I started Murakami with Kafka on the shore and instantly liked his style. On TWUBC now

@ABooktubeChannel

3 жыл бұрын

Keep going!

@vulpemariav

2 жыл бұрын

same and he became my favorite author...I am on my 5th book and hungry for more

@FixdalOK

2 жыл бұрын

How did you like the WUBC?

@lukesargent9413

2 жыл бұрын

@@FixdalOK either better than kafka on the shore or the same. I've read After Dark, didn't like it too much. Norwegian Wood next.

@FixdalOK

2 жыл бұрын

@@lukesargent9413 glad to hear it. WUBC is my favorite. Norwegian Wood is alright. I also found A Wild Sheep Chase to be ok!

1Q84 was my first Murakami novel, but it is also my favorite. I've always just found it so intriguing at every turn, and it's got one of the only romances I've found myself rooting for in literature. I will agree, though, that TWUBC is the one that I got the most from. I love the motif of being at the bottom of the well, and I've found it especially worth returning to this lonely year.

@ABooktubeChannel

3 жыл бұрын

I'm glad 1Q84 made such an impression on you, as it did for me. And I'm glad you kept on reading Murakami!

Kafka on the Shore was my first Murakami experience and I really liked it. I think 1Q84 is my favourite, or maybe The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. I've read most of the others and agree with your ranking for the most part - especially glad I'm not the only one who found Hard-boiled Wonderland one of his worst, I remember it being a real slog and very boring.

@ABooktubeChannel

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! Stay tuned - I’m hoping to make more Murakami videos later this month...

I read Norwegian Wood and Kafka on the Shore twice, read the Bird Chronicle, Colorless Tsukuru, 1Q84 and some others that I don't really recall much. Yet Hardboiled Wonderland & The End of the World was probably my favorite !!!

@brugueshj559

2 жыл бұрын

It was my favorite too!!

I think Murakami’s books (actually it works for any books, unless they’re REALLY bad) cannot be ranked, bc it all depends on your taste and emotional connection that you’re able to feel with the book. I really liked South of the border, West to the sun, because it was mostly about how living in the past might kill your future and obsession with memories is pretty much dangerous, and I really liked it but my friend still reminds me of how he didn’t like it at all and it was boring

The wind up bird chronicles was my first murakami book and i was hooked ever since.

Kafka was my first book, then I read after dark I actually liked both.. now I’m into the trio 1Q84 I finished part 1

Colorless tsukuru tazaki is my fav murakami book ever. Idk, the way he described tsukuru’s journey with mental health and all other minute occurrences within the book… for example, different lives of tsukuru’s colorful friends and how they view life, it spoke to me. I tend to like this sort of murakami more than kafka and wind up bird. That’s why hear the wind sing and pinball are my fav from him as well. Is it slow and boring? Yeah i can see it. But to me, reading them felt like a chill day. A dried up well indeed, i admit🤣 but i cant help that i love the ennui of it all.

After dark is my favourite because of setting and also very unique

Hard-Boiled Wonderland & the End of the World and Sputnik Sweetheart are definitely my favorites! Contrary to your opinion, I'd say HBW&TEW does a great job in world building.

Nice overview, a few books seem to be missing, but the primary works are there. The rating is up to personal taste and I disagree with the low rating of Hard-boiled Wonderland and 1Q84, but then again I am only at my fifth book of Murakami currently.

@ABooktubeChannel

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! Yeah I decided just to rank the novels, I felt like it wouldn’t be fair to compare them with the nonfiction or short stories

On the one hand I love to experience Murakami’s works, but on the other hand I am afraid of being obsessed with the sadness and disconnection in life cause I am already introvert and it usually takes me quite a long time to get out of the life in the story. So, which one should I start with his works? maybe the more delightful ones so I can continue reading his works. I am curious with N. Wood because it is so famous but I am reluctant to read it because of its great depression. Or I need a stronger reason for reading NW. Can you give me your advice? Thanks

@ABooktubeChannel

3 жыл бұрын

I totally understand your worry - I’m an introvert too and sometimes Murakami’s writing can be overwhelming with it’s grief and loss. I think Norwegian Wood is a great option, but I would recommend that you start with Sputnik Sweetheart because it’s shorter and has some optimistic notes.

