My to-read list grows almost ever video I watch from you. Having another Murakami fan recommend books immediately makes me be like, "oh, this must be good." I think 1Q84 is the best story & plot of his, but its maybe only my 3rd favorite novel of his. Top 2 being Killing Comendatore and Windup Bird.
Completely agree. So many people use the word "science" to mean "absolute truth" when in reality science is all about attempting to get closer to the truth and being humble enough to be able to say "i was wrong". But on the other hand, it is also understandably difficult for most humans to question beliefs that they have made a part of their identities.
Weird how different our tastes are. Sputnik Sweetheart is my favorite, and my friend's favorite too. We even imagined it would make a great movie. I liked the chain-smoking hipster girl who's obsessed with Kerouac. It's an amazing blend of travel adventure and thriller with a very surreal ending. Everyone seems to love Norwegian Wood but it's my least favorite. I think it's totally overrated. 1Q84 had the potential to be amazing but fell flat in the last 40 pages or so. My other favorites would be Windup Bird Chronicle, Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World, and I was surprised how much I loved his one non-magical realism novel Colorless Tsukuru and his Years of Pilgrimage.
So glad you put "Kafka on the shore" in a place where it deserved to be. It's a great novel. My first Murakami read, was enough to dive me into his world of magical realism.
Wow the cut at the end really sold the video for me. Incredible stuff, my friend. Also, how dare you put footage of me judging my friend's bookshelf at the beginning of the video? Not cool, man. Subscribed.
Honestly as somebody who read a few of those books that those pretentios people read. They aren't much. So this is very accurate, and bad reads is a perfect example (also bonus point for including Infinite Jest, that is pretentios book example 1)
I hate Infinite Jest zealots as much as I love Infinite Jest itself. It’s a good book but there are people who read it on repeat and that feels like it goes directly against the point of the book.
I never put the two together in my mind, but having watched Perfect days recently it makes so much sense. So much of the vibe has that magical realism / introspective feel, very Murakami!
Overall, the list is consistent with my own, although I haven't read any of his books yet. Why do you think "South of the border..." shouldn't be included at the beginning? However, my curiosity about Murakami is currently so huge that I'm almost afraid I might be disappointed, so I'm adding a few other books before it. Thanks for the informative video.
I have a video about that too! Where to Start with Haruki Murakami: A Beginner’s Guide ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iv23tWqlnR0.html
@@vellichor_ventures I already skimmed through the video titles before the subscription and my initial thought was: this must be the murakami expert channel. 😅 Thanks for the link.
@@vellichor_ventures i hated how the nice guy type character got with literally every woman in his life even the therapist like thats what i remember from it. also i feel like his obsession with vulnerable people was kind of toxic of him, maybe its good commentary though i might have to read it again. i think maybe he felt insecure of his friend the one who died and thought he was being left behind for a reason or something.
1Q84 was full of sex stuff, like every few pages. Wild stuff, despite its length I can’t remember a single scene from that book, it’s just poor writing on top of it. I do on his other older stuff, some of them are very visceral, like the man who got stuck in the well in Wind-Up Bird, or the ferris wheel scene in Sputnik Sweetheart (which I think is a rape scene?). Anyway, after 1Q84 I haven’t find myseld wanting to read his new stuff
I like some of his female protagonist in his short stories. Also in general he normally writes sedated seeming characters who react to life like it's a dream. I'm not sure I've ever read one of his stories and thought "oh man this is a really good character".
"I took off Chopin and started playing Bill Evans, carefully placing the needle down on the vinyl so as not to damage the record's already fragile existence. I stirred my black coffee three times precisely, once for each decade of my dissolving marriage while Tuna and Albacore watched from the windowsill. In the depths of my wife's eyes, I wanted to see a beautiful moon in the night sky, but I could only find a wavering reflection in choppy black water. She still had earlobes that could compete with the best of them, but I was too tired to even think much of it. Fortunately that mirror version of her was still there, in the mirror world I wanted to call my home in those days. The way there was still in the closet behind the typewriter, but before I could excuse myself to "write" the babysitter came in, who I will describe in two paragraphs of text that will make every inch of your skin crawl."
My favourite of hers are Good bye Tsugumi and Premonition, but I really loved everyone that I read . She has a very light way to go deep the core of who we are as human beings . Love her !
I am discovering your Chanel and love it. I love how humbled and passionate you are when you talk about books and also share same taste on books. Keep going
First book on your list seems to be one of these that have something to say :) Reading books outside of the English language is almost all the books that I read
