Vintage Murakami

by Haruki Murakami

Not since Yukio Mishima and Yasunari Kawabata has a Japanese writer won the international acclaim enjoyed hy Haruki Murakami. His genre- busting novels, short stones, and repodage, which have been translated into thirty-four languages, meld the surreal and the hard-boiled, deadpan comedy and delicate introspection.

Vintage Murakami includes the opening cnapter of the international bestseller Norwegian Wood; •'Lieueenant Mamiya's Long Story: Parts I and II" from his monumental novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle; "Shizuko Akashi" from: Underground, his nonfiction book on the Toyko subway attack 1995; and the short stories "Barn Burning," and "honey pie."

Also included, for the first time in book form, the short story "Ice Man."
--back cover

Table of Contents
"Barn burning" from The Elephant vanished --
"Shizuko Akashi" from Underground --
"Honeypie" from After the Quake --
"Lieutenant Mamiya's long stories: Part I" from the Wind-up bird chronicle --
"Lieutenant Mamiya's long stories: Part II" from the Wind-up bird chronicle --
"Ice man."

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Japan, Literature, Japanese Literature, Fantasy, Contemporary

182 pages, Paperback

First published January 6, 2004

About the author

Haruki Murakami (村上春樹) is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been best-sellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the World Fantasy Award, the Tanizaki Prize, Yomiuri Prize for Literature, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, the Noma Literary Prize, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Kiriyama Prize for Fiction, the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Fiction, the Jerusalem Prize, and the Princess of Asturias Awards.
Growing up in Ashiya, near Kobe before moving to Tokyo to attend Waseda University, he published his first novel Hear the Wind Sing (1979) after working as the owner of a small jazz bar for seven years. His notable works include the novels Norwegian Wood (1987), The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994–95), Kafka on the Shore (2002) and 1Q84 (2009–10); the last was ranked as the best work of Japan's Heisei era (1989–2019) by the national newspaper Asahi Shimbun's survey of literary experts. His work spans genres including science fiction, fantasy, and crime fiction, and has become known for his use of magical realist elements. His official website cites Raymond Chandler, Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan as key inspirations to his work, while Murakami himself has named Kazuo Ishiguro, Cormac McCarthy and Dag Solstad as his favourite currently active writers. Murakami has also published five short story collections, including First Person Singular (2020), and non-fiction works including Underground (1997), an oral history of the Tokyo subway sarin attack, and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (2007), a memoir about his experience as a long distance runner.
His fiction has polarized literary critics and the reading public. He has sometimes been criticised by Japan's literary establishment as un-Japanese, leading to Murakami's recalling that he was a "black sheep in the Japanese literary world". Meanwhile, Murakami has been described by Gary Fisketjon, the editor of Murakami's collection The Elephant Vanishes (1993), as a "truly extraordinary writer", while Steven Poole of The Guardian praised Murakami as "among the world's greatest living novelists" for his oeuvre.

Reviews

[mai ahmd · Rating 4 out of 5]

الكتاب عبارة عن مجموعة من القصص بعضها جيد وبعضها ممتاز كالمقطوعة المجتزأة من رواية الغابة النرويجية ولأنني قرأتها سابقا فأنا فقط تلذذت بقراءة موراكامي بالإنجليزية ، هناك قصة أخرى وهي توثيقية أكثر منها قصة وفيها موراكامي يحاول إثبات ولاءه لبلده الأم بعد أن قضى وقتا ليس قصيرا خارج اليابان فجاءت فكرة هذه القصة ..
وما عرفته مؤخرا إنها قصة من مجموعة قصص ولقاءات كثيرة عقدها موراكامي مع أهالي ضحايا غاز السارين الذين أطلقته مجموعة إرهابية في محطات القطار وراح ضحاياها أعداد هائلة والناجين منهم ممن تعرضوا للغاز منهم من فقد الذاكرة والحركة وعاشوا بلا أمل في الحياة فكان كتاب موراكامي لتسليط الضوء على الضحايا .. وأهاليهم تحديدا لينبه العالم بمعاناتهم ..
من القصص التي أبهرتني والتي تحدثت عنها كثيرا في تويتر أو مع الأصدقاء القصة التي اعتبرتها شخصيا من أروع ما كتب في أدب الجريمة .. قصة حرق حظيرة هذه القصة جمالها في أن موراكامي يمارس خداعه على القارىء فلا شيء في هذه القصة يوحي بأنه حدثت هناك جريمة نهائيا لكنك إن أعملت عقلك ستتسائل ماذا حدث وكيف تحولت القصة بهذا الشكل الغريب من قصة رجل يتحدث عن نفسه وعلاقاته إلى قصة الفتاة التي اختفت في ظروف غامضة .. الملفت للنظر في قصة موراكامي إنها قد تفتح أبوابا للتأويل حالها كقصة نعاس وربما تكون وهما آخر من أوهام رجل ينبش في أوهامه وتخيلاته ..

