Books by Haruki Murakami

Book SynopsisHaruki Murakami (Author) In 1978, Haruki Murakami was twenty-nine and running a jazz bar in downtown Tokyo. One April day, the impulse to write a novel came to him suddenly while watching a baseball game. That first novel, Hear the Wind Sing, won a new writers' award and was published the following year. More followed, including A Wild Sheep Chase and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, but it was Norwegian Wood, published in 1987, that turned Murakami from a writer into a phenomenon.In works such as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, 1Q84, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running and Men Without Women, Murakami's distinctive blend of the mysterious and the everyday, of melancholy and humour, continues to enchant readers, ensuring his place as one of the world's most acclaimed and well-loved writers.Philip Gabriel (Translator) Philip Gabriel is the author of Mad Wives and Island Dreams: Shimao Toshio and the Margins of Japanese Literature and Spirit Matters: The Transcendent in Modern Japanese Literature and has translated many novels and short stories by the writer Haruki Murakami and other modern writers. He is recipient of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature (2001) for his translation of Senji Kuroi's Life in the Cul-de-Sac, and the 2006 PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize for his translation of Murakami's Kafka on the Shore.

Read more less

Book SynopsisHaruki Murakami (Author) In 1978, Haruki Murakami was twenty-nine and running a jazz bar in downtown Tokyo. One April day, the impulse to write a novel came to him suddenly while watching a baseball game. That first novel, Hear the Wind Sing, won a new writers' award and was published the following year. More followed, including A Wild Sheep Chase and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, but it was Norwegian Wood, published in 1987, that turned Murakami from a writer into a phenomenon.In works such as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, 1Q84, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running and Men Without Women, Murakami's distinctive blend of the mysterious and the everyday, of melancholy and humour, continues to enchant readers, ensuring his place as one of the world's most acclaimed and well-loved writers.Jay Rubin (Translator) Jay Rubin is the author of Injurious to Public Morals: Writers and the Meiji State and Making Sense of Japanese, and he edited Modern Japanese Writers for the Scribner Writers Series. He has translated into English two novels by the Japanese writer Soseki Natsume, and also Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and after the quake.

Read more less

Book SynopsisKafka Tamura runs away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father's dark prophesy. The aging Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down.Trade ReviewWonderful... Magical and outlandish * Daily Mail *A magnificently bewildering achievement... Brilliantly conceived, bold in its surreal scope, sexy and driven by a snappy plot... Exuberant storytelling * Independent on Sunday *Cool, fluent and addictive * Daily Telegraph *Hypnotic, spellbinding * The Times *Addictive... Exhilarating... A pleasure * Evening Standard *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, the author began running to keep fit. A year later, he'd completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and on his writing. This title presents his portrait.Trade ReviewIt’s an inspiring, reflective read that’ll make you want to dust your trainers off -- Andy McNicoll * Professional Social Work *An outstanding read -- Peter Sharkey * Eastern Daily Press *

Read more less

You’ve just passed someone on the street who could be the love of your life, the person you’re destined for – what do you do? In Murakami’s world, you tell them a story. The five weird and wonderful tales collected here each unlock the many-tongued language of desire, whether it takes the form of hunger, lust, sudden infatuation or the secret longings of the heart.Selected from Haruki’s Murakami’s short story collections The Elephant Vanishes, Blind Willow Sleeping Woman, Men Without WomenVINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS.A series of short books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us human Also in the Vintage Minis series: Love by Jeanette WintersonPsychedelics by Aldous HuxleyEating by Nigella LawsonSummer by Laurie Lee

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe year is 1Q84.This is the real world, there is no doubt about that. But in this world, there are two moons in the sky. In this world, the fates of two people, Tengo and Aomame, are closely intertwined. They are each, in their own way, doing something very dangerous. And in this world, there seems no way to save them both.Trade ReviewMurakami's magnum opus * Japan Times *1Q84 has a range and sophistication that surpasses anything else in his oeuvre. It is his most achieved novel; an epic in which form and content are neatly aligned... So like Murakami himself, I'll borrow from Orwell: 1Q84 is quite simply doubleplusgood * Independent on Sunday *1Q84 reads like a cross between Stieg Larsson and Roberto Bolano... In its bones, this novel is a thriller * Daily Telegraph *Eerie, suspenseful and packed full of gorgeous ordinary details and provocative extraordinary events, Murakami takes weighty themes and delivers a compulsive tale that is funny, fresh and intensely surreal. Unmissable. * Marie Claire *It is a work of maddening brilliance and gripping originality, deceptively casual in style, but vibrating with wit, intellect and ambition * The Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisHaruki Murakami's stories in graphic novel form for the first time!Haruki Murakami's novels, essays and short stories have sold millions of copies worldwide and been translated into dozens of languages. Now for the first time, many of Murakami's best-loved short stories are available in graphic novel form in English. Haruki Murakami Manga Stories 1 is the first of three volumes, which will present a total of 9 short stories from Murakami's bestselling collections. With their trademark mix of realism and fantasy, centering around Murakami's characteristic themes of loss, remorse and confusion, the four stories in this volume are: Super-Frog Saves Tokyo: A few days after an earthquake, Katagiri discovers a giant frog in this home. The frog promises to save Tokyo from another earthquake, but Katagiri must help him. Is this real, or is Katagiri dreaming? "[This story has] such an engaging mix of realism and fantasy that it takes a while for you to realize what a sad undertow the story has and how much it says about Katagiri's solitary life, his feelings of powerlessness and his dread of another quake." —The New York Times Where I'm Likely to Find It: A woman's husband goes missing so she hires detective. As the detective traces the man's whereabouts, he reflects on the meaning of his own life. "A searching Kafkaesque parable about disappearance, loss and coping." —Kirkus Reviews Birthday Girl: A woman tells her friend the story of a surreal encounter she has on her twentieth birthday with the owner of the restaurant where she works, who grants her a wish. The Seventh Man: The story of a man scarred by the death of his childhood friend in a tsunami. "Although Murakami's style and deadpan humour are wonderfully distinctive, his emotional territory is more familiar—remorse, unresolved confusion, sudden epiphanies—though heightened by the surreal. In The Seventh Man, one of his saddest stories, the narrator recalls the wave that reared up during a freak storm and engulfed his childhood friend." —The Guardian These new graphic versions of classic Murakami short stories will be devoured by his fans and will provide a new window onto his work for a new generation of readers not yet familiar with it!**Recommended for readers ages 16+ due to mature themes and graphic content**Trade Review"A must-read for Murakami buffs and a quirky invitation into the writer's perspective and preoccupations for newcomers." —Publishers Weekly"[This story has] such an engaging mix of realism and fantasy that it takes a while for you to realize what a sad undertow the story has and how much it says about Katagiri's solitary life, his feelings of powerlessness and his dread of another quake." —The New York TimesFeatured on Book Riot's List of "Stories So Nice They Told Them Twice: 8 Comics Based on Classic Books""Murakami is one of the most celebrated writers alive today. Now you can experience four of his best-loved short stories in manga form, with offbeat art to match the equally bizarre subject matter. Long-time fans are sure to appreciate this new approach to Murakami's work, while newcomers will find it an evocative introduction."

