South of the Border, West of the Sun (1992) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 4 stars

“haunting, powerful, sad and happy, well written”

• Rated 4 stars

“A book about love (or lust?) or was it merely imagined?”

• Rated 4 stars

“A slightly dreamlike and surreal exploration on the difficulty and complexity of human relationships”

• Rated 2 stars

“Ugh, the main character, Hajime is so unlikeable; I may even classify him as a narcissist. He's way too sentimental and does not seem to place much value on the feelings of others... Or simply, the simple things of life. Jesus, put this man on an antipsychotic! ”

• Rated 5 stars

“This book is what made me fall in love with this author. Too beautiful and sad all at once”

• Rated 0 stars

“Haruki's writing never ceases to amaze me. ”

• Rated 4 stars

“In South of the Border West of the Sun we are introduced to Hajime a Japanese Jazz club owner who is going through a mid-life crisis. Hajime has made it to this point of his life without having a sense of purpose or any goals. He is seeking the meaning of love, life and death.
Haruki Murakami created a book of Japanese Noir in South of the Border West of the Sun. I loved the writing style, very noir, like mysteries by T. Jefferson Parker or James Ellroy which seemed so unusual for this type of fiction. It made it seem so American to me. I wondered if the translation was intended that way or if it is Murakami's style. There is one very compelling scene in which Hajime stealthily follows a woman through the rainy dark streets of Tokyo.

The main character Hajime an only child born in 1951 seems to be looking for love in all the wrong places. Hajime meets his soul mate, Shimamoto as a young boy, but soon moves away from her. In his adolescents like many others he discovers the joy of sex. From that point love and sex becomes a driving force in his somewhat aimless life. He is a very obsessive man who drifts through life without fully knowing why. His perspective on love seems stereo typical feminine, with his expressed feeling being that life has no real purpose without true love.

The style was so easy to read. Hajime is simultaneously humorous and crazed. It is enjoyable despite this reader's impatience with the main character.

”

• Rated 4 stars

“I had to try Murakami since everyone read it. Wherever I go, people had this author...at least a novel by this author.
So I bought a small book by him, just to try it.
I liked it, I really enjoyed it and it was worth it. Probably I will keep reading his books.
Very stylish when it comes to written and the story was very thoughtful...made me think a lot. Totally worth it.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Murakami is a true master when it comes to exploring human's desires, dreams and what they long for. ”

• Rated 4 stars

“One of Murakami's more accessible reads - still with his cloak of intrigue, but more linear than some of his other works. ”