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  Favorite Murakami Book

  Simple enough: What's your favorite Murakami book and why?

  JustKreate started this discussion 2 years ago. ( reply )

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  Steve 

  Kafka on the Shore, because it relies more on the internal workings of the mind as opposed to the odd, fantastical, alternate-reality elements Murakami normally writes in.

  posted 2 years ago. ( reply )

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  Michael 

  I can't narrow it down to just one. I'd have to pick Kafka on the Shore, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, and Dance Dance Dance, though Norwegian Wood could also go on the list.
  
  Kafka, because it was the first Murakami book I read and because it's probably the best constructed and has the most exciting plot and most likeable characters (well, Nakata at least is one of Murakami's best). Wind-up, because it's so dense and lush and it's such a pleasure to lose yourself in a book like that. Dance Dance Dance, because it's the most satisfying of his works and rings most true to real life. There are more real life things going on in that book than in any of his others. And Norwegian, just because of its wrenching emotional power, and its haunting, perfect ending.

  posted 2 years ago. ( reply )

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  shahana.goswami 

  I haven't read Kafka on the Shore though you both seem to like it. The ones I have read are A Wild Sheep Chase and Norwegian Wood. His writing is absolutely fabulous and in these two very varied books, I'm explored his greatly vast range in content which has bowled me over even more than I already was! I have decided to read all his books as soon as possible..

  posted 2 years ago. ( reply )

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  megat_dusk 

  It would have to be Dance Dance Dance. I just love the characters and the storyline and who could ever forget the new and improved Dolphin Hotel. Simply magnificent.

  posted 2 years ago. ( reply )

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  keith b 

  between Hard Boiled Wonderland(because i'm also a Raymond Chandler fan) and Wind -Up-Bird(first murakami i read, opened my eyes to a whole new world)

  posted 2 years ago. ( reply )

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  coffe cappuccino 

  Kafka on the shore is my best one for great Haruki murakami . i have read 4 novels for him .

  posted 1 year ago. ( reply )

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  Ricardo P 

  For me is Kafka on the Shore... even tough I'm now reading Wild Sheep Chase and I'm loving it :P

  posted 1 year ago. ( reply )

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  Jon M 

  I don't see how you can choose a favorite Murakami book. They're all essentially the same. Saying that you have a favorite Murakami novel is like saying that you have a favorite Harlequin romance novel. Same characters, same allegory, same mood/tone setting techniques, etc. He is as formulaic as a writer can possibly be. Oh, he has the occasional light alteration to the story such as the dual stories of Hardboiled Wonderland or the non-fiction pieces, but for the most part its a formula that got tired after reading the first 2 or 3. Let me give you a few ideas to jog your memory...a woman always dies/disappears, there is always something underground (well, etc.), the main character is always the disillusioned early middle-aged salaryman, random music is always used to set the tone, etc. Reading the New Yorker article about his obsessive nature explains everything about how he writes the way that he does. Lovely reads, but stop after 2.

  posted 1 year ago. ( reply )

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  buoyant 

  kafka and wind up bird are my fav. i like them not for the story as much as the lucid writing of a world that i do not know and yet is completely understandable. He strips japan of its culture and makes it universal.

  posted 1 year ago. ( reply )

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  Erick M 

  Norweigan Wood is my favorite, perhaps because it's the first one I read. But on a close second spot is After Dark.

  posted 11 months ago. ( reply )

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  Juans upon a time Juana 

  Underground is my favorite Murakami book.
  I like how Murakami described the typical Japanese salary man's day along with the other sectors of the society. For me, it is quite a feat that he did an extensive research about the victims of the Sarin incident. Knowing that it is non-fiction, makes it even more remarkable.

  posted 5 months ago. ( reply )

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  almira jorge landicho 

  (newbie here) it would have to be Kafka On The Shore, since it's the only Murakami book i have read so far..lol. i really fell in love with that book and i can't wait to read the others.

  posted 2 days ago. ( reply )

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