Read more less

Book SynopsisDISCOVER THE SHORT STORY COLLECTION THAT GAVE THE WORLD DRIVE MY CAR, THE BAFTA AND OSCAR WINNING FILMA dazzling Sunday Times bestselling collection of short stories from the beloved internationally acclaimed Haruki Murakami. Across seven tales, Haruki Murakami brings his powers of observation to bear on the lives of men who, in their own ways, find themselves alone. Here are vanishing cats and smoky bars, lonely hearts and mysterious women, baseball and the Beatles, woven together to tell stories that speak to us all. Marked by the same wry humour that has defined his entire body of work, in this collection Murakami has crafted another contemporary classic. 'Supremely enjoyable, philosophical and pitch-perfect new collection of short stories...Murakami has a marvelous understanding of youth and age' Observer 'Murakami at his whimsical, romantic best' Financial TimesTrade ReviewSupremely enjoyable, philosophical and pitch-perfect new collection of short stories. . . Murakami has a marvellous understanding of youth and age - and the failings of each * Observer *Murakami writes of complex things with his usual beguiling simplicity. . . Strangely invigorating to read. . . It is Murakami at his whimsical, romantic best * Financial Times *Calculatedly provocative. . ., the stories offer sweet-sour meditations on human solitude and a yearning to connect. . . Murakami, always inventive, is one of the finest popular writers at work today -- Ian Thomson * Evening Standard *Written with all the cats, spaghetti, humor, and gentle surrealism we might expect . . . Men Without Women is a funny, lovely, unmistakably Murakami collection of seven stories about the lives of people trying to find their place in the world and reckoning with their pasts * Buzzfeed *A disconcertingly funny portrait of modern loneliness -- Hayley Maitland * Vogue *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA narrative particle accelerator that zooms between Wild Turkey Whiskey and Bob Dylan, unicorn skulls and voracious librarians, John Coltrane and Lord Jim.Trade ReviewHis fantasies, with their easy reference to western pulp fiction and music, retain a beauty of the mind * Guardian *A remarkable writer...he captures the common ache of contemporary heart and head -- Jay McInerneyCombines a witty sci-fi pastiche and a dream-like Utopian fantasy in two separate narratives which alternate in an interweave of precognition and deja vu -- Richard Lloyd Parry * Independent *Here is abundant imagination at play * Sunday Times *Murakami's bold willingness to go straight-over-the-top has always been a signal indication of his genius...a powerful melange of disillusioned radicalism, keen intelligence, wicked sarcasm and a general allegiance to the surreal. If Murakami is the "voice of a generation," as he is often proclaimed in Japan, then it is the generation of Thomas Pynchon and Don De Lillo * Washington Post *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1978, Haruki Murakami was twenty-nine and running a jazz bar in downtown Tokyo. One April day, the impulse to write a novel came to him suddenly while watching a baseball game. That first novel, Hear the Wind Sing, won a new writers' award and was published the following year. More followed, including A Wild Sheep Chase and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, but it was Norwegian Wood, published in 1987, that turned Murakami from a writer into a phenomenon.In works such as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, 1Q84, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running and Men Without Women, Murakami's distinctive blend of the mysterious and the everyday, of melancholy and humour, continues to enchant readers, ensuring his place as one of the world's most acclaimed and well-loved writers.

Read more less

Book SynopsisHaruki Murakami's third novel, A Wild Sheep Chase is the mystery hybrid which completes the odyssey begun in Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973. The man was leading an aimless life, time passing, one big blank. His girlfriend has perfectly formed ears, ears with the power to bewitch, marvels of creation. The man receives a letter from a friend, enclosing a seemingly innocent photograph of sheep, and a request: place the photograph somewhere it will be seen. Then, one September afternoon, the phone rings, and the adventure begins. Welcome to the wild sheep chase. A science fiction fantasy, a romance, a metaphysical tease, or a dramatisation of philosophical ideas' IndependentA highly accomplished piece of craftsmanship' New YorkerWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR

Read more less

Book SynopsisMari sips her coffee and reads a book, but soon her solitude is disturbed: a girl has been beaten up at the Alphaville hotel, and needs Mari's help. Meanwhile Mari's beautiful sister Eri lies in a deep, heavy sleep that is 'too perfect, too pure' to be normal;Trade ReviewStylish and enigmatic * Economist *The novel could be an allegory of sleep, a phenomenology of time, or a cinematic metafiction. Whatever it is, its memory lingers * Guardian *The narrative carries considerable literary weight with a rare grace * Spectator *A captivating mood piece, delicate and wistful * Evening Standard *

Read more less

Book SynopsisHaruki Murakami (Author) In 1978, Haruki Murakami was twenty-nine and running a jazz bar in downtown Tokyo. One April day, the impulse to write a novel came to him suddenly while watching a baseball game. That first novel, Hear the Wind Sing, won a new writers' award and was published the following year. More followed, including A Wild Sheep Chase and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, but it was Norwegian Wood, published in 1987, that turned Murakami from a writer into a phenomenon.In works such as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, 1Q84, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running and Men Without Women, Murakami's distinctive blend of the mysterious and the everyday, of melancholy and humour, continues to enchant readers, ensuring his place as one of the world's most acclaimed and well-loved writers.Philip Gabriel (Translator) Philip Gabriel is the author of

Read more less

Book SynopsisA moving, thoughtful story of long-lost love and second chancesGrowing up in the suburbs in post-war Japan, it seemed to Hajime that everyone but him had brothers and sisters.Trade ReviewA story of love in a cool climate, intensely romantic and weepily beautiful...it is startlingly different: a true original * Guardian *Casablanca remade Japanese style...It is dream-like writing, laden with scenes which have the radiance of a poem * The Times *This wise and beautiful book is full of hidden truths * New York Times *This book aches...an eloquent treatise on the vertiginous, irrational powers of love and desire * Independent on Sunday *Impressively written and structured... Above all, the novel is memorable for its unflinchingly extreme treatment of romantic love * Times Literary Supplement *

