Värittömän miehen vaellusvuodet (2013)

My first book by Murakami. I liked it, but I'm not entirely sure of what I read. I will read another. ( )

This is a really strange book to read after Anna's Quindlen's "Still Life with Bread Crumbs." ( )

Murakami kanns auch anders!
Es war schon fast eine Überraschung : Kein Blutegelregen, kein 1Q84, keine tanzenden Kobolde, keine tiefen Brunnen und kein HardBoiled-Wonderland.
Aber trotzdem ist unser Held wie so oft ein leicht parallel zu Gesellschaft lebender Einzelgänger, verschroben, aber trotzdem Liebenswert, der versucht Geheimnisse seiner Vergangenheit aufzudecken. Trotz 6 Fingern ein relativ "normaler" Murakami-Roman, und dennoch oder genau deswegen : Lesen! ( )

I did really enjoy this novel and found a great deal within its pages that resonated with me. It is essentially a 1 sitting book (I took 2 but hey, life got in the way) but is not totally shallow or light in subject matter. A group of high school friends split by exiling one of their number. We follow the exile and his endeavours to come to terms with this event and to learn to trust again. There are many wet dreams, a lot of meditative swimming (I can relate..) and a lot of music as befits a Murakami. I read accompanied by Liszt in the background for the bulk of the book.

One thing that did bug me was the repeated use of brand names. So bad was this that it was comparable to product placement in big budget movies and tacky US sitcoms. Maybe this meshes with the naming/branding thing going on with the characters but it nevertheless towards the end of the novel it had infuriated me. I wondered if Murakami owned or desired a Lexus and whether writing should be less "consumerist" than visual media. Clearly murky waters and a lot to debate especially for a book that comes with added gimmicks in its physical form. Anyway it certainly detracted from my full engagement with the latter part of the story. If it was meant to then job done.



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Un tema assai frequente in Murakami: il passato che torna sotto forma di nodi da sciogliere affinché il tessuto della vita possa venir correttamente steso. Eventi, occorrenze, piccole ombre che vanno riesumate e affrontate con coraggio perché la luce possa ancora risplendere, illuminare il nostro cammino e condurci lontano dalle tenebre. A scoprire chi siamo realmente. ( )