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comment by cgod
cgod  ·  4603 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Haruki Murakami: “Town of Cats” : The New Yorker
I read 1Q84, and several other Murakami novels. It was decent, but no where near his best. If you have never read a book by Murakami I would suggest "Windup Bird Chronicle" or "Hard Boiled Wonderland And The End Of the Universe." Or maybe his short story collection is a good start. 1Q84 spent way to much time pushing the convention of the novel instead of throwing the reader into the deep end and letting him fend for himself.




AnSionnachRua  ·  4601 days ago  ·  link  ·  
I've read most of his stuff, but shied away from Hard Boiled Wonderland when I saw that it was translated by Alfred Birnbaum; maybe I'll have to give it a look.

I agree that 1Q84 is not his best.

Murakami often reworks old short stories into his novels. It's really nice to see the progression in a writer's work when you read a lot of their books; it's like listening to band's discography and seeing the changes over time.

cgod  ·  4603 days ago  ·  link  ·  
That being said Murakami is a bad ass writer, if you havn't read him and you like to read you should check him out. People will read him 100 years from now, which is my test of greatness.