Read more less

Book SynopsisWe all live our lives carrying secrets we cannot disclose. 'Beguiling... Murakami is brilliant at folding the humdrum alongside the supernatural; finding the magic that's nested in life's quotidian details' GuardianWhen a thirty-something portrait painter is abandoned by his wife, he holes up in the mountain home of a famous artist. The days drift by, spent painting, listening to music and drinking whiskey in the evenings. But then he discovers a strange painting in the attic and unintentionally begins a strange journey of self-discovery that involves a mysterious ringing bell, a precocious thirteen-year-old girl, a Nazi assassination attempt and a haunted underworld.A stunning work of imagination, Killing Commendatore is a surreal tale of love and loneliness, war and art.Trade ReviewIt’s safe to say that there’s no one like Murakami * Literary Review *Murakami’s reality has many sides; some plain, some fancy. Translators Philip Gabriel and Ted Goossen capture every colour on this mind-altering palette. No other author mixes domestic, fantastic and esoteric elements into such weirdly bewitching shades. Murakami’s “Land of Metaphor” remains a country where wonders never cease -- Boyd Tonkin * Financial Times *Wild, thrilling. . . Murakami is a master storyteller and he knows how to keep us hooked * Sunday Times *Exhilarating. . . . Only in the calm madness of his magical realism can Murakami truly capture one of his obsessions, the usually ineffable yearning that drives a person to make art * Washington Post *Expansive and intricate . . . touches on many of the themes familiar in Mr. Murakami’s novels: the mystery of romantic love, the weight of history, the transcendence of art, the search for elusive things just outside our grasp * New York Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA beautifully packaged hardback edition of Haruki Murakami's mesmerizingly surreal classic, now with a new introduction by the authorKafka Tamura runs away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father's dark prophesy.The aging Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down.As their parallel odysseys unravel, cats converse with people; fish tumble from the sky; a ghost-like pimp deploys a Hegel-spouting girl of the night; a forest harbours soldiers apparently un-aged since World War II. There is a savage killing, but the identity of both victim and killer is a riddle - one of many which combine to create an elegant and dreamlike masterpiece.'Wonderful... Magical and outlandish' Daily Mail'Hypnotic, spellbinding' The Times'Cool, fluent and addictive' Daily TelegraphTrade ReviewWonderful... Magical and outlandish * Daily Mail *A magnificently bewildering achievement... Brilliantly conceived, bold in its surreal scope, sexy and driven by a snappy plot... Exuberant storytelling * Independent on Sunday *Cool, fluent and addictive * Daily Telegraph *Hypnotic, spellbinding * The Times *Addictive... Exhilarating... A pleasure * Evening Standard *

Read more less

Book SynopsisHigh-class call girls billed to Mastercard. A psychic 13-year-old dropout with a passion for Talking Heads. A hunky matinee idol doomed to play dentists and teachers. A one-armed beach-combing poet, an uptight hotel clerk and one very bemused narrator caught in the web of advanced capitalist mayhem. Combine this offbeat cast of characters with Murakami's idiosyncratic prose and out comes Dance Dance Dance. 'If Raymond Chandler had lived long enough to see Blade Runner, he might have written something like Dance Dance Dance' Observer 'Mr Murakami writes metaphysical Far Easterns with a Western beat' New York Times 'An entertaining adventure that takes us to the frozen north of Japan to the dark, damp corners of the imagination... Reading Dance Dance Dance is a bit like being taken blindfold on a joy-ride' Independent 'Murakami reveals throughout, along with turn-on-a-sixpence plotting and joyous satirical Trade ReviewIf Raymond Chandler had lived long enough to see Blade Runner, he might have written something like Dance Dance Dance * Observer *An entertaining mix of modern sci-fi, nail-biting suspense and ancient myth...a sometimes funny, sometimes sinister mystery spoof, but like all good postmodern fiction, it also aims at contemporary human concerns, philosophical as well as literary * Chicago Tribune *An entertaining adventure that takes us to the frozen north of Japan, to Hawaii and to the dark, damp corners of the imagination... Reading Dance Dance Dance is a bit like being taken blindfold on a joy-ride * Independent *Mr Murakami writes metaphysical Far Easterns with a Western beat...there are echoes of Raymond Chandler, John Irving and Raymond Carver, but Mr. Murakami's mysterious plots and original characters are very much his own creation * New York Times *Brilliantly combines elements of the surreal, film noir and existentialist enquiry * Sunday Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFeatures a girl whose ears are so exquisite that, when uncovered, they improve sex a thousand-fold, a runaway friend, a right-wing politico, an ovine-obsessed professor, and a manic-depressive in a sheep outfit.Trade ReviewWonderfully easy to read and just as wonderfully difficult to make sense of...like the narrator, who slowly accepts the presence in his life of mystery, we slowly recognize the possibility of a new kind of world. Like him, we lean forward and topple headlong into magic * Washington Post *It begins as a detective novel, dips into a screwball comedy, and at its close becomes a tale of possession...A highly accomplished piece of craftsmanship * New Yorker *Mr. Murakami's style and imagination are closer to that of Kurt Vonnegut, Raymond Carver and John Irving * New York Times *A Wild Sheep Chase has the conventional hull of a thriller - a quest, a mystery, an extraordinary woman, and plenty of elegant duress - but its fantastic superstructure transforms it into something quite different...a science fiction fantasy, a romance, a metaphysical tease, or a dramatisation of philosophical ideas * Independent *If you consider yourself an intelligent, sensitive common reader but wish to accommodate something a little removed from your experience, and probably your imagination, I dare you to turn your eyes towards Murakami and head off on a wild sheep chase. * Glasgow Herald *

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn eclectic, eccentric and altogether brain-bending collection of short stories.Here are animated crows, a criminal monkey, an ice man, as well as the dreams that shape us and the things we wish for.Trade ReviewMore insights into life, death, memories, love and kangaroos that one has a right to expect in any single volume * Daily Express *An intimate pleasure * The Times *Literature's answer to David Lynch * Times Literary Supplement *These stories are rich in Murakami magic... a collection that all readers will enjoy * Independent *Sharp but humane observation...as unforgettable as it is untypical * New Statesman *

Read more less

Book SynopsisBook Two of 1Q84 ended with Aomame standing on the Metropolitan Expressway with a gun between her lips. She knows she is being hunted, and that she has put herself in terrible danger in order to save the man she loves. But things are moving forward, and Aomame does not yet know that she and Tengo are more closely bound than ever.Tengo is searching for Aomame, and he must find her before this world''s rules loosen up too much. He must find her before someone else does.Trade ReviewMurakami's magnum opus * Japan Times *1Q84 has a range and sophistication that surpasses anything else in his oeuvre. It is his most achieved novel; an epic in which form and content are neatly aligned... So like Murakami himself, I'll borrow from Orwell: 1Q84 is quite simply doubleplusgood * Independent on Sunday *1Q84 reads like a cross between Stieg Larsson and Roberto Bolaño... In its bones, this novel is a thriller * Daily Telegraph *It is a work of maddening brilliance and gripping originality, deceptively casual in style, but vibrating with wit, intellect and ambition -- Richard Lloyd Parry * The Times *Which other author can remind you simultaneously of Fyodor Dostoyevsky and JK Rowling, not merely within the same chapter but on the same page? Viewed through the "post-modern" lens, his exemplary blend of a light touch and weighty themes, of high literature and popular entertainment, ticks every box. Posh and pop, sublimity and superficiality, history and fantasy, trash and transcendence: they switch positions and then fuse -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent *

