Book Review: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Murakami Haruki

During my holiday I have not read much but one short story collection of Murakami Haruki. With great joy! The now worn out paperback was always ready in my handbag waiting for entertaining me.

It was like having a true friend travelling with me telling me exciting stories. Some reminded me of Murakami‘s novels. The Year of Spaghetti let me think of the intro passage of The Wind up Bird Chronicle – of course.

Fragments of the story Man Eating Cats can be found in Norwegian Woods and in Sputnik Sweetheart. How can one forget these?

This story collection includes Murakami‘s first stories of the years 1981 to 1982 and the Strange Tales from Tokyo as well.

It is hard to tell, but I think my favourites are this three:

Aeroplane: Or, How He Talked to Himself as If Reciting Poetry,

A Folklore for My Generation: A Prehistory of Late-Stage Capitalism

and Where I‘m Likely to Find It.

Here Murakami states: „ I imagine my search will continue — somewhere. A search for something that could very well be shaped like a door. Or maybe something closer to an umbrella, or a doughnut. Or an elephant. A search that, I hope, will take me where I‘m likely to find it.“ (p. 376)

In this book you will meet weird persons as always, read strange tales of Man Eating Cats, Tony Takitani and the Ice Man and get to know people with identity problems in everyday life situations switching into dreamlike scenarios. You will read many entertaining dialogues, hear about surreal inner psychic conflicts and supernatural heroes, stories about relationships and wonderful life in all different shapes. It is astonishing, lively, emotional and philosophical. Typical Murakami!