yeah the book is beautifully designed. you can sort of see in shasta's photo how the hard cover is printed so that the vellum jacket completes the image
― max, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:10 (twelve years ago) link
its like 300 pages longer that WUBC but printed on thinner paper. also slightly taller.
― max, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:11 (twelve years ago) link
haha sorry theyre like right in front of me right now so
― max, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:12 (twelve years ago) link
i'm guessing the mess would involve no less than 1/3 of the book's total length being devoted to cooking scenes and mentions of old records
― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Wednesday, October 26, 2011 3:16 PM (53 minutes ago) Bookmark
My kind of book. Pissed off that we can't buy the one volume book in the UK and that the cover looks better in the US version. Also on Amazon.com it's $16 - over here both volumes would set you back nearly twice that (on Amazon anyway). Any American's coming to the UK with a spare suitcase soon?
― Ned Trifle X, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:21 (twelve years ago) link
From the official website:
In order to reflect the experience of 1Q84's first readers, Harvill Secker is publishing Books One and Two in one beautifully designed volume and Book Three in a separate edition.
So you see, you US readers are missing out on the "experience", even tho you are saving 16 bucks.
― Ned Trifle X, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:25 (twelve years ago) link
I would really prefer the 16 bucks thanks Harvill Secker.
Fuck it, I've just ordered the one-volume version from the US, if it's huge I'll just read it over the Christmas holidays.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:47 (twelve years ago) link
It's like £10 for the book and £8 for the shipping, that's got to be cheaper than buying both volumes in hardback. Excellent work fucking this up, British publishing industry.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:48 (twelve years ago) link
that's got to be cheaper than buying both volumes in hardback.
Yep, it's £18.29 for both from Amazon.co.uk with free shipping, so you've saved yourself 29p. Congrats!
― Lars and the Lulu Girl (NickB), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:51 (twelve years ago) link
1Q84 is my favorite book title since 2666
― ∞th-wave ska (diamonddave85), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:59 (twelve years ago) link
Another member of the choir that says he peaked with Wind-Up Bird but also enjoyed Dance Dance Dance and HBW. New one seems too long to tackle without some kind of running start. I think I read almost everything up until Kafka on the Shore where I ran out of gas. Should I try that one again? Read something short like After Dark?
― An Outcast From Time's Feast (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 16:17 (twelve years ago) link
If you are an endurance athlete, his previous book "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" is rewarding and inspiring.
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 16:21 (twelve years ago) link
...yet still written in "that voice" not uncommon among his narrators.
...in his fictional works.
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 16:22 (twelve years ago) link
Even if you're an endurance athlete it's worth a look. I found it v. enjoyable for instance.
Yes, but you've got better looking book imo and in handy brick form. Will customs hit u with tax tho, is my serious question? I think books are exempt from such shenanigans?
― Ned Trifle X, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 16:42 (twelve years ago) link
Damn, I meant even if you're NOT an endurance athlete obv.
― Ned Trifle X, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 16:43 (twelve years ago) link
was a limit of £18 for non 'gift' marked imports, being reduced to £15 on Nov 1st. just in time for xmas.
― zappi, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 16:45 (twelve years ago) link
How will they know how much you paid for the book? These things have bugged me since I was caught out for some ridiculous amount for a Seinfeld boxset back in the day.
― Ned Trifle X, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 16:47 (twelve years ago) link
sender has to mark the value on the customs declaration. i bought something from someone on ebay for £10 and they marked the value as $40, completely fucking me over. grrr still mad about it.
― zappi, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 16:49 (twelve years ago) link
that is awful... i'd leave them negative feedback for that alone.
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 16:52 (twelve years ago) link
jealous of that dude that got to hang out and run with murakami
― Aerosol, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 19:06 (twelve years ago) link
When choosing from among his best books, do not neglect the short story collections, which are awesome. He is a fantastic short story writer.
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 19:24 (twelve years ago) link
The last few days I've been reading the short story collections, going through the stories in the order of composition (anyway, the order they're listed on his Wikipedia page). It's been kind of fascinating to follow the development of his themes and methods, which seem to have stayed much the same from the beginning. Everything is in first person, more or less in the same voice -- in some instances, the same character appears to be the narrator of otherwise unrelated stories.
I love this guy.
― Brad C., Wednesday, 26 October 2011 20:43 (twelve years ago) link
i first read murakami in high school and ray carver in college but when i found out the former loved the latter it was like oh yeah duh.
― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 20:45 (twelve years ago) link
― ∞th-wave ska (diamonddave85), Wednesday, October 26, 2011 10:59 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark
likes this post
― INDIE BAND (Lamp), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 20:46 (twelve years ago) link
OK, I guess I'll give Blind Willow, Sleeping Womam a try and after that the running book, even though I am am not an endurance athlete.
― An Outcast From Time's Feast (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 20:51 (twelve years ago) link
do not neglect the short story collections, which are awesome
Recently finished After the Quake, and it's great. Previously I'd read W-UBC and NW, and the stories of ATQ are kind of a mix of both these styles. Engaging and a quick read.
― andrew m., Wednesday, 26 October 2011 21:27 (twelve years ago) link
Came across ATQ at the bookshop the day after the quake this year and thus couldn't resist the purchase.
