The book is generally very realistic and effortlessly shifts back and forth in time and between dream sequences, reality, and the character telling the occasional story, creating a multilayered effect--even though most of it is anchored in the present story of Tsukuru's relationship and investigation. One caveat would be that some of the writing, particularly in some of the sex/fantasy scenes, seems particularly awkward and adolescently overwritten but that did not detract too much from the overall effect for me.
heather_g's review against another edition
3.0
interesting story about a group of 5 teenage friends who ostracize one of the group. the story tells of his journey to understand himself and his friends as adults.
rknuttel's review against another edition
3.0
Probs 3 1/2 stars?
A friend lent this to me like 2 years ago (no lie) and I finally got around to reading it. It was not what I expected. He's a big Murakami fan, and this is my first of his books.
I was surprised by how easy it was to read. Just by Murakami's reputation, I figured I would kind of have to slog through it. But the language was simple yet compelling. Even translated, there is a distinctly Japanese feel too it. By sure if I can describe it in more depth than that... I did want to know what happened in the story, so even in the odder parts, I managed to push easily through.
I had some issues though. Lots of objectifying and kinda gross comments on women. I feel like women were frequently reduced to a dum of their parts. And it made me feel a bit gross sometimes.
The other thing that bugged me was that a lot felt unresolved. There were so many story lines that were started, expanded on, and then left hanging. I have been informed that Murakami does this frequently, adding things without explaining them, because he wants you to figure out how they're connected.
But I'm not that kind of reader.
The finger thing, the magical death guy in the woods, the swimmer friend who disappears, the details of the friend's death? There were so many things that just felt random and unconnected. Maybe in an English class, with someone explaining them to me, I would get it. It seems like a book that would benefit from that. But as I am not a "deep reader," I remain confused.
All in all, better than I expected, but still kinda weird.
A friend lent this to me like 2 years ago (no lie) and I finally got around to reading it. It was not what I expected. He's a big Murakami fan, and this is my first of his books.
I was surprised by how easy it was to read. Just by Murakami's reputation, I figured I would kind of have to slog through it. But the language was simple yet compelling. Even translated, there is a distinctly Japanese feel too it. By sure if I can describe it in more depth than that... I did want to know what happened in the story, so even in the odder parts, I managed to push easily through.
I had some issues though. Lots of objectifying and kinda gross comments on women. I feel like women were frequently reduced to a dum of their parts. And it made me feel a bit gross sometimes.
The other thing that bugged me was that a lot felt unresolved. There were so many story lines that were started, expanded on, and then left hanging. I have been informed that Murakami does this frequently, adding things without explaining them, because he wants you to figure out how they're connected.
But I'm not that kind of reader.
The finger thing, the magical death guy in the woods, the swimmer friend who disappears, the details of the friend's death? There were so many things that just felt random and unconnected. Maybe in an English class, with someone explaining them to me, I would get it. It seems like a book that would benefit from that. But as I am not a "deep reader," I remain confused.
All in all, better than I expected, but still kinda weird.
mahamt's review against another edition
4.0
I am a hardcore Murakami fan! I read his book for the unreal magical world and emotional ride he takes me on. Even before reading this book I knew I won't find any closure because that's now what Murakami books are about. You aren't reading them for the plot or the ending you're reading them for the journey. However, when one of the biggest plot/mystery of the book was solved I was fooled into thinking the smaller plots and questions will be answered too. How foolish of me! Of coarse who won't know whether Tsukuri Tazaki's gf chose him and ofcoarse we won't know why Haida decided to disappear in the middle of the book. Even though it's very common for characters to just appear and disappear in his books.
Overall for a Murakami fan like me this book was a treat. I am slightly surprised at the sense of modernism in his books now. Charcters meeting at Starbucks and texting is certainly not something I'm used to!
Overall for a Murakami fan like me this book was a treat. I am slightly surprised at the sense of modernism in his books now. Charcters meeting at Starbucks and texting is certainly not something I'm used to!
krismoon's review against another edition
4.0
This is a tough book to rate. If I were trying to rate it objectively, I'd rate it 2-3 stars. But I loved Murakami's storytelling and read this book in two days. I enjoyed the journey. There's not much inciting incident or climax, but it's a unique journey that I enjoyed reading. I'm not sure I'd recommend it to many people, especially fantasy or mystery readers who expect a big payoff and all the loose ends to be tied up by the end of the book. That is definitely not the case with this one.