Mesmerising, surreal, this really is the work of a true original - The Times
Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto in 1949 and now lives near Tokyo. His work has been translated into forty-two languages. He has received many honours, including the Franz Kafka Prize.
Murakami writes of contemporary Japan, urban alienation and
journeys of self-discovery, and in this book he combines
recollections of the war with metaphysics, dreams and
hallucinations into a powerful and impressionistic work
*Independent*
Murakami weaves these textured layers of reality into a shot-silk
garment of deceptive beauty
*Independent on Sunday*
Critics have variously likened him to Raymond Carver, Raymond
Chandler, Arthur C. Clarke, Don DeLillo, Philip K. Dick, Bret
Easton Ellis and Thomas Pynchon - a roster so ill assorted as to
suggest Murakami is in fact an original
*New York Times*
Deeply philosophical and teasingly perplexing, it is impossible to
put down
*Daily Telegraph*
How does Murakami manage to make poetry while writing of
contemporary life and emotions? I am weak-kneed with admiration
*Independent on Sunday*
Kumiko Okada has a satisfying career and comes from a wealthy family. Toru, her husband, is a lawyer. Little mars this young Tokyo couple's life other than the disappearance of their cat. From that minor event, however, their life together devolves into a confusing web of intrigue. Kumiko disappears, telling Toru not to look for her. Then a collection of mystics, clairvoyants, and healers enter Toru's life. Reeling, he begins to spend hours in meditation at the bottom of a dry well, becoming a healer of sorts, until his work brings him into conflict with Kumiko's powerful brother-in-law‘a conflict cast in moral terms, with Kumiko's soul in the balance. This very long journey is much less magical than simply strained. There are detours into the history of Japan's occupation of Manchuria and accounts of Japanese prisoners' lives in Siberian coal mines. Though interesting in parts, taken as a whole, this latest from Murakami (Dance, Dance, Dance, LJ 1/94) labors diligently toward some larger message but fails in the attempt.‘Paul E. Hutchison, Bellefonte, Pa.
Murakami writes of contemporary Japan, urban alienation and
journeys of self-discovery, and in this book he combines
recollections of the war with metaphysics, dreams and
hallucinations into a powerful and impressionistic work *
Independent *
Murakami weaves these textured layers of reality into a shot-silk
garment of deceptive beauty * Independent on Sunday *
Critics have variously likened him to Raymond Carver, Raymond
Chandler, Arthur C. Clarke, Don DeLillo, Philip K. Dick, Bret
Easton Ellis and Thomas Pynchon - a roster so ill assorted as to
suggest Murakami is in fact an original * New York Times *
Deeply philosophical and teasingly perplexing, it is impossible to
put down * Daily Telegraph *
How does Murakami manage to make poetry while writing of
contemporary life and emotions? I am weak-kneed with admiration *
Independent on Sunday *
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