@thuyvanluong2769

3 жыл бұрын

@@ABooktubeChannel yeah Why do ppl love reading his works while they are very dark and of depression and negative emotions. I am afraid of trying N.wood, I know its fame for 10 years but reluctant to try. Maybe I need a strong reason to be persuaded

@ABooktubeChannel

3 жыл бұрын

@@thuyvanluong2769 Definitely not an easy question to answer. My best guess is that people read dark books because they see a reflection of the darkness in their own lives. If you pick up Norwegian Wood and feel some connection, that's a great thing and I wouldn't be afraid of it.

@mikeraymundo92

3 жыл бұрын

/lit/ suggests Kafka on the Shore or Wild Sheep Chase as starting points

@henkkman

2 жыл бұрын

I know exactly what you mean. I read my first murakami book in a couple of days and it took me like a week and a half to ”get out of the story”.

I need to bookmark this to save as a reference. Have only read a few of his works Great video

I've read 8/14 of the murakami novels over the last 10 years. Watched your video to remind myself which novels I've already read and which I still need to. That was a hard mental exercise, some stories I definitely read, others I may have dreamt of lol. You seem to have a very good recollection of the stories, which indicates you read them over a short period. I think you were too rough on his later works. Come back to them in a few years after not reading any murakami work and you will enjoy them properly.

@ABooktubeChannel

3 жыл бұрын

You’re probably right, although in my defense the reason why I have a lot of plot details is because I reread summaries to prep for this video! I agree that I’ll appreciate Murakami more once I start rereading

I love the wind up bird cronicles my first book, i love it. that got me into murakami.

Well, my favorite is Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the world, so I felt attacked 😂😂😂

@PradiptaElFerrariSur

Жыл бұрын

I really don't know how people did not enjoy this book. Way ahead of time.

@remixisthis

Жыл бұрын

I agree. It seems like him at his most direct and the ending was kinda haunting and fascinating to me

This may seem unpopular but my favorite book of Murakami is "Underground" For context I have read Iq84, Kafka on the Shore, and Colorless Tsukuru Kafka was definitely a close second

Norwegian wood and Colorless made me fall into a really dark place out of love.

@dagothwave6623

2 жыл бұрын

Colorless is underrated imo

i've read norwegian wood and sputnik sweetheart. wanted to get into wind up bird but it feels like so massive. and like i think i get angry at like 2 pages talking about spaghetti cooking.

He is a weird writer and i find myself not tolerating some of his writing but then again i was do captivated by many of his books, my favorite is definitely the wind up bird chronicles from his work that i read so far

Murakami holds a special place in my heart. Years ago I read all of his works and was obsessed. My favorite changes all the time. Today I would say it is 1q84, which was also my first book of his. I read many other books like classics and non fiction and historical fiction but every few years I return to murakami when I need an escape. 2024 is my next murakami year 😘

Every time I read murakami, my mind goes through the looking glass! I love Haruki.

@ABooktubeChannel

3 жыл бұрын

Me too, thanks for watching!

Agree with a lot of your commentary, great video!!

Blind willow, sleeping woman short stories are the ones im reading rn

@ABooktubeChannel

3 жыл бұрын

Awesome, thanks for watching!

@crispymattu9286

3 жыл бұрын

@@ABooktubeChannel np! Take care

This makes me quite excited to just wade through all his novels as people always seem to identify with different novels. You hated After Dark, I remember seeing one KZreadr rate it as their absolute favourite. I've only read Kafka so got a long way to go. Lol.

10,000 views! Thanks everyone for watching, to keep supporting my channel please subscribe and comment - it would really help me out! Check out my latest tierlist on Toni Morrison: kzread.info/dash/bejne/qK58ktOff9eaerQ.html