شخصيات موراكامي دائما ما يكونوا في حالة بحث عن الذات فيهم هذه النزعة للغموض تظن إنك تعرفهم ولكن ستجدهم في الغالب في حالة حيرة وقلق وحين أفكر في ماذا كان يود موراكامي أن يقول من خلال هذه القصة ! هل هي هواجس العلاقة مع الآخر ! أم إنه أراداها قصة جريمة !
أما كيف أنهاها بهذا الشكل المجازي المحترف فتلك قصة أخرى

يستكمل لاحقا :)

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent selection of short stories and excerpts from some of his books. I love the writing of Murakami. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the weirdness of his stories.

Favorites were “Shizuko Akashi”, “Honey Pie” and “Ice Man”. The book ends with “Ice Man” and I am still laughing at this strange concept for a story. It almost felt like a children’s story idea. So bizarre!

“Shizuko Akashi” is different from the rest of the writings since it is a true story of one of the survivors of the Tokyo Subway Attack and is truly heartbreaking. I know I must now read his book Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche.

I definitely recommend this book. I apologize for not being very descriptive in this review, but I feel like it’s so much better to go into this book not expecting anything except a weird experience!

[Michael Coates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murakami to me is my favorite literary find of the past couple of years. His writing and stories are very cultural and specific to japan but yet universal enough for anyone to read. It makes me wonder how many great reads we are missing because publishers don't want to pay to translate these books. Oh well I guess I could learn how to speak and read every language out there and that would solve that problem.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

My introduction to Murakami and a great one. Highly recommended to anyone who has thought of giving his books a go. I like that it contained short stories and portions of his novels.

[Madeline Ashby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I try to read a Murakami novel each summer. But with IQ84 coming out this October, I knew I should save my energies for scaling that long-awaited peak. So I chose to re-read this collection, which I had given to a friend once upon a time and had (absurdly) gone unread. I rescued it from the depths of shelf obscurity, and took another look at the classics. There are some novel chapters here, from "Norwegian Wood" and "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle." But this time around, I really noticed the skill Murakami has with short stories. I was delighted to find "Honey Pie" included, as it's basically my favourite story from his "After the Quake" collection. ("After the Quake" is my mainstream companion to King's "Night Shift" or Bradbury's "The Illustrated Man." It will teach you everything you need to know about writing a short story. I just happened to get to Murakami before I got to Carver, for those lessons.)

The collection is also far more chilling than I remembered. Perhaps I read it too quickly the first time around, or perhaps Murakami simply has such a light touch that you don't notice the implications of the plot until years later. But this time, reading "Barnburner" and "The Ice Man" left me shivering. That almost never happens, so I highly recommend this collection to anyone who likes that perturbation to occur only moments after reading the story.

[Daina Chakma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surrealism and melancholia of Murakami
Never fails to send a shudder through me
Heart becomes heavier than ever!

[Ye Lin Aung · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fine collection of Murakami's short stories.
I've read the first one from 'Norwegian Wood' and Ice man before.
My favorite is Shizuko Akashi; the story of a girl who was the victim of the Tokyo subway sarin attack.
I can't help but it brings tears to my eyes while reading it. Heart breaking.

[Manas Saloi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I have read all his novels now these are the kind of books which will keep me going :)

[Santhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I definitely prefer his short stories. Enjoyed this mix of stories and excerpts, that showcased his writing without the usual formula.
A graphic recount of an execution from Wind Up Chronicles made me skip the section (and I thought nordic noir was gruesome and brutal ;o)

Ice Man has his signature touch of whimsy without excessively peculiar.

[Douglas Oswald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an interesting collection of stories and out-takes from novels by one of my favorite authors, Murakami Haruki, and honestly does not hit as hard or give a true impression of the author within the pages. This is my first dip into this series of 'vintage' books, but I can hardly guess that I'll come back for more. The work is enticing, but it doesn't really connect or give the undying need for analysis that Murakami gives me. It feels disconnected, like a sampler plate. I only give four stars because of the quality of the stories, not the construction of the book.

[Damon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm familiar and comfortable with Japanese culture, but not so much the authors. I am also a non-fiction junkie, so getting into Japanese fiction has been a slow process.

Vintage Murakami is a great potpourri with chapters from his most critically acclaimed books as well as a few rarely seen short stories. It was a captivating read, particularly the chapters from The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles (Long Story I and II) of which I look forward to reading the complete book.

