Skip to main content

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman.

Speaking of Haruki Murakami, The Times has a review of his latest short story collection, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, on their website:
These stories span 25 years of Murakami’s writing life. He claims: “My short stories are like soft shadows I’ve set out in the world, faint footprints I’ve left behind . . . like guideposts to my heart.” It is indeed an intimate pleasure to read them.
I think I've mentioned before that I loved Murakami's previous short story collection, The Elephant Vanishes. Looks like this book won't disappoint either. Can't wait to get my filthy mitts on it!
Labels:

Comments

  1. Edmund Yeo24/6/06 12:06 pm

    Oh, speaking of Elephant Vanishes, here's a (not-too-positive) review of the book by us, if you're interested.

    Wouldn't mind hearing your opinions, actually.

    (besides Elephant Vanishes, there's also a review of Wind-up Bird Chronicles, which I didn't like that much either, although I was okay with Norwegian Woods, which I recently finished)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ted Mahsun25/6/06 1:59 am

    Thanks for the link! That was wonderful reading. I, of course, disagree with you and Justin. I don't think The Elephant Vanishes is perfect however, and I agree that "The Wind-Up Bird and Tuesday's Women" shouldn't have been included in the collection.

    But the rest of the tales are intriguing to me, and they all have that weird, surreal sense of irreverence that I like in Murakami's work. I know that isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's what I like anyway.

    I loved Norwegian Wood! It was the first book by Murakami that I have read. I bought The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles two months ago but haven't had the chance to read it yet. I recently finished Kafka on the Shore, which I loved. I think it's in the same vein as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles because it too can get pointless at times, so I have a feeling you wouldn't warm up to it either.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Edmund Yeo12/7/06 12:26 pm

    Eek, didn't know that you've replied to me. (next time, drop me a note on my blog)

    Well, I do like Norwegian Wood much more than Wind-up Bird Chronicles. Perhaps I'll do a review of it soon.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ted Mahsun12/7/06 1:32 pm

    I look forward to reading the review!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REVIEW: Confessions of an Old Boy by Kam Raslan

Kam Raslan's right. In the preface for his new book, Confessions of an Old Boy: The Dato' Hamid Adventures he writes that we've known Dato' Hamid all our lives. Seeing as my own dad is an old boy of MCKK, the people I get to meet when he drags me to an Old Boy function and the people he tells me of, reflect the characters found in Kam's book. It really does feel like I've known Dato' Hamid all my life. Dato' Hamid is a civil servant of the Tunku Abdul Rahman generation. He is the sort of person you rarely see nowadays, a fine example of the anachronistic Malay. This generation, groomed in the ways of the colonial British would be out of place not just in 21st century Malaysia, but in Britain too. And yet, Dato' Hamid, in all his snobbishness and patronising ways, is essentially a Malaysian. Without people like him, our country would probably never exist at all. At least not like we know it now. I'm glad that Kam Raslan decided to capture this ...
5 comments
Read more

Lesson: Commemorative Covers are Lame.

Well, I got the first day cover that commemorates the 35th anniversary of the establishment diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia that I mentioned a couple of posts ago. Except that it's not a first day cover, it's a commemorative cover, which is a slightly different beast. I guess I should read the news article properly next time! The difference between the two is that first day covers are specially-designed envelopes stuck on with specially-designed stamps, and marked with a specially-designed postmark. A commemorative cover is a specially-designed envelope... and that's it. All in all, it's an unremarkable affair, especially if you're used to well-designed first day covers (not that Malaysian first day covers are well-designed... but I digress). Oh sure, a commemorative cover has a stamp printed right on to it but that's just like an overglorified aerogramme. Lame. On the whole, what a disappointment. I haven't been collecting first day cover...
5 comments
Read more

REVIEW: Pinball, 1973 by Haruki Murakami.

UPDATE: My Wind/Pinball review can be found here . ISBN: n/a Publisher: n/a Paperback: 160 pages In Murakami fan circles, simply owning a copy of Pinball, 1973 is a mark of hardcore-ness. Like Hear the Wind Sing before it, Haruki Murakami does not allow English translations of Pinball, 1973 to be published outside of Japan. Back in the 80s, Alfred Birnbaum translated it into English and Kodansha published it as a novel for Japanese students who wanted to improve their English. While the English edition of Hear the Wind Sing continues to be reprinted and sold in Japan (and available for a moderate sum via eBay, see my review ), Kodansha stopped its reprint runs of the English edition of Pinball, 1973 and has now become a collector's item, fetching vast amounts of money on auction sites and reseller stores. Last time I checked, the cheapest copy went for USD$2500. Of course, Murakami addicts or the curious can always download a less than legal PDF of the book, painst...
18 comments
Read more