Read more less

Book SynopsisHaruki Murakami's best-loved stories finally in graphic novel form!Haruki Murakami's novels, essays and short stories have sold millions of copies worldwide and been translated into scores of languages. Now for the first time, in this three-volume series, Murakami's best-loved stories are available in manga form in English. With their trademark mix of realism and fantasy, centering around Murakami's signature themes of loss, remorse and confusion. The three stories in this volume are:The Second Bakery Attack: A newlywed couple lie in bed, hungry. The man tells his wife about when he and a friend robbed a bakery and stole bread to feed themselves for two days. On hearing this story, the woman suggests they try the same thing again. [] exemplifies Murakami's sense of the fragility of the ordinary world. Kirkus ReviewsSamsa in Love: An extension of the tale of Gregor Samsa in Kafka's The Metamorphosis. The main character wakes up to find himself transformed into someone named Samsa, then

Read more less

Book SynopsisA beautifully packaged hardback edition of Haruki Murakami's breakout hit, now with a new introduction by the authorWhen he hears her favourite Beatles song, Toru Watanabe recalls his first love Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki. Immediately he is transported back almost twenty years to his student days in Tokyo, adrift in a world of uneasy friendships, casual sex, passion, loss and desire - to a time when an impetuous young woman called Midori marches into his life and he has to choose between the future and the past.'Evocative, entertaining, sexy and funny; but then Murakami is one of the best writers around' Time OutTrade ReviewNorwegian Wood is Japan's The Catcher in the Rye * Daily Telegraph *Everyone who reads Norwegian Wood runs out to buy copies for friends and lovers... Drawing on Fitzgerald, Capote, Chandler and the Japanese tradition, his books are at once disarmingly direct and slyly, charmingly evasive. They are playful and melancholy; full of wrong turns and red herrings, corridors that lead nowhere and - above all - girls who disappear * Guardian *A masterly novel. . . . Norwegian Wood bears the unmistakable marks of Murakami's hand * The New York Times Book Review *This book is undeniably hip, full of student uprisings, free love, booze and 1960s pop, it's also genuinely emotionally engaging, and describes the highs of adolescence as well as the lows * Independent on Sunday *Catches the absorption and giddy rush of adolescent love... It is also, for all the tragic momentum and the apparently kamikaze consciousness of many of its characters, often funny and quirkily observed. Quietly compulsive and finally moving * Times Literary Supplement *A heart-stoppingly moving story... Murakami is, without a doubt, one of the world's finest novelists * Glasgow Herald *Evocative, entertaining, sexy and funny; but then Murakami is one of the best writers around * Time Out *Norwegian Wood . . . not only points to but manifests the author's genius * Chicago Tribune *An intimate and dark story... A beautifully introspective novel that made me feel all the emotions * Cosmopolitan *Murakami must already rank among the world's greatest living novelists * Guardian *Such is the exquisite, gossamer construction of Murakami's writing that everything he chooses to describe trembles with symbolic possibility * Guardian *Vintage Murakami [and] easily the most erotic of [his] novels * Los Angeles Times Book Review *[A] treat...Murakami captures the heartbeat of his generation and draws the reader in so completely you mourn when the story is done * Baltimore Sun *Murakami's most famous coming of age novel of love, loss and longing * Dazed and Confused *

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat will you get for your birthday this year? A chance to see into the future? Or a reminder of the imperfect past?In this enviable gathering, Haruki Murakami has chosen for his party some of the very best short story writers of recent years, each with their own birthday experiences, each story a snapshot of life on a single day. Including stories by Russell Banks, Ethan Canin, Raymond Carver, David Foster Wallace, Denis Johnson, Claire Keegan, Andrea Lee, Daniel Lyons, Lewis Robinson, Lynda Sexson, Paul Theroux, William Trevor and Haruki Murakami, this anthology captures a range of emotions evoked by advancing age and the passing of time, from events fondly recalled to the impact of appalling tragedy.Previously published in a Japanese translation by Haruki Murakami, this English edition contains a specially written introduction.Trade ReviewThe perfect year-round present * Time Out *Brilliant...Murakami introduces all these stories with grace and lightness of touch * Sunday Herald *A memorable collection. Voices and settings as diverse as the authors, but they are all concerned with the arbitrary yet immensely significant way in which we mark the passing of our lives * Observer *The quality of storytelling is exemplary... There's darkness enough here for the hardiest of cynics, but enough heart to charm * Word *

