Dawn Hudson
posts on 9/11/2009 6:42:20 AM
I am puzzled about the ending of South of the Border, West of the Sun. I don't understand the meaning of Shimamoto's disappearance and then the money disappearing, can anyone enlighten me please?
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Rose
posts on 9/5/2008 11:22:38 AM
Does anyone have ideas for good discussion questions about Dance Dance Dance? I haven't read it yet, but I need questions for my book club!
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tom
posts on 12/22/2005 7:59:29 AM
i gave up reading books a while ago. i decided that i had read so many books but while i could be interested at some sort of unconscious or subconscious emotional level by them, mostly they meant nothing to me...they did not give me any meaning or affect my understanding. maybe i just dont "get it".
well, i tried with this book (wind up bird chronicle) but again i finished thinking..."eh?". at the start i could get the idea of a man disaffected by work...questioning his life in his own way....going down the well..ok, think about life.... may kasahara... questioning what for most people is automatic... a little like toru... taking time out from the race to reflect.
but, all the weird characters... noboru wataya.... kumiko's decision.... sitting outside shinjuku station.. the guitar players trick.... what was the point of it all? dont get it dont get it dont get it.
read afew reviews which say little clearly but say mostly that the book is about japan's war guilt ...eh? the war is surely just a minor background story... no? mostly this seems to be a personal book.... with something philosophical going on..?
and why write a book that is so opaque? is it supposed to be a cute puzzle or a meaningful communication?
i actually enjoyed the first half or so... the writing style, even in translation, is very smooth and attractive... but.... on the whole i was lost.
anybody read this and want to give me their honest and unpretentious input?
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Ron
posts on 10/27/2005 12:27:00 AM
I bought a copy of this in Perth and found that the print and font in the book (particularly in the first 50 pages) is variable and is very faint on some pages (pp 25-30). I took it back to the retailers but all copies of the book they had were the same. Is this in all copies of this book - or was the faint print and variable (and hard to read font) intentional by Murakami and the publishers?
If it intentional I'll cope - otherwise I'll complain to Random House about it.
Comments from anyone withis book to me at santenr@iinet.net.au would be gratefully received
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Tina
posts on 9/12/2005 8:27:58 AM
anyone have any ideas about the meaning of the ending of the book ?
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Kate
posts on 8/2/2005 3:59:54 PM
Well, I think this book is very interesting. Adventure combined with philosofical aspects make the book exciting and thrilling. The end is quite hard to understand, but it is well worth reading and thinking upon. Haruki Murakami is a great author and I will definately read more of his books.
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Barney
posts on 2/2/2005 3:55:57 AM
Does anyone have any thoughts as to the significance of the last paragraph of 'Sputnik Swetheart', where the narrator "stare(s) at the palms of (his) hands, looking for bloodstains"?
It's been puzzling me...or is my sense that, because it ends the book it must be significant, inconsistent with Murakami's not-so-linear style? Surely it's not supposed to be a clue that the narrator has done something violent to someone is it? Do you think it relates to Sumire's line about having to metaphorically cut the throat of a dog and spill blood, as in the blessing of Chinese gates?
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