Intentionally misplaced op: after the quake (Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words - Jay Rubin)

Member Name: mo79

Product:	Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words - Jay Rubin
Date:	17/12/02 (682 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great selection of short stories, aptly sequenced, cool artwork, and a great indication for his future works

Disadvantages: Expensive for a short book, fast to read, sometimes reverts to overly-familiar Murakami devices

Note: First of all, as you know, things are a bit awry on dooyoo and thus a domino effect can occur. I previously wrote an op for this category in the 'in general' area as this category wasn't here before - I hope you follow. And now that this category's here, there isn't a new one for this op, thus I'm placing this op here. Sorry for misleading people, but if you're paying attention to this paragraph you'll know whether you want to read this or not and rate accordingly. I can't be bothered to laboriously shift ops around.

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Surely, those of you who are regular enough readers must've heard atleast little bits about Murakami by now? If not by my ops (and I must brag that I've thus to date read all his English translations) than by the recent posters that were up, mostly in the London Underground, for the re-release print of 'Sputnik Sweetheart' (though that book isn't a great way to gear Murakami for a bigger British audience, and the near Mills & Boon type new artwork is way off the mark to what his off-kilter writing's about).

Anyhow, 'after the quake' (case sensitive by author's choice) is Murakami's latest English translation, by Jay Rubin who wrote a bio on him, and translated a few of his other works.
After 'The Elephant Vanishes', 'after the quake' is Murakami's second collection of short stories. A much shorter selection. Infact £10 for a 132 page hardback with 6 short stories is a little dear, but then I'm prone to fast purchases with releases I anticipate.
Though much of the cost can be forgiven, for 'after the quake' really is an excellent read! It's a much more exciting read than his last English translation, and the ending of the last story almost hints at a personal mission to carry on writing, but from a fresher tangent.

The stories collected here form a kind of fictional follow-up to Murakami
's only non-fiction to date (the book that first drew me into his writing world) 'Underground' - an analysis of the 1995 Tokyo subway gas attack. A grim but interesting read, now followed-up by a mostly uplifting and colourful set of lies.
Though, lies manifested from the last great Kobe earthquake. All the 6 stories here are woven in some way, subtly or centrally to an earthquake, or the earthquake, and most importantly (metaphysically, in key with Murakami) the personal earthquakes that upset lives as much as cities. The artwork depicts a graph, simply showing a reading with distortion followed by a calm line. Geddit?

The first story 'UFO In Kushiro' points to me how on earth did Murakami get away with writing stories about dissapearing women repeatedly, so far? Sure they all have their own different pathways, but the dissapearance of a lead woman is a constant. Funnily enough I haven't minded or noticed that device 'til now. I hope it ends! But even so this condensed story shows readers in one fell sweep how intimate, engrossing and intriguing he can be in his typical set-up before leaving you hanging.
'Landscape with Flatiron' takes on the visual abstract in the literal with a chilling ambiguity threaded in it, via images of bonfires and what they can connotate.
'All God's Children Can Dance' (also the book title of the Japanese version, but obviously in Japanese) is marvellously poetic. Maybe more than what is being conveyed is how it's being conveyed that's the real beauty of this story. You read it and you left yourself go. Following this-up in perfect sequence is the fairy-tale like constructed 'Thailand'.
The comicly titled 'Super-Frog Saves Tokyo' does take us into mildly comedic comic book territory, and gives us a refreshing resample of how odd and reader-shifting Murakami can be, as so usually in his earlier works. Convincingly odd and consistently surreal,
it's almost dream like.
'Honey Pie' ends the book on a mildly serious note. You know, how time scarily slips buy and you need to grab every moment? A big cliche, but cliche's are often the most important and moving subjects. A great way to cap off a marvellous selection.

I read this book slowly, partly because I'm bored of reading at the mo. (not of this book!) and to prolong it, and I really did did enjoy every average-font printed page. The only put-off perhaps, is that Haruki's still wearing his same clothes in the obligatory cheesy author picture on the back, as on past books. This book (though old in Japanese terms; 1999) encouragingly tells new readers and followers to date that the man is still able to write good work even in a period where he's recently settled for calmer themes in his middle age, and maybe re-energising what was best of his past with a welcome refreshing angle for future works.

I'm taking a break from reading books for a while now, but you can bet after this that I'll be there as one of the first when his next English translation is out. I just hope that it's worth the money in terms of how much content you get. The only let-down of this.

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