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04 January 2012

My first Haruki Murakami

The reason I picked up two Haruki Murakami's books when I went to Border's less than two weeks ago was just because he is now the Tom Cruise of the bookish world. His newly launched book IQ84 received worldwide acclaims in the English speaking world. Contrary to the people who picked up his books just to enjoy his writings and the uniqueness of his stories, I started reading his book just because I wanted to see what the fuss is all about with this Japanese writer.

I am now halfway through both Kafka on the Shore and Norwegian Wood and I should say they should make more fuss about this Japanese genius who created such 'kaboom' novels. I've been reading these two books for the past weeks and it seems that Kafka on the Shore is much more of a masterpiece compared to Norwegian Wood (mainly because NW is a love story). I should thank my super-smart friend Jeen for recommending this book to me. I still remember how she told me how good Haruki Murakami is under the scorching sun of Johor Bharu when we went for an oil and gas conference a month ago.
I thought reading Haruki Murakami is hard. I do not mean plot but the language. Since forever, I always thought good writers always write with the styles and vocabularies that I cannot understand. Haruki proved that my belief was wrong. I cannot say anything about the plot because I have not finished reading them but I guarantee you that his books are more than worth buying. 
Who would have expected to have fish raining from the skies? That is the kind of story that I have been waiting for. Halfway through his books, I am definitely going to put him among my favourite writers along with Malcolm Gladwell and Orhan Pamuk.-The Chukai Insider

9 comments:

  1. Ainul Mardhiah UbaidillahJanuary 4, 2012 at 5:53 PM

    aku ada gok buku ni dalam stock buku aku...you're making me want to read it!!! tapi banyak sangat dah other books on my waiting list...

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  2. Mu kena baca buku ni. Tapi jangan bagi adik mu baca..sebab eeuww sikit certain parts. Euw the Japanese way not the western kind of thing.

    Seriously, I choose this book over my name is red. And i think it's better if you finish your TEXTBOOKSSSSS FIRST.

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  3. I'm honored to be mentioned in your post (though I'm not super-smart)! Kafka on the Shore is abandoned at my shelf for ages! I shall take it to Miri in Feb. I'm happy that you like Murakami's writing! Haha the eeuuww thing is part of his style but I like the way he brings it out :D

    Btw, your new blog layout is nice!

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  4. try bace a wild sheep chase. best gok. tp die trilogy. pinball, a wild sheep chase n dance dance dance. 
    susoh la nk cari buku die. kalu aku jumpe pn msti xdok duit nk beli T.T

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  5. oh btw dun buy 1Q84 yet. u need to read most of his previous books first to get the real essence of the book.  so save 1Q84 for the last. ;)

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  6. Mu baca mende dah buku dia Ain? Lagipun buku 1q84 tu dok mampu pun nak beli lagi...

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  7. Haha. Jeen, you ARE smart. I thought his style is hard to catch but it's not. Anyway, thanks for the compliment about the blog layout. Hahaha. 

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  8. aku dok bace betul2 lg any of buku die. just mcm skit2 je. aku strt dgn a wild sheep chase. mu kena bace. its interesting.

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  9. Ainul Mardhiah UbaidillahJanuary 5, 2012 at 7:40 PM

    Eww japanese way? I wouldn't know what that means...
    and lay off my textbooks!

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