murakami madness

It all began with a compulsory book I had to purchase for one of my 2nd year English units, Postmodern Narratives. A Wild Sheep's Chase, by Haruki Murakami. An astute, white cover, with the motions of some sheep with a red star emblazoned on its body, I wasn't particularly attracted to its narrative and sequence of story-telling in the beginning. So it ended up as one of our toilet books, alongside with dated Cosmo and Cleo magazines, and some trashy romance novel of Monrendezvous ;-). Everytime i took a dump, I read a little, then a little bit more, and before i realised it, I was hooked, absolutely caught in the sinister web of storytelling, mystery, and supernatural hues that Murakami the Master somehow spins together in his stories. Perhaps i exaggerate, but hey, i finished that book in my 2nd semester, 2nd year, just in time for my Postmodern unit which took place in the first semester.

Then came my 2nd Murakami experience, which took place at the bookstore in Narita airport somewhere around this time last year, while i was waiting to board the plane back to Singapore. I picked The Elephant Vanishes, simply because it was a collection of short stories and didn't involve any heavy reading.

The other day, I went to Kinokuniya, without any special intention to pick up a Murakami book. I browsed through the latest titles, but the way it is with books and me nowadays is that we don't have that instant attraction, love-at-first-sight kind of experience anymore. Maybe I wasn't really in the mood to read; maybe i just needed a distraction. Then i spotted his latest novel, Kafka on The Shore. No, I shan't buy that yet, I thought. I still had his other books to get through, such as Dance Dance Dance, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, and didn't i want to read A Wild Sheep Chase again?, as a prelude to Dance Dance Dance?

I left the bookstore with The Little Prince, a book I'd been putting off reading, and Kafka on the Shore.

Since I started reading it this morning, my nose hasn't been out of it, except when I brought the little princess and the dog out for a short walk to get some biscuits and kopi-peng because i was starving.

Go read Murakami man. I'm not writing all of this as a review of any sort, but seriously, this guy is a maestro. Thank you, Ian Saunders.