So we are finished with Murakami, the Sheep Man, and our protagonist and his particular world and "friends".
We would love to hear from you!
Reading and Sharing around the Globe
Jan 17, 2013
Dance, Dance, Dance: Final Discussion
We would love to hear from you!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Murakami! Dance, dance, dance! I have really enjoyed the book, a good mix of fantasy (or not?) and reality. The characters are very original, and very good described, at least I had the feeling I was seeing all these Japanese people as if I knew them.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see anything weird in the relationship between Yuki and our hero. As you read what is going on from the inside, and nothing weird was happening, why not? And I imagine that kind of mature thirteen-year old with eccentric parents could act like this... what shocked me was that Amé, her mother, was forgetting Yuki in the hotel!!!! OK, Amé is of the forgetting kind, but come on? A mother forgetting her daughter? That makes me uneasy!
The Dirk character was also very interesting, the one-handed man that cuts the sandwiches like a professional.
The mystery connection of the six dead people felt like an Agatha Christie's classic "Ten Little Indians".
The book is good, entertaining and original. I will read other Murakamis in the future.
I do not know what to think about the end. When I got to the last page, I just couldn't believe that actually was the last page. Is that all? He finds love and that is the end of his search? Does that give meaning to everything? Sure love is important, I personally think is the one thing in life, but is it really that for the protagonist? What about the connections he was waiting for? What is the meaning of all the weird relationships that develop throughout the book? What is the meaning of the skeletons? I like Rocio comment on that part: I agree it felt like an Agatha Christie novel. However, she would always give an explanation for such strange picture!
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe I had so little vision regarding Gotanda. I really liked him... And he turns out to be a psycho murderer! Certainly, I am not like Jorge when it comes to analyze and understand book's characters :-)
I also agree with Rocio about the very well depicted characters. However, the one I did not feel real was Amé. Her eccentric and forgetting ways are too much.
Finally, I might be used to more traditional ends, but this end does not look like completed to me. Still, and despite this feeling of "unfinished" book, I am thinking about grabbing another Murakami very very soon.
I agree with Macarena on the end of the book. I thought: "really? is that it? no explanation?" The end is too open to your conclusion and imagination. I was waiting for a little more information. But I felt the same in other Murakami books: getting to the end is exciting, but when you finally get there, it feels unfinished.
ReplyDeleteThe characters are fantastic. The descriptions are accurate and their personalities are so peculiar. Dirk was amazing, the househusband poet with only one hand that can cut perfect slices of bread. I thought that was hilarious. Even if you wondered how he managed to cut the bread, would you ask?
I am glad you enjoyed the book. I will definitely read more of Murakami. Probably the one Jorge suggested, as it is not fantasy and I would like to see how Murakami describes reality.
Hi cookies,
ReplyDeleteBeing my first Murakami's book I have found it quite bizarre. My predictive skills this time only worked twice (and I must say not very impressively), when he first got into the dark floor, and when he met with Gotanda, I saw it happening two pages before it was going to happen... But nothing so good this time... ;)
I think that Murakami San is quite good describing boring, lonely lifes. On the other hand in this book he is, in my view, a little disappointing regarding the structure of the story. We go from Sapporo to Hawaii, through Tokyo, without knowing very well why. At the beginning I expected to know what happened to the old Dolphin hotel, to understand what was going on to all the real estate corruption, but all that suddenly disappears (why to talk about it then?). We don't know who killed Mei (do we? Is it implicit in the book that Gotanda killed all the whores or not?). We don't even know why Yuki desappears in the last part of the book (was she the last corpse to be found?), as the Sheepman did (or was him the last to die?). Is there any last dead body to be found indeed?
Overall I have a sweet-bitter feeling after reading the book. I would read another book from our friend Haruki, but I hope he has evolved in his writing during his career as a writer (as this one was one of his first books). Maybe the next one will be "what I talk about when I talk about running"? ;)
Run, cookies, run, as long as the race goes... run. Don't think, just run. Run your best, like as if your life depends on it. You gotta run...
After what Arantxa says about having the same feeling of unfinished end with other Murakami books, I am even more curious about reading another of his works. As Jorge has put it, it leaves a sweet-bitter feeling; and in my case, that feeling makes me want to try to understand the writing style or pattern (if any) of the author - maybe that is more feasible than trying to understand the specific story of one specific book... certainly too many questions go unanswered and to many knots are left untied in this one.
ReplyDeleteI will let you know how it goes when I dare with another Murakami... and I look forward to reading about your thoughts and feelings if you do also retry him.
I have started another Murakami - I happened to have it on my kindle and I have extra time to sit down and read now that I am on maternity leave.
ReplyDeleteI have barely read the 3% of the book and there have been already comments about somebody's ears. Also, the character of a 15-16 year old girl who is somehow strange and who spends too much time alone has appeared.
Is it a coincidence or are these two common things of all Murakami books? Weird...