Read more less

Book Synopsis*PRE-ORDER HARUKI MURAKAMI'S NEW NOVEL, THE CITY AND ITS UNCERTAIN WALLS, NOW*Read this imaginative masterpiece from the internationally bestselling author of Norwegian WoodThe year is 1984. Aomame sits in a taxi on the expressway in Tokyo.Her work is not the kind which can be discussed in public but she is in a hurry to carry out an assignment and, with the traffic at a stand-still, the driver proposes a solution. She agrees, but as a result of her actions starts to feel increasingly detached from the real world. She has been on a top-secret mission, and her next job will lead her to encounter the apparently superhuman founder of a religious cult.Meanwhile, Tengo wishes to become a writer. He inadvertently becomes involved in a strange affair surrounding a literary prize to which a mysterious seventeen-year-old girl has submitted her remarkable first novel. It seems to be based on her own experiences and moves readers in unusual ways. Can her story really be true?Both Aomame and Tengo notice that the world has grown strange; both realise that they are indispensable to each other. While their stories influence one another, at times by accident and at times intentionally, the two come closer and closer to intertwining.''It is a work of maddening brilliance and gripping originality, deceptively casual in style, but vibrating with wit, intellect and ambition'' The TimesTrade ReviewA surreal and fractured dose of storytelling that only Murakami cold write. -- Graham Morrison, five stars * Linux Voice *A surreal and fractured dose of storytelling that only Murakami cold write. -- Graham Morrison, five stars * Linux Voice *It’s pure, uncut Murakami. * Business Insider *Murakami's magnum opus * Japan Times *1Q84 has a range and sophistication that surpasses anything else in his oeuvre. It is his most achieved novel; an epic in which form and content are neatly aligned... So like Murakami himself, I'll borrow from Orwell: 1Q84 is quite simply doubleplusgood * Independent on Sunday *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA mindbending new collection of short stories from the unique, internationally acclaimed author of Norwegian Wood and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle.THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERThe eight masterly stories in this new collection are all told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator. From nostalgic memories of youth, meditations on music and an ardent love of baseball to dreamlike scenarios, an encounter with a talking monkey and invented jazz albums, together these stories challenge the boundaries between our minds and the exterior world. Occasionally, a narrator who may or may not be Murakami himself is present. Is it memoir or fiction? The reader decides.Philosophical and mysterious, the stories in First Person Singular all touch beautifully on love and solitude, childhood and memory. . . all with a signature Murakami twist.A GUARDIAN AND SUNDAY TIMES 'BOOKS OF 2021' PICKTrade ReviewFirst Person Singular is a patch of intense variety and colour... Murakami's protagonists tend to be introspective, ordinary men who find themselves confronted by women and unusual situations. It is as much their reactions to events as the events themselves that make his books so brilliant -- Arjun Neil Alim * Evening Standard *Mind-bending...touches beautifully on love, solitude, childhood memories, dreamlike scenarios, invented jazz albums and meditations on music. In true Murakami tale-telling perfection, it's devourable * Irish Daily Mail *I never tire of re-entering Murakami's world, finding his Proustian ability to covey the texture of memory exhilarating, and his fatalistic heroes and their deadpan response to the melodramatic and the outré soothing -- Jake Kerridge * Daily Telegraph *These stories are unmistakably Murakami's for the way they traffic in his signature themes of time and memory, nostalgia and young love... each one [story] has insights that remain with you long after they are done -- Alexander Nurnberh * Sunday Times *The hallmarks of Haruki Murakami's longer fiction are all here; an enigmatic eeriness which hints at the supernatural in everyday situations, a love of jazz and baseball, and the nourishing nostalgia of pop music * Daily Mail *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA collection that features such stories as: When a man's favourite elephant vanishes, the balance of his whole life is subtly upset; a couple's midnight hunger pangs drive them to hold up a McDonald's; a woman finds she is irresistible to a small green monster that burrows through her front garden; and, more.Trade ReviewHow does Murakami manage to make poetry while writing of contemporary life and emotions? I am weak-kneed with admiration * Independent on Sunday *Enchanting...intriguing... All of these tales have a wonderfully surreal quality and a hip, witty tone * Wall Street Journal *All the stories take place in parallel worlds not so much remote from ordinary life as hidden within its surfaces: secret alleys that afford unexpected - and unsettling - views * New York Times *Like the best thriller fiction, it nags you with the sensation that Something Nasty is about to happen * Sunday Times *Most collections of short stories work by the interplay of different voices. This one offers the more satisfying rewards of a novel: unity of tone and a richness of recurring detail that creates its own texture: spaghetti, lawns, hamburgers, beer-drinking, kid sisters, Sunday afternoons, a man's name * Independent *

Read more less

Book SynopsisHear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 are Haruki Murakami's two first novel - here they are together in one edition. Now I think it's time to tell my story. Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 are Haruki Murakami's two first novels. Home from college on his summer break, the narrator spends his time drinking beer and smoking with his friend nicknamed the Rat, listening to the radio, thinking about writing and pursuing a relationship with a girl with nine fingers. Three years later he has moved to Tokyo to work as a translator and live with indistinguishable twin girls. But the Rat has remained behind. Haunted by memories of the past, the narrator embarks upon a quest to find the exact model of pinball machine he and the Rat had enjoyed playing years earlier: the three-flipper Spaceship. Quintessential Murakamian excellent introduction to a writer who has since become one of the most influential novelists of his generation' Guardian Murakami's way of making emotionally resonant images and symbols bump around on the page, and in one's mind, remains fresh' Evening StandardWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR

Read more less

Book SynopsisA special hardback edition of Murakami's epic, magical masterpiece, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, now with a new introduction from the authorToru Okada's cat has disappeared.His wife is growing more distant every day.Then there are the increasingly explicit telephone calls he has recently been receiving.As this compelling story unfolds, the tidy suburban realities of Okada's vague and blameless life, spent cooking, reading, listening to jazz and opera and drinking beer at the kitchen table, are turned inside out, and he embarks on a bizarre journey, guided (however obscurely) by a succession of characters, each with a tale to tell.'Visionary...a bold and generous book' New York Times'Mesmerising, surreal, this really is the work of a true original' The TimesTrade ReviewMurakami 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 *Deeply philosophical and teasingly perplexing, it is impossible to put down * Daily Telegraph *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 *Mesmerising, surreal, this really is the work of a true original * The Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisMurakami tells the true story behind an act of terrorism that turned an average Monday morning into a national disaster.In spite of the perpetrators'' intentions, the Tokyo gas attack left only twelve people dead, but thousands were injured and many suffered serious after-effects. Murakami interviews the victims to try and establish precisely what happened on the subway that day.He also interviews members and ex-members of the doomsdays cult responsible, in the hope that they might be able to explain the reason for the attack and how it was that their guru instilled such devotion in his followers.''Not just an impressive essay in witness literature, but also a unique sounding of the quotidian Japanese mind'' IndependentTrade ReviewMurakami shares with Alfred Hitchcock a fascination for ordinary people being suddenly plucked by extraordinary circumstances from their daily lives * Sunday Telegraph *Not just an impressive essay in witness literature, but also a unique sounding of the quotidian Japanese mind * Independent *A scrupulous and unhistrionic look into the heart of the horror * Scotsman *The testimonies he assembles are striking. From the very beginning Underground is impossibly moving and unexpectedly engrossing * Time Out *There is no artifice or pretension in Underground. There is no need for cleverness. What Murakami describes happens to ordinary people in a frighteningly ordinary way. And it is all the more bizarre for that * Observer *

Read more less

Book SynopsisWords have power. Yet that power must be rooted in truth and justice. Words must never stand apart from those principles.'You end this collection…vowing to never let life, or writing, get so complicated again' GuardianReaders who have long wondered where the mysterious novelist gets his ideas and what inspires his beautifully surreal worlds will be fascinated by this highly personal look at the craft of writing.In this engaging book, the internationally best-selling author shares with readers what he thinks about being a novelist; his own origins as a writer; and his musings on the sparks of creativity that inspire other writers, artists, and musicians.'Murakami is like a magician who explains what he's doing as he performs the trick and still makes you believe he has supernatural powers' New York Times Book Review'A fascinating glimpse of the peculiar writerly life' Sunday Times** A TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES and NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR**Trade Review[The] 11 essays here… deal with all the things that you’d like to ask [Murakami]…in the highly unlikely event that you were able to corner him at a book-signing session… You end this collection of beautiful essays vowing to never let life, or writing, get so complicated again * Guardian *

