I wish I could tell you that the only reason the same book has been stagnating in the sidebar is that I simply haven’t bothered to update it, but the real reason is that I just finished The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle tonight. Yes, it’s January 24th, the fourth week of 52 Books in 52 Weeks, and I have read exactly one book. It doesn’t take a mathematician to conclude that I’ve got to pick up the pace. I swear I’m not that slow of a reader (I’m actually a fairly quick reader), I’ve just been distracted. Some of it was productive (lawyer stuff) and some of it was decidedly not (Rock of Love 2).
I could also use the excuse that it’s a 600-page book with rather small print. But that would sound totally lame, so I won’t say that.
A review will be forthcoming. I’m incapable of writing one right now, since I quite literally just put the book down and I need a little time to think about it. It’s one of those books that you have to let marinate in your brain for a little while before you can say anything worthwhile about it. At the moment, it’s a head scratcher.
I haven’t decided for sure what’s up next. Maybe Heat. Maybe not.
You stole my 52 books in 52 months joke.
Sigh.
No, I thought it was 52 books in 52 years for you.
Oh. I’ve been itching to use it for so long, I jumped the gun.
Not that I’m stalking or anything, but I saw this one by chance at the library back a couple of weeks back. I picked it up. Reminds me a little of the moodiness of Brett Easton Ellis, without all the soul staining brutality. I’m down to the last hundred pages. I’d be done, but I got sidetracked by Delta of Venus by Anais Nin.
Well, I’d be interested to hear/read what you have to say about it when you’re finished, because I’m still mulling it over. The only Bret Easton Ellis I’ve read is part of Glamorama, which I picked up after liking the movie American Psycho, but which I couldn’t finish because the constant listing of celebrity names became too tedious. Unfortunately I have never read any Anais Nin, because I have been meaning to for a long time. Thanks for reminding me.
Something always gets lost in translation, I figure. At points, the dialogue was a bit stilted and sounded phony, but since I know very few people from Japan, it’s hard to say if that’s just my western ear or the way they actually talk.
I liked the building strangeness of the entire book. It was big on mood, like Ellis’s “Less than zero” and “Lunar Park,” which both have a dreamlike quality to them. I didn’t care anything for Glamorama by the way, gave up on it after the first ten pages.
What I liked the best about this book, however, was I felt like it gave me a look into the psyche of a familiar culture that is still very alien. Something was lost in the translation, but a lot wasn’t.
You can do it! I suspect if I were reading ‘wordy’ books right now, I wouldn’t have gotten very far. Suspense and horror novels are easier to get through. You’re both making me curious about Brett Easton Ellis - I noticed that the audiobook is read by James Van Der Beek and may have to give it a try!
Oh, and thanks for bringing Shelfari to my attention.
I highly recommend Bill Buford’s “Heat” as your next read. It’s fast paced, funny, informative, adventurous, and extremely well-written. One of my favorites of recent years.
I’m reading Coehlo’s The Alchemist… It’s like a hundred easy pages and a sharp contrast to Murakami in every possible way. It’s pleasant, though a little preachy. So far, I’m conflicted about that one. On the one hand, the book suggests to get to your destiny, you should follow the omens… On the other hand, a friend of mine was recently sent on an insurance company sponsored vacation for following omens …and also having an unnatural relationship with God and wrapping her doors in aluminum foil in attempt to keep the devil out of her house.
Some one gave me the Alchemist to read once…but I never read it. I ended up giving it back to him, but pretending I read it.
Alas, our friendship was never the same.
Sorry Dave.