MURAKAMI " After the Quake "

Small booklet but up to expectations! Murakami never fails

I must confess that I hadn't bought and read this book because I thought it was a chronicle; so, great was my surprise when I found a collection of short stories as marvellously written and mind-blowing as all Murakami's works have proved to be. Of course, the leif motif that gives rise to it is the 1995 Kobe earthquake that left open wounds in the Japanese imagery for the decades to come. In spite of this common characteristic, the stories presented range from the most disparate possible sources: a recently separated man, a young woman who doesn't know what to do with life, a delusional man who can't tell whether he contributed to save Tokyo from another earthquake (just to mention some). A continuum of uncertainty between what is thought to be real and what is thought to be a dream, after the quake is a magnificent to choice to puzzle oneself while reading it.

الكتاب ليس بحالة جيدة، كاني مشتريته مستعمل

cool book, good delivered quickly

英作文の練習にと 村上春樹の原作「神の子どもたちはみな踊る」と共に購入しましたが 英文に魅了される素敵な本です。十分に味わってから、日本語との表現比較をして英作文力を付ける教本にしていきたいと思います。実践ビジネス英会話の添削英作文のコーナーのお勧めはやはり確かなものだ実感しました

Two people look at the night sky. One sees darkness and dots of light. Another sees a thousand marvels. As the shock of an earthquake wears off, a sort of soul-quake takes place. After all, if we can't rely on the ground under our feet to remain solid, what can we be certain of? Sometimes we KNOW that in the brain, but it takes an earthquake or terrorist attack for us to FEEL it in the gut -- for the knowing to be meaningful. Something intangible but essential shakes loose in the people of Japan weeks after the Kobe earthquake. Like the rock mantle that once covered Kobe, neglected souls have liquefied. Now change is possible. For some, that means healing. For one, it means, not just losing, but unknowingly giving away his...soul(?). Another meets a heretofore hidden aspect of his Self. I guess it depends on what had been important in their lives and where they were headed before. The stories are told gently, subtly and with respect. A writer's self-inflicted chains are broken and he finds his freedom. A dumpy, overly modest, milquetoast doormat of a man finds his true power. With the help of a guru/limo driver, a rock of hatred that even the soul-quake left intact is only now able to be recognized and dealt with. I wouldn't presume to discuss Mr. Murakami's use of metaphor and allegory. I think each reader will find what s/he needs to find. ("When the student is ready....") That's one reason I'll be reading this book again soon: There's much to be found. AFTER THE QUAKE, I suggest, is best read slowly and often, with soft and open awareness; it's to be contemplated upon.