[Farhan Khalid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Norwegian Wood

Cold November rains

Dark clouds hanging over the North Sea

The melody never failed to send a shudder through me, but this time it hit me harder than ever

Thinking of what I had lost in the course of my life:

Times gone forever, friends who had died or disappeared, feelings I would never know again

Feel the wind on my face

Mountains wore a deep, brilliant green

Dome of frozen blue

We heard no other sounds

We met no other people

Naoko spoke to me of wells

Memory is a funny thing

When I was in the scene, I hardly paid it any mind

I never stopped to think of it as something that would make a lasting impression

I was in love. Love with complications

Naoko is not there, and neither am I. Where could we have disappeared to?

Black liquid swirled in a strange whirl-pool pattern

Can I be glued to you every minute of our lives?

Deeper. Dark. Colder

Walking through the frightful silence of a pine wood

Will you remember that I existed, and that I stood next to you here like this?

Barn Burning

We were nearly a whole generation apart

She proceeded to pick up one imaginary orange

Watching clouds drift across the far horizon

Lights and smells and like that. The quality of memory

Searching for the right words

Does the rain judge anything?

Shizuko Akashi

She wore a pink cotton gown buttoned to the neck

The hand is always there when words fail

Something in her must be trying to break out. I can feel it. A precious something. But it just can’t find an outlet

Honey Pie

Sayoko had beautiful hair and intelligent eyes

Most of Junpei's stories depicted the course of unrequited young love

Writing a novel could open up whole new worlds for a writer

They would talk about the old days, when they were all still free and wild and spontaneous

Iceman

I saw in my mind a piece of ice that I was sure existed somewhere in quiet solitude

[View Janthakan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this one to read because there's a korean film called 'burning' which is based on a Murakami's short story called 'Barn Burning' showing in my local thetres since last week. So, after the screening, i wanted to have a look on the original work of the story, and I found this book contains that story in it. So I picked this one up from my college library, it turns out that It's not my most favorite from the book. I found another short story where it assembles the similar plot to 'Barn Burning' and I found it's a wee bit repetitive, and musty. Though, my most, probably, favorite story is the last short story in the book called 'Ice Man'. It talks about the weird relationship between a woman and 'an ice man'. It's new to me that Murakami decided to tell the story with female perspective, since most of his works are male perspectives. So, this one got my attention at very pages i read. I'd like to do a review for each short story individually but I think I am too lazy to do so. But my favs go to 1. Barn burning (I love the tension between the three characters, it feels like a love triangle one but not really) 2. Lieutenant Mamiya's long story : part II (this one i think it's quite different from typical Murakami's works, since it has more plots and i was convinced by the background and the loneliness of the character than other stories) 3. Ice man

[Denise Spicer · Rating 2 out of 5]

book design JoAnne Metsch
This award winning author of memoirs, journalistic articles, and somewhat pretentious “literary” fiction includes seven short stories and excerpts in a mostly vague vignette style. Tedious and boring with the exception of a couple of really gross disgusting examples of realism. His interview with a survivor of the 1995 Tokyo subway attack is mildly interesting but not particularly informative. If really interested in that topic the reader is advised to check an encyclopedia article instead.

[Sungwon · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Murakami's fan, I like this book (but not as a general reader). It has the history of Murakami's work and life. However, this book is different from his other essay, mainly because all stories were a part of other works. For example, I couldn't immerse the collection of his prefaces even though he described when and why the preface was written.
If you are not a big fan of Murakami, I think you may have a hard time reading and understanding this book.

[Roric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A curious introduction to my future Murakami obsession.

[Viktor Lövgren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, if somewhat eclectic, collection of short stories. Good introduction to Murakami, I suppose. Best: the chapter from Norwegian Woods (made me want to read the whole book) and "honey pie".

[Jane Marga · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one touched a lot of things in me.

[Debra B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy books by this author. His writing style is very distinctive from any other authors I have read.

[Fiamma Aletta · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to start reading Haruki Murakami, look no farther than this book.

[Navneeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The short stories are gripping; They belie the length and leave you re-reading and pondering long after the short story is done

[雲 天山 · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was like walking down memory lane; revisiting Norwegian Wood, The Elephant Vanishes, After the Quake, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, and Blind Willow Sleeping Woman. It still felt majestic.

[Riham · Rating 3 out of 5]

every time i read anything written by Murakami i go like: "what the hell am i reading?" but in a pleasant way

[em · Rating 4 out of 5]

Artfully picked classic short stories.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

i enjoy this author although perhaps not my favorite collection of his writting.

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Ice Man" hit the hardest. Great bite-sized chunks of Murakami writing.

[Jim Sarjeant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stories. Will read more from this author.

[Carlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Murakami. This sampler of his short stories is a quick reminder how engaging his story telling can be.

[Tab]

Read while Ellie dyed my hair purple and o I loved honey pie especially

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first two excerpts pulled me right in. I love that he references music playing in his stories. It makes me want to go and listen to them ASAP!
The rest of the excerpts are beautifully written, though somewhat gruesome in places. This is a great first taste of Murakami's work.