sputnik sweetheart and alien

[trailofstars]

I finished Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart this weekend. This is my fifth Murakami novel. I'm beginning to believe I've come at Murakami backwards; I started with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore, two of his most complex novels. Also in there was Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, which is has a strange Phillip K. Dick

Comments

[jtglover]

I had the same experience, in terms of complex-to-direct. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle threw me for a loop, really messed with my head, and then the lighter stuff later--wow. Have you read any of his short stories? They're often largely or entirely plotless, sometimes practically eventless, and yet they still satisfy, in that they convey a certain mood. After Dark has the brevity of Sputnik, but with some of the strangeness of Wonderland or Chronicle.

I think the extent to which Murakami repeats/revisits themes might be tied to his love of jazz, or perhaps just to his personality, but either way I love it. I don't always feel that way about authors who repeat/revisit.

Good luck finding the writing time! Do you ever try for short-shorts? I've done a couple of those lately, and they aren't as satisfying as a short story, but they can still be rewarding. I did a 100-word story (drabbles, I think they're called) the other day, and it was a gas. Also, it didn't take particularly long to write.