This was fucking garbage.
im a pleb for disliking this?
No, you might be middle-tier.
Two kinds of people like Murakami: plebians, and extreme patricians.
>>7519218
You didn't like his worst book?
WOWIE ZOWIE
>>7519224
It's actually his second best book after Wind-Up... Ouch. Awkward. Might want to delete your post.
>>7519229
>... Ouch. Awkward.
There's a place to talk like a 16 year-old girl and it's not here. No wonder you liked it. Try some John Green, I think you might discover something you love.
i love murakami but why do people like that book
>>7519247
Because I hate Murakami and like realistic stories.
It's comfy to read, it's emotional, and provides some insight into the effects of prolonged loneliness. That's why I enjoyed it. Then again, it's only my third Murakami after Sputnik and 1Q84. It's a matter of taste.
>>7519281
Should I picture cute anime girls in my head while reading it?
>>7519237
But it was awkward. Ouch.. That is kind of awkward Tbh fampai.
All of Murakami's books are about exactly the same shit. He is a one trick pony hack. I enjoy some of his books but it is pleb shit desu.
>>7519834
I really try not to be a snob about literature, but this is genuinely how I feel about Murakami.
I first read Kafka on the Shore. Kind of fun, in a dreamlike lilting fashion. Then Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki....and the others mentioned in this thread.
Ehhhhh.
>>7519803
you should picture an old japanese huy writing erotic fanfiction
That does not make my heart go doki doki.
the more you read the less you appreciate murakami
he's popular because he hits the perfect sweetspot of being just "out there" enough to seem deep to people who don't read much literature (with an obviously foreign name to boot) while still being familiar and approachable enough to not alienate that same population (he himself thinks his works read better in english than in japanese). he is exactly what virginia woolf outlined as "middlebrow."
He likes to describe everything three times, he'll write a description and repeat it. When he's repeating things, he doesn't do it two times, most often it will be three times.
>>7520105
had a light kek thx anon
>>7519218
nah, that book was pretty shit.
i was gonna stop reading him for good but i got assigned After Dark for a class and really liked it.
I think Norwegian Wood was just a fluke.
but murakami isn't, like, super patrician, though.
He's not horribly offensive, it just rustled me for a while that every time I wanted to talk about Japanese literature, people would be up in my grill recommending the Wood. There are many better Japanese authors; Tanizaki, Kenzaburo Obe, Kobo Abe, not to mention Mishima.
>>7519223
translated
one kind of person likes murakami: plebs and me
>>7520105
>>7519218
you're a pleb if you like it
>>7520105
>>7519218
Yes, very pleb.
Who's a similar author / or what book would someone like that likes Murakami?
>>7520322
john green
>>7520330
(You)
can we all agree that hatsumi was best girl?
>tfw no nagasawa bro in your life
>>7520359
13 year old lesbian girl was best, forgot name
>>7519223
>extreme patricians
Can confirm, I enjoyed it.
>>7520588
Calling yourself an "extreme patrician" is fucking delusional.
>>7519223
As an extreme patrician I can confirm this.
>>7519218
You're the complete opposite of a pleb. They're just books with lolsorandumXD events and a normalfag protagonist, usually with no personality whatsoever, so that anyone can feel like a genius for analyzing the "symbolism" and "metaphors."
>>7521332
Isn't universal sentiment (or experience) something authors tap into for cathartic release? No, Murakami's works don't tap into the same intellectual vein as DFW -- but they do dig at something common in a way that few have really scratched.
>>7520166
kenzaburo has an even worst case of repeating the same shit over and over. have you actually read more than one of his books? maybe you like them since he talks so much about his downy kid.
>im a pleb for disliking this?
not at all. you're a pleb for thinking you you'd be a pleb one way or the other for having an opinion on a book, pleb.
>>7521426
I've read nearly everything translated into English. he does have his "handicapped son" series that accounts for about 1/4-1/3 of his books but otherwise he's straight. and even then he uses that as a catalyst for talking about life in various ways. if you think it's all the same that's just your dense brain not being able to grasp the variety.
>>7521410
There really aren't any universal experiences in Murakami's work. Everything is some bizarre twist that is at best extremely unlikely, at worst literally impossible or magical. There is nothing you can relate to, either literally or metaphorically.
I guess normalfag was a bad word, blank slate would be more appropriate. Has no personality, but just take the author's word that he's a normal guy.
>>7521457
>thinking about life in deep ways
>catalyst for other themes
good may may, he's as pleb as murakami desu, like it or not. sorry you wasted your time reading the same regurgitated shit over and over.
>>7521491
hmm the question is whether I should appreciate an author who has won the nobel prize for literature or some retarded meme-spouting anon on the ol' 4chans....decisions decisions
>>7521475
>implying no one has never felt romantic regret
>implying no one has never felt unrequited love
>implying no one has never felt abandoned for no reason
>implying one has never lost a permanent friendship
>implying one has never made unlikely friends
That the circumstances are bizarre and magical doesn't detract from the experience itself. Can't the process of breaking up with someone, e.g., feel bizarre and otherwordly at times?
So what was up with that loli lesbian rapist?
>>7521598
If he wanted to convey universality, he should've done so by stating that universally instead of dressing it up with strange symbols. I think everyone will experience events their own way, but those differences are then expressed in a way that others can understand. If your point is that everyone processes everything so differently that it seems alien, what would be the point in communicating it? Not to mention that those concepts aren't particularly significant to the story as a whole, and don't appear in all of the books, which is just a further testament to how inhuman and shallow the main characters are.
>>7519218
I think it's ok
Why does something either need to be remarkable or utter shit to you people ?
>>7521628
I think you misunderstood. Even if the individual *experience* by which everyone experiences something (say, heartbreak) is unique and in some cases so distressing it feels unreal, the underlying emotion *is* somewhat universal.
The sentiment is the important part here. The individual symbols and weirdness don't make or break the point, here. I think a lot of people *can* understand the point -- or at least understand the emotional resonance -- without needing to put it into concrete terms.
>>7521841
Maybe I have little experience in his books but the only one I've read is Wild Sheep Chase. Some of the symbolism was spot on for the message he was trying to tell, but a lot of the strange happenings of the book seemed to just be strangeness for strangeness's sake. I can't speak for the rest of the books, but I would assume it's a similar proportion of meaningful content and random humor.
>>7521698
>Why does something either need to be remarkable or utter shit to you people ?
but this one was not ok, it was utter shit