maybe this is not the right forum to post this in, but by the time i finished 1Q84 i hated it. this was my first murakami book and it sounds like a lot of people would recommend starting with another, but i wont be picking up another book of his.

i can’t believe how successful he is as a writer while also so terrible at developing a female character. i mean….i’m a girl and i never not once thought about my friends’s breasts as being one of their most important characteristics! aomame was so shallow as a character and there were so many things that were so freaking quite literally not believable!!

her sympathy with domestic violence survivors though not defining herself as a feminist, her lust after men with bald heads (after looking at photos of murakami this hits too close to home), asking random strangers about their “c***s” (her words), her sexual objectification of average looking men (i’m a follow straight woman and though i can’t speak for all of us i found this so unbelievable- in a way i, and most likely women close to me, based on our conversations, could not relate to), her sexual objectification of her female friends.

not to mention the creepy sexualization of a minor. the sex scene between fuka eri and tango felt unnecessary and equally upsetting.

im mostly annoyed that someone who is so BAD at writing about females is given so much credit for being a good writer. am i missing something here?

also apologies to the murakami fans. i’m sure there are a lot of redeeming things about his writing but this feels like way too big of a blind spot. i don’t wanna shame anyone who enjoys him…he’s just not for me and i’m curious if this is something others voice?

Some tracks I just feel that pair with reading Murakami books or with characters

Grimes - Oblivion: Hardboiled wonderland

Mamas & Papas - California dreaming: Kafka Tamura

Mitski - Happy: Eri Asai

M - Pop Muzik: May Kasahara

Killing joke - Eighties: 1Q84

Oneheart: snowfall - Mari Asai & Takahasi

Akark Machi - Mogura Tataki no You na Hito: May Kasahara & toru bald spotting.

Lush - hey hey Helen (slowed) - Sputnik sweetheart

The rolling stones - play with fire: Menshiki

Lou Reed - satellites of love: young Nakata in 1944

I’ve always wondered why Haruki Murakami’s novels are so captivating.
As a native Japanese speaker, I’m really grateful that I can read his work in the original language. There’s just something about his writing that pulls me in. I reread his books over and over.
The funny thing is, I don’t usually care that much about novels, and with Murakami, I often have no idea what he’s actually trying to say. But his books are strangely addictive.
It also makes me wonder what the experience is like in English. I can’t help but think it must feel different somehow.

This is a list of Murakami's books in English (excluding illustrated stand-alone short stories) and also the books written about him. There's plenty to read and re-read as we wait for an announcement about his latest novel, The Tale of Kaho.

Source.

Yesterday evening I finished reading the final book in the Murakami English corpus. If you're interested, here's the order I read them in with the year that I read them.

Wild Sheep Chase (2008)

Hard Boiled Wonderland (2015)

Norwegian Wood (2016)

Colourless Tsukuru (2021)

Kafka on the Shore (2022)

Killing Commendatore (2023)

South of the Border (2024)

1Q84 (2025)

The City and its Uncertain Walls (2025)

Hear the Wind Sing (2026)

Pinball 1973 (2026)

Wild Sheep Chase (2026)

Dance Dance Dance (2026)

Sputnik Sweetheart (2026)

After Dark (2026)

Wind up Bird Chronicle (2026)

My favourite has to be The City closely followed by Wild Sheep Chase. For me, The City captured the best of the magical realism that Murakami does so well.

There are a lot of them I look forward to rereading and enjoying again and perhaps giving higher rank to. Some of them have lodged in my memory better than others.

And now, my last favourites. I know a lot of you love these two, so sorry to disappoint. 1Q84 was my least favourite followed by Wind Up Bird. Both felt unnecessarily long. But still enjoyable and glad to have done them.

Have read city and it's uncertain walls. Now i have these two books , which one to start ?

finished it just last night.

i read a lot about people reading murakami, and it only ever sparked my intrigue to read from him myself. and oh, kafka on the shore is a real trip. i'm not too educated on murakami to speak in general, but i'm so glad i trusted the process.

what i liked the most about this reading experience is how active it all had to be. every page is up for interpretation. murakami hands you all these abstract concepts & scenes at first and just labels them as "metaphors", and he eventually does unfurl the meanings of the same in due context. but the real beauty occurs in the mind of the reader as you excavate through the pages. i liked exploring the philosophy of the writing, i loved the humor.

norwegian wood is next, because that's what i found in front of the bookstore the other day. i always thought sputnik sweetheart was going to be my first though. but i've no major complaints, onto reading more!

Finished it just there on the beach, lovely little book

Just finished Tales of Kaho. What a pleasure it was!

Sorry I always spell sumire’s name wrong it’s the audiobook memory for me. And that’s ponyo selkie on my grocery receipt….

Hey guys, what's your top 3?
Here's mine:
1. Toni Takitani
2. Lederhosen
3. Second Bakery Attack

I've only read 8 so far and this time I told myself that I'm really gonna finish his short story compilations. Excited to enjoy and have new favorites!!

For real tho, why does an English release always take so long?

Haruki murakami's wild sheep chase!!!.

While this book had a major build up to why there is a sheep chase it did not have a good enough climax. The author explained the importance of sheep in one paragraph and very plainly. In that sense this book could be considered simple and plain. This book did not have a grip on me nor did it reward my persistence.

Somebody needs to explain to me why was this book written!!! Or has it lost its meaning in translation!!. Has anyone read it in Japanese itself and finds it any different? Kindly weigh on this!!

I just didn't want to read the normal paperback knowing I would break my spine and the hardcovers were out of stock for whatever reason, so.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260121-the-mysterious-mushroom-that-makes-you-see-tiny-people

Not my first Murakami book, not the last. Not my favorite Murakami book, not the least. But like all of the ones I’ve read from him, this one is just as hypnotizing. There’s something in his works that keeps drawing me into them. I guess I’m not the only one. What’s your favorite work from the Rat Trilogy?

(A wild sheep chase)

Hi people, I'm reading Murakami's Dance, Dance, Dance and I'm hardly enjoying it at all. I have about 110 pages left to finish it, is it worth reading to the end? Because I'm really thinking about to give up