Ava Rusko > Recent Status Updates

Loving the writing style and vivid geographic details, finding the plot a little hard to follow (but I ain’t the brightest tool in the drawer)

Sad :( where’s this goin

My boyfriend would hate this thing

Lots of good stuff in here so far, also a lot that makes me wanna hurl (namely the story about Roya and Arash as children and…the axe bit)

The Spiral was so good. Laughed out loud. With this, I have finished the first book.

I read, for the first time, some lines I really loved: “Call me, somebody, please, anybody—even the mysterious phone woman; I didn't care. It could be the most filthy and meaningless talk, the most disgusting and sinister conversation. That didn't matter. I just wanted someone to talk to me.” (337)

Okada is super mechanical, almost robotic. Everything is a stoic narrative description of his literal actions. If he does talk about his feelings, it’s with the same dispassion and emptiness. Maybe this is a purposeful characterization, maybe not.

*also, he asks Creta Kano “what happened after [she] met Noboru Wataya and slept with him” (297), when what he meant was “…and he raped you”.

Loving this one, which is to be expected considering my adoration for Invisible Cities. In particular, How Much Shall We Bet? totally stunned me, and The Aquatic Uncle was a really fun one to retell to my sister who was stoned out of her gourd.

Today’s dull and offensive non-commentary: “…’I mean—‘May Kasahara cut herself short and remained silent for a while, during which her ‘I mean’ hung in the darkness of the well like a hacked-off fragment of thought” (258). Not a metaphor, just true.

I can’t believe I’m almost 300 pages in & not halfway through this book. I’m determined to finish it, but I can’t fathom how I’ll do that.

I kind of hate Murakami’s commentary—it’s never quite as relatable or astute as I think it’s supposed to be. Example from today’s sitting: “She had ordered some sort of tonic water but had not touched it, as before. The liquid seemed vaguely uncomfortable in its tall glass, as if it had nothing better to do than produce its little bubbles.” (196). What?