Murakami

I'm currently in the midst of two novels by the Japanese author Haruki Murakami. I was introduced to them by JT, and also by a certain online book club I belong to. I'm kind of amazed that I'm enjoying them, since as I've mentioned before, I tend not to like contemporary fiction all that much.

I'm only about fifty pages from the end of the first novel, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. And the crazy thing is, I still have NO idea how it's going to end. Normally, this drives me nuts and leads me to abandon a book - but for some reason, in this case I've felt compelled to carry on reading nonetheless. There are all these different, parallel stories going on, which have only just begun to intersect. I suspect the book won't have a tidy ending though. Not sure how I'll feel about that - but the weekend will tell, I'm sure.

Then, just a couple of weeks ago, I began listening to the second novel, Kafka on the Shore, on CD audiobook (neatly transferred to the iPod, of course). I'm nearly halfway through that one now. It has a somewhat more straightforward, linear narrative, but so far it's not quite as intriguing and surreal as Wind-Up Bird. Still quite good, though.

It's always a good thing when you move outside your comfort zone to try something new - and are pleasantly surprised by it.