I am just finishing up a project where I read every book of his that I can get a hold of and I think his later works are smoothed out in a way that is earlier works are clunky. It seems like they're a little stale but ultimately I think commendatore and years of pilgrimage (This goes really well with his book underground) are both some of his better works. Rather than stale consider it as fermented, funky even. I have a very complicated relationship to these books as they're not the kind you can easily talk to friends about unless you know your friends have the strange taste to read this kind of work and also would see past the female characters And the wooden strange sex scenes. It took me till about book eight or nine before I decided that Murakami was one of my favorite writers and I don't know why I was able to read eight or nine of his books before I could decide that. They have this quality of being very digestible, and now that I've read all but one or two of his books I have decided that he is one of my favorite authors. There's a rhythm to his novels that you start to pick up on when you read them back to back to back and you start to pick up on how his work talks about aesthetics and that pattern recognizing was an interesting development for me. All in all I'm pretty glad that I decided to read an entire author, and I think this may be how I approach fiction writers in the future, by reading everything they write before I move on to another author I like

@user-cp9yo4jk9b

2 жыл бұрын

This is all to say that it feels wrong to have his newer novels at the bottom of the heap, but by the same token I think it's valid since all of his work is so good. I personally would rate his worst novel at an 85 out of 100 and his best novel at a 95 out of 100. He's remarkably consistent and good quality imo besides a few flaws that he repeats over and over

This was very cool, thank you!

@ABooktubeChannel

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

Kafka on the shore is the no. 1 book of All TIME

@jukkavesanen9632

Жыл бұрын

Kafka on the shore is the most overrated Murakami book.

@strawberryorange3755

3 ай бұрын

​@@jukkavesanen9632 I agree

Hard Boiled Wonderland... is my favorit! I read it when i was 15, now i am 33... 🙃

@ABooktubeChannel

3 жыл бұрын

maybe it’s time for a reread!

@OxysLokiMoros

3 жыл бұрын

@@ABooktubeChannel I already did. I read it 3 times! :)

@PradiptaElFerrariSur

Жыл бұрын

@@ABooktubeChannel Maybe you need to reread as well 😄

for some reason i just did not like Norwegian wood 😭 tho, i started with wind up bird and that was probs one of the best books i’ve read of all time.

I'm currently reading Killing Commendatore, finished the first book and is there even a point to this book? So far it's been just endless chit chatting and nothing really happens.

Thank you for reviews

What was that book which took place in one night ?? By murakami

@ABooktubeChannel

3 жыл бұрын

I believe you’re thinking of After Dark!

@aporajitabangali1408

3 жыл бұрын

@@ABooktubeChannel yess thank you ☺️

What the fuck is this ranking system? Besides the weird obtuse labelling the top of the tier is red. And the bottom is green?

I read the wind up bird chronicle first and everything after was disappointing in comparison. I consider Murakami a middling writer who happened to write one of my favourite books.

@MD97531

4 ай бұрын

Do you think it wouldn’t have been one of your favorite books if you’d read the wind up bird chronicle say 4th or 5th of his books? Murakami fatigue and all

@Ali94749

4 ай бұрын

@@MD97531 maybe not, but I still think it would have been my favourite murakami by far regardless.

@MD97531

4 ай бұрын

@@Ali94749 thanks. I was curious as I’ve read 4 of his books already but not yet the wind up girl chronicle.

@Ali94749

4 ай бұрын

@@MD97531 no worries! I hope you enjoy wind up bird as much as I did when you get round to it!

@strawberryorange3755

3 ай бұрын

It was also my first, but I love 1Q84 and a wild 🐑 chase better.

I really didn't like the second book of Killing Commendatore. I've got to admit that the first one caught my interest (but it was kinda slow), and I think that it should have ended there, with all the "mystery". But nope, you've got there 500 + pages that make the story quite tedious. Wish I only had bought the first one, to be honest. Also, I could not agree more with the frustration bit about his books, in the end you get used to it, but it's nice to have a more satisfying ending from time to time. Anyway, your opinions are very interesting and now I really (really) want to read TWUBC. So thank you for the recommendation and keep going with the videos, they are really good!

@ABooktubeChannel

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for the kind words! Definitely check out wind up bird, for me it’s a favorite.

Agree that dance dance dance is not good. Colourless tsu tsu is great. I'm not such a good writer as murakami

@ABooktubeChannel

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah me neither...

colorless is so fucking bad, it gave me a headache after finishing it

@ABooktubeChannel

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah...I read it high school so I was probably more tolerant of it but if I read it now I'd probably give up.

@gej300v

3 жыл бұрын

You’ll understand it when you’re older

So Nice 💘💘💘💘💘💘