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What a beautiful novel. Simple, direct wording but graceful and well written.
Even though the ending gave me a bit of a thought provoking moment, ... (show more)
South of the Border, West of the Sun: A Novel
In South of the Border, West of the Sun, the simple arc of a man's life--with its attendant rhythms of success and disappointment--becomes the exquisite literary terrain of Haruki Murakami's most haunting work.
Born in 1951 in an affluent Tokyo suburb, Hajime--beginning in Japanese--has arrived at middle age wanting for almost nothing. The postwar years have brought him a fine marriage, two daughters, and an enviable career as the proprietor of two jazz clubs. Yet a nagging sense of inaut... (show more)
In South of the Border, West of the Sun, the simple arc of a man's life--with its attendant rhythms of success and disappointment--becomes the exquisite literary terrain of Haruki Murakami's most haunting work.
Born in 1951 in an affluent Tokyo suburb, Hajime--beginning in Japanese--has arrived at middle age wanting for almost nothing. The postwar years have brought him a fine marriage, two daughters, and an enviable career as the proprietor of two jazz clubs. Yet a nagging sense of inauthenticity about his success threatens Hajime's happiness. And a boyhood memory of a wise, lonely girl named Shimamoto clouds his heart.
When Shimamoto shows up one rainy night, now a breathtaking beauty with a secret from which she is unable to escape, the fault lines of doubt in Hajime's quotidian existence begin to give way. And the details of stolen moments past and present--a Nat King Cole melody, a face pressed against a window, a handful of ashes drifting downriver to the sea--threaten to undo him completely. Rich, mysterious, quietly dazzling, South of the Border, West of the Sun is Haruki Murakami's wisest and most compelling fiction. (show less)
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Reviews (See all 661) Write a reviewfor this
It's a hit!
No, it's a flop!
the more i think on it the more bizarre the characters seem.
i don't know what murakami was trying to convey in this novel.
it reads like just an... (show more)
the more i think on it the more bizarre the characters seem.
i don't know what murakami was trying to convey in this novel.
it reads like just another story of a guy cheating on his wife. (show less)
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Here's what I've noticed after reading 4 Murakami books-- (all of which I've loved, except for this last one) The characters are all the same. Does anyone else notice the repetition? The main character is always a man who is described as drab, plain, sometimes even boring, and who is unsatisfied with his life in one way or the other. Job, wife, Destiny, whatever. And the woman/love interest/mother (sometimes one and the same) is always slightly lost and suicidal, or recovering from suicidal ... (show more)
Here's what I've noticed after reading 4 Murakami books-- (all of which I've loved, except for this last one) The characters are all the same. Does anyone else notice the repetition? The main character is always a man who is described as drab, plain, sometimes even boring, and who is unsatisfied with his life in one way or the other. Job, wife, Destiny, whatever. And the woman/love interest/mother (sometimes one and the same) is always slightly lost and suicidal, or recovering from suicidal tendencies.
I am still a huge fan of Murakami's work, and praise him for his new-age Japanese surrealism. His twist of the Minamata disease (mercury biomagnification --> prophetic, insane man who can talk to cats) is just one example of the slight craziness that always accompanies reading one of his works. But I do feel that this predicability needs to be adressed, though it may have been already, especially since I just realized it after reading four of his books. I don't think anyone could accuse Murakami of a lack of creativity, except in this instance.
Is it a flaw? Depends on how much you revere Murakami. (show less)Already read
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This book, the story of a mid life crisis, is a work or realism and more closely resembles "Norwegian Wood" than Murakami's more fantastic efforts. While I prefer the Murakami that writes about talking cats, sheep men, and spirits that manifest themselves as American advertising figures, this is a very good book. It's the story of a man and three key relationships in his life: his first girlfriend, his wife, and, most importantly, a female friend from his early childhood years who... (show more)
This book, the story of a mid life crisis, is a work or realism and more closely resembles "Norwegian Wood" than Murakami's more fantastic efforts. While I prefer the Murakami that writes about talking cats, sheep men, and spirits that manifest themselves as American advertising figures, this is a very good book. It's the story of a man and three key relationships in his life: his first girlfriend, his wife, and, most importantly, a female friend from his early childhood years who disappears, only to reenter his life once he is happily married.
There's something about the way that Murakami writes dialogue that I find irresistible. I wouldn't say his dialogue is realistic-his characters are much too frank with each other even in the most mundane situations-but it still has a distinctive quality that I appreciate. His characters are almost always in some kind of existential crisis that leads them to speak with a directness that isn't often found in real life conversations. There's plenty of that type of dialogue in this book and that's what makes this a worthwhile read. (show less)
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