― andrew m., Wednesday, 26 October 2011 21:29 (twelve years ago) link
Got my US copy yesterday and stayed up too late reading it, spurred on by the fact that I was listening to Janáček's Sinfonietta literally a couple of hours before I opened the book - you can't ignore synchronistic shit like that.
― Ned Trifle X, Tuesday, 8 November 2011 11:33 (twelve years ago) link
did not like him before this one but this one is really, really good
― calstars, Wednesday, 9 November 2011 01:38 (twelve years ago) link
read Norwegian Wood entirely off seeing this thread the other week. i dug the story lots, but at times i feel that utterly clean style is so 'in' as of now its become generic to me
does he change it up much?
― NO NUTRITIONAL CONTENT (kelpolaris), Wednesday, 9 November 2011 01:53 (twelve years ago) link
does he still write in that angsty teenager first person style
― ASPIE Rocky (dayo), Wednesday, 9 November 2011 02:06 (twelve years ago) link
I did the amazon.com thing too like the day it was released here and got a while you were out card on monday so I assume that's what it is
― conrad, Wednesday, 9 November 2011 02:10 (twelve years ago) link
The Mysterious Bookshop has both UK and US versions of 1Q84.
― Miss Piggy and Frodo in Hull (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 9 November 2011 20:40 (twelve years ago) link
about a quarter of the way through. it's compelling but kind of gross in regard to the female characters.
― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, 9 November 2011 20:42 (twelve years ago) link
I heard that this was... really bad? Can somebody who's read lots of other Murakami weigh in on this one?
― free banana man! free banana man! (remy bean), Wednesday, 9 November 2011 20:44 (twelve years ago) link
it's compelling but kind of gross in regard to the female characters.
This sums up a lot of his stuff that I've read so far.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Wednesday, 9 November 2011 20:46 (twelve years ago) link
it's been so long since i've read his other stuff that i can't really compare 1Q84 relatively but the AV club gave it a D: http://www.avclub.com/articles/haruki-murakami-1q84,64876/
― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, 9 November 2011 21:26 (twelve years ago) link
the first 50 or so pages have been p good imo
― the green (Lamp), Wednesday, 9 November 2011 21:30 (twelve years ago) link
― free banana man! free banana man! (remy bean), Wednesday, November 9, 2011 8:44 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark
Seems just fine to me, with some bits of brilliance. I've been reading a few so-so reviews, and wonder if that is to do with the 'oh, i was into him years ago and now everyone likes him, he's rubbish'? Having said that, if you haven't read any before because it didn't appeal, this won't change your mind. And if you did read him and didn't like him, this will probably back up that opinion.
― Ned Trifle X, Thursday, 10 November 2011 08:22 (twelve years ago) link
tbh, his male characters have their..er..issues also.
― Ned Trifle X, Thursday, 10 November 2011 08:23 (twelve years ago) link
about 300 pages in. certainly very boob-centric to the extent of it being a worry. clunky expository passages & backstory, kinda wishing it was a birnbaum translation rather than rubin but that's maybe cos i've been teaching english for a couple of years since i read anything by him & come over all hypersensitive wrt grammatical/usage issues, despite that lazily recounted nugget that huki muki just translates back & forth on purpose to get that stilted feel. such a page turner, tho' - patterson style! makes me think of "lost" on the tv, pulpy, silly, in some places this is downright corny, but it's hooky as hell. i can't wait to find out what happens next even if it is the usual humu malarky. overall pleasantly surprised thus far. oh get this prize clunk tho' (no spoiler): "some kind of small, black thing shot across the sky. A bird, possibly. Or it might've been someone's soul being blown to the far side of the world".OW! bradbury class clunker. i'm looking forward to more !
― iglu ferrignu, Thursday, 10 November 2011 10:40 (twelve years ago) link
lol @ the quotes in that av club review
― this is unusual for batman. (Jordan), Thursday, 10 November 2011 15:48 (twelve years ago) link
the uk edition is translated by rubin in pts one and two, birnbaum in pt three
― thomp, Thursday, 10 November 2011 16:43 (twelve years ago) link
i have been wondering to what extent murakami is aware of the crepe-ness of it. when i am reading a new sword and sorcery novel and a new literary novel and the literary novel is the creepier, actually never mind that doesn't work i mean fuckin' jonathan franzen right
― thomp, Thursday, 10 November 2011 16:44 (twelve years ago) link
hahaha
― Mr. Que, Thursday, 10 November 2011 16:47 (twelve years ago) link
― thomp, Thursday, November 10, 2011 8:43 AM (8 minutes ago)
Philip Gabriel in pt 3 you mean. Birnbaum hasn't worked with Murakami since Underground, unfortunately.
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 10 November 2011 16:57 (twelve years ago) link
oop, my bad. here is an interview with him about the process, though
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/10/how-haruki-murakamis-1q84-was-translated-into-english/247093/#.TqYkHccXFY8.facebook
― thomp, Thursday, 10 November 2011 17:02 (twelve years ago) link
3.2% of the way into this and it's a bit bad so far I've read nothing by him before
― conrad, Monday, 14 November 2011 13:52 (twelve years ago) link
conrad do you like books
― ASPIE Rocky (dayo), Monday, 14 November 2011 13:55 (twelve years ago) link