Read more less

Book SynopsisDiscover Haruki Murakami''s first two novels.''If you''re the sort of guy who raids the refrigerators of silent kitchens at three o''clock in the morning, you can only write accordingly. That''s who I am.'' Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 are Haruki Murakami''s earliest novels. They follow the fortunes of the narrator and his friend, known only by his nickname, the Rat. In Hear the Wind Sing the narrator is home from college on his summer break. He spends his time drinking beer and smoking in J''s Bar with the Rat, listening to the radio, thinking about writing and the women he has slept with, and pursuing a relationship with a girl with nine fingers. Three years later, in Pinball, 1973, he has moved to Tokyo to work as a translator and live with indistinguishable twin girls, but the Rat has remained behind, despite his efforts to leave both the town and his girlfriend. The narrator finds himself hTrade ReviewMurakami fans will no doubt delight in this new publication. For newcomers, these early works are an excellent introduction to a writer who has since become one of the most influential novelists of his generation -- Hannah Beckerman * Observer *Murakami’s way of making emotionally resonant images and symbols bump around on the page, and in one’s mind, remains fresh, miraculously, more than 35 years on -- Jerome Boyd Maunsell * Evening Standard *Wind/Pinball is a fresh, heart-warming dose of the Japanese master * Economist *To read a Murakami book is to feel comforted by the familiarity and predictability of its strangeness. These are Murakami’s two earliest novels and so, like archaeological artefacts, they detail the early construction of his now-famous style. -- Claire Kohda Hazelton * The Times Literary Supplement *quintessential Murakami… an excellent introduction to a writer who has since become one of the most influential novelists of his generation -- Guardian * Hannah Beckerman *

Read more less

Book SynopsisEnchantingintriguing [] A wonderfully surreal quality and a hip, witty tone. The Wall Street JournalHaruki Murakami's novels, essays and stories have sold millions of copies worldwide and been translated into fifty languages. Now for the first time, his best-loved stories are available in manga form, in three independent volumes. These adaptations have been hailed by Publishers Weekly as a must-read for Murakami buffs and a quirky invitation into the writer's perspective and preoccupations for newcomers, while Book Riot says Long-time fans are sure to appreciate this new approach to Murakami's work, while newcomers will find it an evocative introduction.With their trademark mix of realism and fantasy, centering around Murakami's signature themes of loss, remorse and confusion, the two stories in this volume are:Scheherazade: A man, Habara, is confined to his home, as though under house arrest. He is visited regularly by a woman, Scheherazade, who brings provisions then has sex with him. She tells him about a boy she was in love with in high school, and how she would break into his house. She starts re-enacting the break-ins, which further enhances their passion. At the end of the story, Habara anxiously awaits her next break-in and the continuing account of her youthful affair. Tortured love affairs [] are nothing new to Murakami's vast store of plotlines. The New York TimesSleep: A housewife has not slept for many days, but her family doesn't notice. She stays up all night reading Anna Karenina and sees her surroundings through new eyes. Her sleeplessness provides freedom from a monotonous life looking after her husband and son. A brilliant story that uses the liminality of the night to evoke the unease of being a woman in a patriarchal society. The GuardianThese graphic novel versions of Murakami's classic stories will be devoured by his fans and will provide a new window onto his work for readers not yet familiar with it!*This volume is shrink-wrapped and recommended for readers ages 18+ due to mature themes and graphic content.*

Read more less

Book SynopsisMurakami's surreal, mind-bending masterpiece: a sci-fi pastiche and a Utopian fantasy novel ingeniously woven together. A narrative particle accelerator that zooms between Wild Turkey Whiskey and Bob Dylan. Unicorn skulls and voracious librarians. John Coltrane and Lord Jim. Science fiction, detective story, post-modern manifesto. All this rolled into one rip-roaring novel, End of the World and Hard-boiled Wonderland is the tour de force that expanded Haruki Murakami's international following. Tracking one man's descent into the Kafkaesque underworld of contemporary Tokyo, Murakami unites East and West, tragedy and farce, compassion and detachment, slang and philosophy. A remarkable writer...he captures the common ache of contemporary heart and head' Jay McInerneyHis fantasies, with their easy reference to western pulp fiction and music, retain a beauty of the mind' GuardianWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR

Read more less

Book SynopsisHaruki Murakami's third novel, A Wild Sheep Chase is the mystery hybrid which completes the odyssey begun in Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973.The man was leading an aimless life, time passing, one big blank. His girlfriend has perfectly formed ears, ears with the power to bewitch, marvels of creation. The man receives a letter from a friend, enclosing a seemingly innocent photograph of sheep, and a request: place the photograph somewhere it will be seen. Then, one September afternoon, the phone rings, and the adventure begins. Welcome to the wild sheep chase.'Mr. Murakami's style and imagination are closer to that of Kurt Vonnegut, Raymond Carver and John Irving' New York TimesTrade ReviewWonderfully easy to read and just as wonderfully difficult to make sense of...like the narrator, who slowly accepts the presence in his life of mystery, we slowly recognize the possibility of a new kind of world. Like him, we lean forward and topple headlong into magic * Washington Post *It begins as a detective novel, dips into a screwball comedy, and at its close becomes a tale of possession...A highly accomplished piece of craftsmanship * New Yorker *Mr. Murakami's style and imagination are closer to that of Kurt Vonnegut, Raymond Carver and John Irving * New York Times *A Wild Sheep Chase has the conventional hull of a thriller - a quest, a mystery, an extraordinary woman, and plenty of elegant duress - but its fantastic superstructure transforms it into something quite different...a science fiction fantasy, a romance, a metaphysical tease, or a dramatisation of philosophical ideas * Independent *If you consider yourself an intelligent, sensitive common reader but wish to accommodate something a little removed from your experience, and probably your imagination, I dare you to turn your eyes towards Murakami and head off on a wild sheep chase. * Glasgow Herald *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1978, Haruki Murakami was 29 and running a jazz bar in downtown Tokyo. One April day, the impulse to write a novel came to him suddenly while watching a baseball game. That first novel, Hear the Wind Sing, won a new writers' award and was published the following year. More followed, including A Wild Sheep Chase and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, but it was Norwegian Wood, published in 1987, which turned Murakami from a writer into a phenomenon. His books became bestsellers, were translated into many languages, including English, and the door was thrown wide open to Murakami's unique and addictive fictional universe.Murakami writes with admirable discipline, producing ten pages a day, after which he runs ten kilometres (he began long-distance running in 1982 and has participated in numerous marathons and races), works on translations, and then reads, listens to records and cooks. His passions colour his non-fiction output, from What I Talk About When I Talk About Running to Absolutely On Music, and they also seep into his novels and short stories, providing quotidian moments in his otherwise freewheeling flights of imaginative inquiry. In works such as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, 1Q84 and Men Without Women, his distinctive blend of the mysterious and the everyday, of melancholy and humour, continues to enchant readers, ensuring Murakami's place as one of the world's most acclaimed and well-loved writers.Trade ReviewNorwegian Wood is Japan's The Catcher in the Rye * Daily Telegraph *Everyone who reads Norwegian Wood runs out to buy copies for friends and lovers... Drawing on Fitzgerald, Capote, Chandler and the Japanese tradition, his books are at once disarmingly direct and slyly, charmingly evasive. They are playful and melancholy; full of wrong turns and red herrings, corridors that lead nowhere and - above all - girls who disappear * Guardian *A masterly novel. . . . Norwegian Wood bears the unmistakable marks of Murakami's hand * The New York Times Book Review *This book is undeniably hip, full of student uprisings, free love, booze and 1960s pop, it's also genuinely emotionally engaging, and describes the highs of adolescence as well as the lows * Independent on Sunday *Catches the absorption and giddy rush of adolescent love... It is also, for all the tragic momentum and the apparently kamikaze consciousness of many of its characters, often funny and quirkily observed. Quietly compulsive and finally moving * Times Literary Supplement *

