alisarae's Reviews (1.65k)

I was interested by about 1/3 of the stories: the two elephant stories, the one about the landscaper, and the other about the boxer. That is it. Murakami’s batting average is about that, for me.

I think only hardcore Murakami fans would like this book of short stories. I have read 11 books by him now, possibly more books than by any other author (Caroline Keene doesn't count cuz that was a shared pen name mmk), and I didn't even like it. Just give us what we want, Murakami: weird cults and cats.

I decided to DNF @ 70%.

This book clocks in at 200 pages yet it has a ton of different story lines. It has potential to be a sweeping multi-generational epic, but with such a short amount of time given to each character, no single story is fully developed. Many side characters are stereotypical props (leering Latino men, German tourist out for sex with the locals, out of touch rich expat wife, racist Cuban in Miami) and the conversations about Cuban-US politics are superficial middle-school level discussions. I got the impression that the author wasn't well equipped to flesh out the story to make the dialogue more nuanced and many characters felt underbaked.

This was a sweet slow-burn romance with slice of life aesthetics. Lots of details of drinking and bar food yumyum. I was a little weirded out by the way the MC—a 40-something woman—acted very childish,

Spoiler

and even says at a couple different points that she has regressed emotionally as she got older... but she has a relationship with her former teacher, and that child-teacher relationship seems to be an important part of their interaction as adults. I thought the characters were so cute and sweet, but I wish I didn't have this feeling of like, "Is this book supposed to be a fantasy for middle aged women to act out their childhood crushes?"

Anyways, overall good vibes to eat some homecooked Japanese food and listen to chillhop while you read.

The art is beautiful, but the dialogue is shallow.

The metaphysical musings of the characters were certainly well thought out, but I didn't enjoy its constant presence. I did like the themes of acceptance and forgiveness, even though they were sometimes manifested in strange ways (like sex).

The character development, wordsmithing, and story telling were technically superb. I just wasn't expecting this sort of story from Murakami, and I didn't love any of the characters.

We're each in our own little world, but when we allow other people to enter it, or allow ourselves to enter the world of others, we gain missing pieces of ourselves. I like when an author helps us pause and consider how the individual is part of the whole.