South of the Border, West of the Sun

The book captivated me. So much so, that I finished it in 2 days and wanted more! Definitely going to start reading more Haruki Murakami books soon, only need to decide which is next! There was lots of attention to detail and I felt it was easy to connect with the characters as well. The story line gripped me from start to finish.

This book reminds me of the old French song "Plaisir d'amour" - "the pleasure of love lasts but a moment, the sorrow of love lasts all one's life." "South of the Border, West of the Sun" shares some common elements with the other Murakami fiction ("Sputnik Sweetheart", "After the Quake", "Hard-boiled Wonderland", and "The Windup Bird Chronicle") I've read so far: Self-centered men, elusive women, mysterious events. But this novel, less otherworldly than his other works, is a realistic portrayal of a failed romance. And the setting, social structure, and mores are very Japanese, in spite of the Western pop cultural content. I have the impression that the novel is autobiographical, but whether or not that is true, Murakami conveys the emotional upheavel of a passionate extra-marital affair with great precision and insight, in spite of the barriers imposed by culture and language. Philip Gabriel has done an excellent job with the translation. There were a couple of instances where I thought he might have made a better choice of language, but they were so minor that I didn't bother to note them. We always know we are reading a story about Japanese people, occuring in Japan, but they are real people and they speak a language we can understand. The translator seems to have erected no barriers between them and us, which is a remarkable accomplishment, given the differences between the Japanese and English languages. "South of the Border, West of the Sun" lacks the weirdness and fantasy of Murakami's more recent novels, and will disappoint readers who like that aspect of Murakami's work, and who don't like adult love stories. But this novel easily stands comparison with the best of modern American fiction. Highly recommended.

Odd to say, but my first reactions to Murakami were much like those I had for Samuel Beckett--I didn't quite understand what the man was up to, but he intrigued me nonetheless. With both of them I've gone out of my way to read everything they've written and hope one day to catch up. This book, the latest I've read by Murakami, I was able to approach with confidence. I still may not know what he's up to, but I think I know how to read him. What you may think of as 'plot' is more of a device to present an uncontrollable world around the narrator, a vastness of the unknown, and Murakami's characters can only deal with it without ever solving it. This novel is brilliantly emotional and spiritual, a search for what is important and necessary over what is desired. Murakami also has an amazing writing style--he sustains an emotional tension from the first word, and it never abates until the precise moment he wants it to, when there is either epiphany or despair at never reaching the former. I doubt this is good Murakami to start with--for that, I would more easily recommend _The Elephant Vanishes_ to whet your whistle, but this is a compact and highly effective book to come to later, once you're ready to sit back and listen to Murakami unwind as he sees fit.

Ever since I first read Murakami starting with"Sputnik Sweetheart" I am hooked on to everything hewrites. I do not know what he does to me but everytimeI read what he writes - its like a tidal wave lashingover me and I cannot help it. I love the feeling. Icherish it for a long long time. South o the Borderbegins with a 37-year old narrator Hajimme - the ownerof an upswanky jaz bar in Japan talking about his life- from where it began to where it is. A Japanese love story; indeed, a Japanese Casablanca:it doesn't sound too promising, does it? But ignorethe blurb - they've got to get people to pick it upafter all - and dip a toe into the world of HarukiMurakami. This is, perhaps, the perfect place to startfor newcomers - no wells; no sheep; no slightlyoff-kilter worlds, just a simple, if morally complexstory exquisitely told. It's the prose stye (inserthere a discourse on the art of translation, but thevoice is Murakami) which will seduce you, not thenarrator - he is morally ambivalent, and not in a goodway. In the hands of such an accomplished writer,however, one is easily drawn in to Hajime's world.Hajime would like to be a good man, but he hasimpulses; impulses which cause him to damage those heloves. The simple tale revolves around his childhoodsweetheart finding him and endangering everything he'sworked for. So far, so predictable; but the way inwhich Murakami teases out Hajime's character, andfaces up to the moral dilemmas without judging hismotives - they are simply laid out for us to observe -produces a true feeling of uncertainty in the reader,and compels you through the story wishing that bothoutcomes were possible. A cunningly crafted tale,carried off with thoughtful aplomb, and the idealjumping-off point for further exploration of this mostintriguing of authors.

A worthy successor to Endo and Mishima, Murakami writes of the spoiled restlessness of Japanese Baby Boomers, unburdened by memories of their nation's near devastation. This mysterious little tale is narrated by an only child who grows up, despite his denials, to be self-absorbed and obsessed with his own powers to please or destroy women. Never mind that he has a near-perfect marriage, family, and career. The character of Shimamoto-his first love--with her inexplicable tragic appeal, is one of the most fascinating I've recently met in the pages of a novel. Likewise, the dreamy quality of the narrator's obsessions and delusions-e.g., thinking he spots Shimamoto or another damaged woman he once loved only to realize that they are not who he thinks, or that they can't see him even when he's rapping on the window of their cab. I suppose that only an Asian novel could be so spare yet haunting. When the narrator Hajime, whose name means Beginning, realizes after the fact that he was attracted to Shimamoto because the irresistible look in her eyes meant Death-well, we know we're not reading a familiar story.