Read more less

Book SynopsisHaruki Murakami (Author) In 1978, Haruki Murakami was twenty-nine and running a jazz bar in downtown Tokyo. One April day, the impulse to write a novel came to him suddenly while watching a baseball game. That first novel, Hear the Wind Sing, won a new writers' award and was published the following year. More followed, including A Wild Sheep Chase and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, but it was Norwegian Wood, published in 1987, that turned Murakami from a writer into a phenomenon.In works such as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, 1Q84, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running and Men Without Women, Murakami's distinctive blend of the mysterious and the everyday, of melancholy and humour, continues to enchant readers, ensuring his place as one of the world's most acclaimed and well-loved writers.Jay Rubin (Translator) Jay Rubin is the author of Injurious to Pub

Read more less

Book SynopsisTales of upheaval and confusion, longing and love in the aftermath of the Kobe earthquake.For the characters in after the quake, the Kobe earthquake is an echo from a past they buried long ago.Trade ReviewIn a dance with the delights of Murakami's imagination we experience the limitless possibilities of fiction. With these stories Murakami expands our hearts and minds yet again * The Times *Ushers the reader into a hallucinatory world where the real and surreal merge and overlap, where dreams and real-life nightmares are impossible to tell apart...this slender volume, deftly translated by Jay Rubin, may serve as a succinct introduction to his imaginative world...Lewis Carroll meets Kafka with a touch of Philip K. Dick * New York Times *Dazzlingly elegant...In a world where even the ground beneath our feet can't be relied on, imagination becomes less of a luxury and more of a duty. It's an obligation that Murakami is busily making his raison d'etre, to our very great advantage * Guardian *In the world of literary fiction, Haruki Murakami is unquestionably a superstar...Many critics have touted Murakami for the Nobel Prize. If he can stay on this kind of form, he could be in with a chance * Scotland on Sunday *Murakami is a unique writer, at once restrained and raw, plainspoken and poetic * Washington Post *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1978, Haruki Murakami was 29 and running a jazz bar in downtown Tokyo. One April day, the impulse to write a novel came to him suddenly while watching a baseball game. That first novel, Hear the Wind Sing, won a new writers' award and was published the following year. More followed, including A Wild Sheep Chase and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, but it was Norwegian Wood, published in 1987, which turned Murakami from a writer into a phenomenon. His books became bestsellers, were translated into many languages, including English, and the door was thrown wide open to Murakami's unique and addictive fictional universe.Murakami writes with admirable discipline, producing ten pages a day, after which he runs ten kilometres (he began long-distance running in 1982 and has participated in numerous marathons and races), works on translations, and then reads, listens to records and cooks. His passions colour his non-fiction output, from What I Talk About WhTrade ReviewMurakami 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 *Deeply philosophical and teasingly perplexing, it is impossible to put down * Daily Telegraph *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 *Mesmerising, surreal, this really is the work of a true original * The Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn intimate conversation about music and creativity, between the internationally bestselling writer Haruki Murakami and world-class conductor, Seiji Ozawa. Haruki Murakami's passion for music runs deep. Before turning his hand to writing, he ran a jazz club in Tokyo, and the aesthetic and emotional power of music permeates every one of his much-loved books. Now, in Absolutely on Music, Murakami fulfills a personal dream, sitting down with his friend, acclaimed conductor Seiji Ozawa, to talk about their shared interest. They discuss everything from Brahms to Beethoven, from Leonard Bernstein to Glenn Gould, from record collecting to pop-up orchestras, and much more.'Absolutely on Music is an unprecedented treasure... Talking about music is like dancing about architecture, it's often said, but what joy to watch these two friends dance.' GuardianTrade ReviewAbsolutely on Music is an unprecedented treasure… Talking about music is like dancing about architecture, it’s often said, but what joy to watch these two friends dance. * Guardian *Hardly a soul writes of the listening and playing of music with such insight and tenderness -- Patti Smith * New York Times Book Review *Their words tessellate perfectly, forcing the neurons in your brain into a brave new quest for artistic divinity… A book for people transfixed by the minutia of creativity. * Shortlist *High Fidelity for classical music fans. * Publishers Weekly *These dialogues...add up to a sprawling feast of Mahler-style “polytonality” - or, alternatively, the sort of protean jam-session that Monk and Parker relished. -- Boyd Tonkin * Arts Desk *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe international literary icon opens his eclectic closet and shares photos of his extensive unique personal T-shirt collection. Haruki Murakami's books have galvanized millions around the world. Many of his fans know about his 10,000-vinyl-record collection, and his obsession with running, but few have heard about a more intimate, and perhaps more unique, passion: his T-shirt-collecting habit.In Murakami T, the famously reclusive novelist shows us his T-shirts - including gems found in bookshops, charity shops and record stores - from those featuring whisky, animals, cars and superheroes, to souvenirs of marathons and a Beach Boys concert in Honolulu, to the shirt that inspired the beloved short story 'Tony Takitani'. Accompanied by short, frank essays that have been translated into English for the first time, these photographs reveal much about Murakami's multifaceted and wonderfully eccentric persona.'The world's most popular cult novelist' GuardianTrade ReviewFascinating...part ode, part exhibit that reads with restrained affection for his accidental accumulations....these tees excavate an intimate history. The choices we make about what we find and keep point to our interior worlds...Murakami's understated love letters to his tees also convey how we give life to our things and vice versa. * Atlantic *It's safe to say there is no one like Murakami * Literary Review *Murakami is one of the best writers around * Time Out, on Norwegian Wood *Everything he chooses to describe trembles with symbolic possibility * Guardian, on Norwegian Wood *Mesmerising, surreal, this really is the work of a true original * The Times, on The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle *Undeniably a somewhat eccentric book. But it's also a very likeable one... The overall effect is not unlike sharing a conversation with a genial bloke in a bar * Reader's Digest *One of the most influential novelists of his generation. * Observer *An incredibly readable and charming tour through Murakami's life through the T-shirts he has collected along the way... [the reader] feels a personal connection with him, as if we are reading his secret diary -- Adam Davidson * Northern Echo *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA beautifully packaged hardback edition of Haruki Murakami's mesmerizingly evocative classic, now with a new introduction by the authorEyes mark the shape of the cityThe midnight hour approaches in an almost-empty diner. Mari sips her coffee and reads a book, but soon her solitude is disturbed: a girl has been beaten up at the Alphaville hotel, and needs Mari's help.Meanwhile Mari's beautiful