Vintage Murakami

by Haruki Murakami

Book Overview

Not since Yukio Mishima and Yasunari Kawabata has a Japanese writer won the international acclaim enjoyed by Haruki Murakami. His genre-busting novels, short stories and reportage, which have been... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400033969
• ISBN13: 9781400033966
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Vintage Books USA
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

A story in Nomonhan

When I heard about this anthology, I thought that it must have been extremely difficult to pick up some chapters from his long adventurous stories. I think it was true. But this anthology reminds me that my favorite story in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle even can hold as an independent story. I thought that Nomonhan story told by Lieutenant Mamiya was the heart of the chronicle. But when I read it again in this anthology, I understand that it was splendid in terms of story telling and description and you could feel anything in that story, like fear, wind in the field in central Asia, and even flash in the cold, dark, and deep well. It is worth to read even only this story and afterward you cannot help reading the rest of the story, the chronicle.

Excellent Introduction/Anthology

I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of this book in November so unlike the previous reviewer, I knew what was contained within. I would say that this is an excellent introduction to Haruki Murakami as well as a great anthology for any fan of Murakami's who is thinking of rereading his work or would just like to see something they already know in a new light (for example, Lt. Mamiya's Long Story I & II outside of the WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE). This book contains excerpts from two of his novels (NORWEGIAN WOOD and THE WIND-UP BIRD), as well as 3 short stories, and a piece from his non-fiction work UNDERGROUND about the poison gas attacks in the Tokyo subways.The first novel I ever read by Murakami was THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE. After that, I was hooked and read every novel available in English (including HEAR THE WIND SING and PINBALL 1973). I attempted to read the short story collection, THE ELEPHANT VANISHES when I had run out of novels, but wasn't drawn into the stories the way I was the books. Writing wise, I had always felt that Murakami was more of a long distance runner than a sprinter (which I guess is ironic in light of the fact that he IS a runner). That was until I read "Barn Burning" and "The Ice Man", both in VINTAGE MURAKAMI. After that, I went and read every story in THE ELEPHANT VANISHES and now hope and pray that another collection of Murakami's short stories (most have been published in The New Yorker magazine) will see the light of day (are you listening VINTAGE?). After reading "Honey Pie", another short story in VINTAGE MURAKAMI, I went on to read the collection that that story came from, AFTER THE QUAKE, and wasn't disappointed. Now, I am rereading Murakami's THE WIND UP BIRD CHRONICLE after reading "Lt. Mamiya's Long Story Part I and II." Although this is a major part of THE WIND UP BIRD CHRONICLE, it also stands beautifully alone as a short story. For those fans of Murakami who feel that they have been cheated by not seeing anything new in print here (keep in mind, this is the first time "The Ice Man" has appeared in book form), it should be noted that this book is a part of a series focusing on Vintage Publications writers (including Nabokov, V.S. Naipul, Oliver Sacks, and more) and each book is more or less an anthology of their respected works. Even though there is nothing really new here, VINTAGE MURAKAMI has given me even more appreciation for my favorite writer and is a welcome addition to my book shelf. This book opened me up to Murakami as a short story writer and to me, it's well worth the price (just $9.95!). I fully intend to give copies of this to my friends who are curious about Murakami but have yet to step into his world. P.S. I too agree with the previous reviewer. As much as Murakami does not like either HEAR THE WIND SING and PINBALL 1973 (more for his own writing, not the translation), I would love to see it back in print. Both books are small enough and have the same characters, that they could easily