Published: 1982 (Faber and Faber) Summary: A Pale View of Hills is a haunting novel about the lengths at which our subconscious will go to unburden ourselves from the miseries of life. Set in Nagasaki, author Kazuo Ishiguro’s birthplace, the author explores the emotional craters which line the city after the atomic bombing of August 9, 1945. BlurringContinue reading “A Pale View of Hills-Kazuo Ishiguro”
Category Archives: 1980’s
Kitchen/Moonlight Shadow-Banana Yoshimoto
Published: 1988 (MK) Setting: 1980’s Tokyo Summary: Banana Yoshimoto’s first novel, Kitchen, and her novella, Moonlight Shadow, both deal with how lose makes us examine our distance to those we care about. Mikage, the protagonist in Kitchen, lives in a tiny world filled with pots, pans, couches, and plants. What she lacks is genuine connection to others afterContinue reading “Kitchen/Moonlight Shadow-Banana Yoshimoto”
Norwegian Wood-Haruki Murakami
Published: 1987 (Kodansha) Setting: Tokyo, Kyoto Summary: The domestic reception to Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood propelled the author to literary super stardom seemingly overnight. This novel, nostalgic and deeply feeling, is as much a period piece as it is a coming-of-age story set in Japan’s post-war coming-of-age. Toru Watanabe floats in and out of the lives of hisContinue reading “Norwegian Wood-Haruki Murakami”
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World-Haruki Murakami
Published: 1985 (Shinchosha) Setting: Tokyo, “The Town” Summary: In Murakami’s favorite novel, our main characters shuffles information as he shuffles around the Tokyo underground. In alternating chapters, Murakami builds a Tokyo city-scape full of data inquirers professors, and Inklings (based on kappa), while also building an imaginary town within the mind of our main character. Our main character,Continue reading “Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World-Haruki Murakami”
A Wild Sheep Chase-Haruki Murakami
Published: 1982 (Kodansha) Setting: Tokyo, Hokkaido, Niigata Summary: In the third book of the “Trilogy of the Rat”, Murakami decides to blow it all up, in a good way. Our unnamed protagonist, I, meets a beautiful part-time call girl with magic ears, the secretary of the underground Boss of Japan, as well as the SheepContinue reading “A Wild Sheep Chase-Haruki Murakami”
Pinball, 1973-Haruki Murakami
Published: 1980 (Kodansha) Setting: Niigata, Tokyo Summary: In the second book of a tetralogy, and second in the “Trilogy of the Rat”, our unnamed narrator, “I”, is obsessed with pinball. This time, instead of a girl with nine fingers, he is seeing identical twins. Sweatshirt-clad and always willing to cheer “I” up, these ladies holdContinue reading “Pinball, 1973-Haruki Murakami”
Will Reviews Things 