If Haruki Murakami wasn’t a mainstream writer who’s paperbacks aren’t found in most fiction sections in most bookstores, I’d be curious to see if your critique of him would be the same.
oh man, you're saying what i'm thinking. ryu is incredible/ i'm in love with his work since i was 15. he inspires me to write. i'm very thankful to him for this
Ryu Murakami is one of my favorite authors of all time. It's such a shame he's not very popular outside of Audition. I cried so many times reading Coin Locker Babies and it's currently sitting on my top 3 favorite foreign literature novels, and it's in my top 10 novels of all time. His writing style is so raw and unfiltered, but not in an edgy teen way - in a realistic, gritty way. I read In The Miso Soup and was genuinely horrified of how Ryu is able to project these images onto pages of nothing but text so well. Piercing is on my want to read list, and I'm really looking forward to it. I love reading foreign literature, especially Japan's - because they didn't have the surge of censorship that the states and Russia had after WWII and during The Cold War. Japanese literature, especially it's horror section, is just so much more intimate than most American novellas. Japan's authors have never been afraid to push the envelope about their society and conventions.. but Ryu stands out above the rest because he is not afraid to tap into the darker places of the psyche, something he does unbelievably well. I'm autistic and literature is my special interest, and I find most novels boring. But Ryu scratches that itch I have for surreal and gritty material. Truly an outstanding author I think every book lover should check out at least once.. Again, it's such a shame he's not very popular, his novels really change you. Any enthusiast of Ryu Murakami is good in my book, you got a new subscriber
I absolutely loved your video, Ryu needs more spotlight, his way of writing about the violence and nature of people is breathtaking. New fan from Chile! ♥️
I fell for the Murakami hype, I think the wind-up bird chronicle is one of his best works, I eventually realized how most of his works are not that good and sort of all blend together(that is not a good thing by the way). His prose(translated) is so simple and easy to read, wacky characters and situations really does make his books comfort food, his books helped me get through university.
Yeah I used to take them onto my uni campus for especially long days because I knew I'd be distracted by all the students walking around and didn't want to struggle with something too dense
DON'T COMMENT on Haruki Murakami unless u have read his full list !! The TRUTH is that his famous books - Norwegian Wood, Kafka, Wind-up bird, 1Q84 are NOT his Best at all. His BEST BOOKS are : 1. Killing Commendatore 2. After Dark 3. Hard-boiled Wonderland 4. Wild Sheep Chase 5. Sputnik Sweetheart 6. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki Etc. They are matchless stories of Beauty 🤗
Another thing about Ryu is, he’s not a one trick pony. In the Miso Soup is terrifying and deeply disturbing, while 69 is one of the best-and most hilarious portrayals of teenage boys and Popular Hits of the Showa Era is both hilarious and disturbing.
Ryu murakami is a sort of genre writer, and I feel that's the reason he's written off so much. But his work is so good, much better than Haruki's. I guess the transgressive nature also throws people off
yeah it's sometimes difficult to remember not everyone would prefer to read about icepicks going in people's eyes and psychos who murder prostitutes (then again, haruki had a scene in wind-up bird where a guy was skinned alive, but it was a one-off)
Interesting point about death happening mid-investigation. But still I would never dare to reduce a concert to merely a particular sample of practice, or a speedrun. I believe a concert is fundamentally distinct event from mere practice, due to these intermeshing virtual factors, such as the element of the other, which makes the process of performing something imbued with significance, an act of giving to the other, and proving to oneself that one has practiced well, that there is a fruit to this, and that one can overcome the doubt of the fruitfulness of practice. Practice exists for the concert, the concert doesn't exist for practice sake. Practice anticipates it's own actualization within the event of concert. Rant over. Btw my opinion is objectively correct, since I can attest to never having read any Murakami in my life.
I think you and I have the exact same taste in books. I also absolutely can’t stand how repetitive HM is and utterly adore RM, struggling to get all my friends to read him.
I salute you for having a critical take but I have to disagree. Simple style does not equal bad. Lack of a clear message or emotional detachment does not equal bad. Lack of edgy subject matter or style does not equal bad. Popularity does not equal bad. And the bingo game could be played with any prolific author.
@@mery7798 It's better than 'Blue'. I actually live in #Fukuoka where it is set. It's the 2nd best novel about Fukuoka I've read- after The Sea & Poison by #Endo.
@@aclark903 That's very interesting, I didn't know it was set in Fukuoka. I did read Blue a few years ago but didn't like it very much (compared to his other books of course). But I'm gonna give From the Fatherland a try, even if it seems like a challenge. The synopsis of The Sea and Poison sounds good, so I'm adding that to my list too.
You make some valid points about HM here- he is certainly’readable’ - but to dismiss him as ‘junk food’ is surely a bit rich. If HM is junk food, what are Grisham and Child?
Man, saying that H. Murakami is the "literary" equivalent of fastfood, read by uneducated brutes in the subway or when taking a dump, makes you the BEST reviewer ever. I tried to read the bastard many times but could never get beyond the first couple of pages. His writing is cheap, and he himself said that he is always writing the same novel over and over again, which makes him an incompetent loser. The guy should have never dabbled in literature or written a word, he is a literary VIRUS par excellence. I trust your authentic knowledge of literature 👍👍👍
Yup, never understood all the murakami hype, even from a bestselling/commercial POV, it's so bland and boring Will check Ryu's work, tho he doesn't sound like my cup of tea, who knows. Also really liked your closing reflections, I dont think you are ever done with an author, good art is always relevant so I think as we change and keep reading new ways to read the same thing will always emerge, the end has no end
i first read Ryu Murakami about 17 years ago. i was learning french at the time and i kind of randomly picked from a public library the french translation of "almost transparent blue". it left a great imprssion on me so i went looking for more. the next one i got was "lines" which is probably my favorite i have read from him. over the years i have read Ecstasy, in the Miso Soup, Audition, Coin locker babies and "love and pop". love and pop is probably my second favorite. i got a couple more i want to read: parasite and "Popular Hits of the Showa Era" of this last one i saw the movie long ago and it was great. i remember back then browsing bookstores always looking for Ryu Murakami and there was very rarely any from him instead there was a ton of Haruki Murakami . eventually i decided to give Haruki a chance and bought 1Q84... maybe it was wrong choice to start reading Haruki Murakami being such a long book, in any case i did not like it at all. i dont have that much of a problem with the length as long as there is substance in it. but it was just pointless never-ending repetition. i imagine there are better books from him but i dont think i will ever find out as i dont plan to risk going through that again... thanks for your video. i share your opinion. although it may be a bit unfair of me having read just one haruki murakami book but yeah... i guess it is also a bit frustrating to me that Haruki is so popular and easy to find while ryu not so much..
yeah the prices for some of ryu's books are ridiculous especially where I live. I'll say this for Haruki, his best is wind-up bird which I remember being quite good, and from memory I think 1Q84 is considered one of his worst. Coincidentally that was the first I read from him and I also put it down, too, but something convinced me to try him again.
