Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

Critics

• A hole in the middle of the Pacific

  Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami, translated by Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel 352pp, Harvill Secker, £16.99 It takes a certain amount of guts to write a whole story about vomiting. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman is the author's third coll ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

• When three cats ate my brain

  Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami; translated by Philip Gabriel and Jay Rubin Harvill Secker, £16.99, pp334 The narrator of 'Chance Traveller' introduces himself as writer Haruki Murakami, so I guess we should trust him when he insists ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

7 Reviews

• 2 people find this helpful

  

  I always believe Murakami's short stories are often more witty and profound. The book somehow casts a magical spell on me and I am captivated at times, even though for some stories I've already read the Chinese version. Unlike most translated works this book don't suggest itself a translated work, a ... (continue)

  I always believe Murakami's short stories are often more witty and profound. The book somehow casts a magical spell on me and I am captivated at times, even though for some stories I've already read the Chinese version. Unlike most translated works this book don't suggest itself a translated work, and I find myself enjoy the language as much as the story.

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  fruit said on Jan 15, 2009 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 2 people find this helpful

  

  Murakami's second collection of short stories is a perfect introduction to his writing for freshies. Simply put, all his works can be neatly split into 2 factions - weird shit, and not-so-weird-shit. His shorts allow the novice Murakami reader to traverse both worlds; if the former category appeals, ... (continue)

  Murakami's second collection of short stories is a perfect introduction to his writing for freshies. Simply put, all his works can be neatly split into 2 factions - weird shit, and not-so-weird-shit. His shorts allow the novice Murakami reader to traverse both worlds; if the former category appeals, pick up The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle or Hard-Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World. If the latter appeals, it's South Of The Border West Of The Sun, or Norweigian Wood for you. Either way you'll be in for a treat.

  These stories chart his writing career for 25 years, and some were initial drafts that later grew into full length novels. Also, they span the range of his literary themes - love, loss, yearning, memory, reality, dualism, parallel lives, invisible intertwined threads of connection. Murakami's writing goes a lot by feel and atmosphere - like passing through a fog and losing your sense of navigation. You can pick apart and analyse each sentence to death, but it's not going to reveal the mysteries inherent between the lines and enlighten you with the meaning the author intended. Interpretation and the motivation of some characters is often left largely up to you. Perhaps some doors are best left locked.

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  Danelectrico said on Dec 6, 2007 | Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  Re-reading Murakami's works in English, apart from being more impressed and better understanding of his writings, as anticipated, there are no new surprises.

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  S.E. said on Jul 28, 2007 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 

  The Amazing World of Murakami

  This is a fantastic read. First of all, the short stories are wonderful, magical and typical Murakami. For the people who haven't read anything by him yet, it's a good primer. It gives great insight in his writing, and is a concise overview of the themes he touches. For the fans, it's a feast of rec ... (continue)

  This is a fantastic read. First of all, the short stories are wonderful, magical and typical Murakami. For the people who haven't read anything by him yet, it's a good primer. It gives great insight in his writing, and is a concise overview of the themes he touches. For the fans, it's a feast of recognition. Familiar story lines, familiar writing style and a familiar sketch of the world.

  Loved this book.

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  Arjan Tupan said on Jan 31, 2012 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 

  This was my first Murakami.
  After this one I read what I could get.
  After David Mitchel;s books I became interested in Japanese litterature.

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  Helena said on Sep 11, 2010 about the Audio CD edition | Add your feedback

• 

  Weird and wonderful, takes you away from reality

  As much a fan of Murakami as I am, I have to confess that I do find some of his stories pretty weird and surreal, but nonetheless still very enjoyable in a weird sense. Quite a few stories in this book may seemingly be 'meaningless', but for me the quality in them is really how Murakami can often st ... (continue)

  As much a fan of Murakami as I am, I have to confess that I do find some of his stories pretty weird and surreal, but nonetheless still very enjoyable in a weird sense. Quite a few stories in this book may seemingly be 'meaningless', but for me the quality in them is really how Murakami can often start off with an ordinary story of everyday life, and turns it into some extraordinary by his magic twist of something surreal, whether it is an iceman, a name-tag stealing monkey or whatever. It makes me ponder about little things in life and what is the meaning of it (if any at all), and encourages me to stretch my imagination with my own ordinary life and see a different side of it.

  The story I enjoyed most from this book is 'Chance traveller', with Murakami delivering a nice little 'prologue' to this story right at the start as the writer himself. The story itself has a good meaning too. 'Firefly' is great for those who wants a taster of 'Norwegian Wood' - it reads almost identical to one part of his most famous novel. In fact with many short stories you can see Murakami using a number of ideas which you also see in his novel.
  Overall I find this story collection better than the ones in ' The Elephant Vanishes'.

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  olivia said on Jun 27, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

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Book Details

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• English Books
• Hardcover 352 Pages
• ISBN-10: 1843432692
• ISBN-13: 9781843432692
• Publisher: Harvill Secker
• Pub date: Jul 06, 2006
• Dimensions: 1548 mm x 1032 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Paperback, Audio CD, Others and eBook
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, Livros em Português, llibres en català, Libri Italiani, Nederlandse Boeken, Polskie Książki

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