“The well kept reminding me of the well in The Ring...and the one in Norwegian Wood. I would place Murakami with the magic realist authors like Marquez and Rushdie.”
“Great. Intriguing concepts. But somewhere towards the end, he loses the plot and leaves too many loose ends unresolved. But still a good introduction to Murakami.”
“What would you say is the best book of Haruki Murakami?”
“For some reason, I was really drawn to the idea of the well in this book. A place to think, to be in reality yet blink out of it at the same time, to be hidden away from it somewhere both a million miles away yet close by. After reading so much about Toru's well, I made my own metaphorical well.I never fully understood the woman making rauncy calls (Was it Kumiko from the hotel? Or someone else entirely?) What exactly happened to Malta and Creta, and why they appeared at all (Other than establishing a link between reality and dream) the links between the blue scars and mackerel the cat and his former namesake, Wataya, the significance of the baseball bat...Yet with so many lose ends floating in my mind, I still throughly enjoyed this book.”
“i am away and couldn't get hold of the book in my studies. could someone explain what happened to Malta Kano? She reappeared with his cat's tail on her back didn't it? what's the significance? Also, Creta was carrying a baby with the Lieutenant, why was she sad? Over Malta? what happened to Malta? I surmise the 'curse' on the Lieutenant had been lifted. What lifted that curse? I am sure Malta's union with Lieutenant isn't a random plot, or is it? ”
“Is this appropriate for a 13 year old? Why?”
“Murakami's books are travel books for me... I read "Hard-Boiled Wonderland" in Japan, and the whimsical, surreal nature of the novel worked perfectly. Last year, I went to the Balkans, and I tried "Wind-Up Bird Chronicle". Wow, it worked beautifully. I remember reading about the Russian skinner while on a night train between Bucarest and Belgrade, rushing through the Transylvanian countryside under a blood-red moon. This novel left a permanent mark on my psyche as a result.”
“so where did may kasahara's letters go if mr. okada weren't able to receive them?”