sister Eri lies in a deep, heavy sleep that is 'too perfect, too pure' to be normal; it has lasted for two months. But tonight as the digital clock displays 00:00, a hint of life flickers across the television screen in her room, even though its plug has been pulled out.Strange nocturnal happenings, or a trick of the night?'A captivating mood piece, delicate and wistful' Evening StandardTrade ReviewFor sheer love of a thumping narrative, the novel delivers gloriously-Inventive, alluring * Guardian *Wonderful-Magical and outlandish * Daily Mail *Cool, fluent and addictive * Daily Telegraph *Hypnotic, spellbinding * The Times *A magnificently bewildering achievement-Brilliantly conceived, bold in its surreal scope, sexy and driven by a snappy plot-Exuberant storytelling * Independent on Sunday *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA beautifully packaged hardback edition of Haruki Murakami's brilliantly surreal, detective-story classic, now with a new introduction by the author.The man was leading an aimless life, time passing, one big blank. His girlfriend has perfectly formed ears, ears with the power to bewitch, marvels of creation. The man receives a letter from a friend, enclosing a seemingly innocent photograph of sheep, and a request: place the photograph somewhere it will be seen.Then, one September afternoon, the phone rings, and the adventure begins. Welcome to the wild sheep chase.'Murakami's style and imagination are closer to that of Kurt Vonnegut, Raymond Carver and John Irving' New York TimesTrade ReviewWonderfully easy to read and just as wonderfully difficult to make sense of...like the narrator, who slowly accepts the presence in his life of mystery, we slowly recognize the possibility of a new kind of world. Like him, we lean forward and topple headlong into magic * Washington Post *It begins as a detective novel, dips into a screwball comedy, and at its close becomes a tale of possession...A highly accomplished piece of craftsmanship * New Yorker *Mr. Murakami's style and imagination are closer to that of Kurt Vonnegut, Raymond Carver and John Irving * New York Times *A Wild Sheep Chase has the conventional hull of a thriller - a quest, a mystery, an extraordinary woman, and plenty of elegant duress - but its fantastic superstructure transforms it into something quite different...a science fiction fantasy, a romance, a metaphysical tease, or a dramatisation of philosophical ideas * Independent *If you consider yourself an intelligent, sensitive common reader but wish to accommodate something a little removed from your experience, and probably your imagination, I dare you to turn your eyes towards Murakami and head off on a wild sheep chase. * Glasgow Herald *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFully illustrated and beautifully designed, this is a unique and wonderfully creepy tale that is sure to delight Murakami fans. 'All I did was go to the library to borrow some books'. On his way home from school, the young narrator of The Strange Library finds himself wondering how taxes were collected in the Ottoman Empire. He pops into the local library to see if it has a book on the subject. This is his first mistake. Led to a special 'reading room' in a maze under the library by a strange old man, he finds himself imprisoned with only a sheep man, who makes excellent donuts, and a girl, who can talk with her hands, for company. His mother will be worrying why he hasn't returned in time for dinner and the old man seems to have an appetite for eating small boy's brains. How will he escape?'The best novelist on the planet' ObserverTrade ReviewThe best novelist on the planet * Observer *Murakami is like a magician who explains what he’s doing as he performs the trick and still makes you believe he has supernatural powers . . . But while anyone can tell a story that resembles a dream, it's the rare artist, like this one, who can make us feel that we are dreaming it ourselves * New York Times Book Review *A dark and memorable fairytale about the lingering influence of childhood fears and the isolation of adulthood -- Catherine Kelly * Cherwell Newspaper *If you have an hour to spare one day and want a short, dark fantasy read, The Strange Library is the book to pick up * We Were Raised By Wolves *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he''d completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, not to mention triathlons and a slew of critically acclaimed books, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and on his writing. Equal parts travelogue, training log, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and settings ranging from Tokyo''s Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him. Through this marvellous lens of sport emerges a cornucopia of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after fifty, of seeing his race times improve and then fall back.By turns funny andTrade ReviewMurakami gives me a reason. It might seem romantic, but it's true. I had to run…but I didn't enjoy running. I do enjoy, however, running with Murakami. -- Ioan Marc Jones * Huffington Post UK *Murakami distils his own process of writing fiction in this layered and meditative memoir. * Big Issue *A wonderful exploration of work, place and life’s meanders. * Geographical *It’s an inspiring, reflective read that’ll make you want to dust your trainers off -- Andy McNicoll * Professional Social Work *An outstanding read -- Peter Sharkey * Eastern Daily Press *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis* NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A GlOBE AND MAIL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * A REAL SIMPLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the author of Norwegian Wood and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World comes a love story, a quest, an ode to books and to the libraries that house them, and a parable for our peculiar times.Haruki Murakami invented 21st-century fiction. The New York Times * More than any author since Kafka, Murakami appreciates the genuine strangeness of our real world. San Francisco Chronicle * Murakami is masterful. Los Angeles TimesWe begin with a nameless young couple: a boy and a girl, teenagers in love. One day, she disappears . . . and her absence haunts him for the rest of his life.Thus begins a search for this lost love that takes the man into middle age and on a journey between the real world and an other world a mysterious, perhaps imaginary, walled town where unicorns roam, where a Gatekeeper determines who can enter and who must remain behind, and where shadows become untethered from their selves. Listening to his own dreams and premonitions, the man leaves his life in Tokyo behind and ventures to a small mountain town, where he becomes the head librarian, only to learn the mysterious circumstances surrounding the gentleman who had the job before him. As the seasons pass and the man grows more uncertain about the porous boundaries between these two worlds, he meets a strange young boy who helps him to see what he's been missing all along.The City and Its Uncertain Walls is a singular and towering achievement by one of modern literature's most important writers. Truth is not found in fixed stillness, but in ceaseless change/movement. Isn't this the quintessential core of what stories are all about?? Haruki Murakami, from the afterword

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of Kafka on the Shore: A magnificent coming-of-age story steeped in nostalgia, “a masterly novel” (The New York Times Book Review) blending the music, the mood, and the ethos that were the sixties with a young man’s hopeless and heroic first love. Toru, a serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before. As Naoko retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman. Stunning and elegiac, Norwegian Wood first propelled Haruki Murakami into the forefront of the literary scene.

Read more less