South of the Border, West of the Sun; Bloodchild
Title: South of the Border, West of the Sun
Author: Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel trans.
Number of Pages: 213
My Rating: 4/5
This is my first novel by Murakami. He's a Japanese author who seems to have about ten of novels translated into English, so I knew I had to give him a try. Overall, I liked it. The prose was neat; the tone soft, nostalgic, and mysterious; the characters interesting; the mysteries engaging. The main character is Hajime, and the novel follows him through 25 years of his life while he lives it and tries to figure out who he is. His relationships with three women in his life feature prominently in the narrative.
My usual reading list is composed mostly of SFF, so when mysteries came up in his book, I kept trying to explain them in the usual vampire! or alien! ways. This book does contain a few mysteries, all of which involve mundane explanations. Maybe not simple, but mundane. There were many things left unsaid, and several things you had to figure out for yourself. I actually didn't get the ending until aobut 30 minutes after I finished reading it.
I would definitely recommend reading it. I'll be seeing if our library has other books of his.
Title: Bloodchild and Other Stories, 2nd ed.
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Number of Pages: 214
My Rating: 4.75/5
I want to rate this a five, I really do. But while several of the short stories were completely amazing and blew my mind, others were simply good or great. I'm definitely going to read more of Butler, but I'm not rushing out and buying all of her other books right now.
I bought up this book for three reasons. 1) After watching this community for so long, I knew I had to read Butler sooner or later. 2) I love short stories. Love short stories. 3) I read the first page of the first story in the book and was completely hooked. I'm a fan of darker SFF, so I think I'll enjoy the rest of Butler's books. I highly recommend this collection of short stories to anyone who likes SF, likes stories about the human condition, or simply wants to try Butler out without committing to a whole novel.
Author: Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel trans.
Number of Pages: 213
My Rating: 4/5
This is my first novel by Murakami. He's a Japanese author who seems to have about ten of novels translated into English, so I knew I had to give him a try. Overall, I liked it. The prose was neat; the tone soft, nostalgic, and mysterious; the characters interesting; the mysteries engaging. The main character is Hajime, and the novel follows him through 25 years of his life while he lives it and tries to figure out who he is. His relationships with three women in his life feature prominently in the narrative.
My usual reading list is composed mostly of SFF, so when mysteries came up in his book, I kept trying to explain them in the usual vampire! or alien! ways. This book does contain a few mysteries, all of which involve mundane explanations. Maybe not simple, but mundane. There were many things left unsaid, and several things you had to figure out for yourself. I actually didn't get the ending until aobut 30 minutes after I finished reading it.
I would definitely recommend reading it. I'll be seeing if our library has other books of his.
Title: Bloodchild and Other Stories, 2nd ed.
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Number of Pages: 214
My Rating: 4.75/5
I want to rate this a five, I really do. But while several of the short stories were completely amazing and blew my mind, others were simply good or great. I'm definitely going to read more of Butler, but I'm not rushing out and buying all of her other books right now.
I bought up this book for three reasons. 1) After watching this community for so long, I knew I had to read Butler sooner or later. 2) I love short stories. Love short stories. 3) I read the first page of the first story in the book and was completely hooked. I'm a fan of darker SFF, so I think I'll enjoy the rest of Butler's books. I highly recommend this collection of short stories to anyone who likes SF, likes stories about the human condition, or simply wants to try Butler out without committing to a whole novel.