Shelley’s Reviews > 一人称単数 > Status Update

An unsettling last story. Nothing really happens in it -- in fact it's just the protagonist being very caught up in his own anxieties -- but there's such an insistence on this evening being disconcerting that you can't help but wonder if the protagonist really is a bit of a dick.

And with that, I'm done! I'm done!! It's such a strange feeling to have finished this book.

I’m so happy!! I finished a story from start to finish in one sitting! When I first started this book I’d feel really tired after 3-4 pages, but it has gotten easier with practise!

That said, I didn’t love Carnival. Argh, these male protagonists all sound the same. And I definitely felt irritated at his surprise that a woman he’d deemed “the ugliest” had a life outside of her interactions with him.

Okay… I have a strange question about The Yakult Swallows Poetry Collection… is there a poem about butts? Like, the bottoms of baseball players?? Another one of those, did Murakami really write a poem about butts or is my Japanese comprehension really bad?? moments. I have not found an English translation of this story online… so, someone let me know, is there a poem about butts?!??!

This is the longest story and tbh, the start really dragged. But then we met the girlfriend’s older brother and suddenly I was so intrigued and felt absorbed in finding out what happens next. The end of the story has left me feeling somewhat unexpectedly emotional.

I'm glad reading this in Japanese let me appreciate the different speech patterns of the narrator and brother—and how those changed 20yrs later.

I enjoyed Charlie Parker Plays Bosanova a bit more than Cream. It had the same surreal peculiarity, but was grounded just enough for me to enjoy the story instead of wondering if I’d misunderstood at every bizarre turn of events. Also some nice themes in this story about existence and thankfulness for unexpected opportunities.

I’m baffled by the 2nd story: what is Cream about?? Not sure if the story is deliberately vague—mysterious threads left hanging—or my language skills are lacking? A man gets invited to a piano recital; he goes but the place is deserted. He sits on a bench, hears some Christian propaganda, then an old man appears talking about multi-centred circles with no edges? I’m pretty sure that’s what happened but wtf

Finished the first short story and two pages into the second. A little bit surprised — but very pleased — to find myself able to understand the grammar and most of the vocab. A bit stunned to be able to say now, “I’ve read Murakami in the original Japanese.”