Murakami in Translation

Since I got to Japan, I've finally taken up the advice of my great friend Gordon all those years ago at BGSU and I'm reading Murakami Haruki's works, mostly fiction, in translation. I'm also collecting the very iconic and well-designed Vintage paperback editions of his books. They're published in England, so the import costs and generally ricockulous price of books in the UK makes them a little steep, but the designs are excellent. See here: CoverLove at robaroundbooks

So in the coming weeks I plan to post reviews of these books. Some will be resharpening my litcrit skillz. Some will be sheer mad drunken celebration and sadness. Some will be endless series of questions about what happened in translation. Most will be spoilerific, so sorry for that, and you've been warned.

One title that isn't in the Vintage collection because it's never been published in English outside of Japan (ironically) is 風の歌を聞け - Kaze no Uta wo Kike - translated as "Hear the Wind Sing" but which seems to work better more literally, "Listen to the Song of the Wind." This is the first Murakami book I read, and it's also the first book he wrote. It also happens to be the beginning of the series of stories that involve guys who hang out at Jay's bar, The Rat and his friend (who is our narrator). The sequence is Listen to the Song of the Wind, A Wild Sheep Chase, and Dance, Dance, Dance.