Ben’s review of Sixty Stories > Likes and Comments

I was unable to sleep in bed a few days ago and had an old kindle charged and lying near me so I picked it up looking for something to lull me back to sleep and found Forty Stories on it. "The Palace at 4 a.m." was just perfect for such a thing and now reading another story has become a night time ritual whenever my mind is wandering a bit too much to sleep. "Concerning the Bodyguard" from the same collection is one of my all time favorite short stories and is thankfully, appropriately praised.
I believe he's a direct inspiration for Murakami, I think I read that somewhere but anyhow their styles are so similar - like Murakami's "The Second Bakery Attack". They both excel at making a story from suggestions. Nothing is ever super concrete but they just drop these enticing bite-size tidbits of ideas that make your imagination soar.
I think I'll read another right now.

Hi Toran, thanks for your comment. Interesting comparison to Murakami, since I do find Murakami, at times, too emotionally lightweight in the same way. I liked The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but couldn’t get into anything else. But maybe I’ll dig out Barthelme and read the stories you suggest with Murakami in mind and see what happens.