Book Review: The Elephant Vanishes
One thing I really enjoy about Haruki Murakami's short stories, I can put myself inside of someone else's world- a typical everday person's who really isn't too much different from anyone else- and find the irony and surrealism in the everyday redundancy that we call reality.
Some of these stories go over my head, and some of them strick a perfect chord with me; but all of them hold the ability to project a totally different meaning everytime you read them. Forgive me again for not commenting on all of them.
The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami
The Wind-Up Bird and Tuesday’s Women-Nothing about this one really stood out for me, but there is a novel that Murakami wrote that’s sort of a continuation of this story. I plan on checking it out to see if there’s any chance it can capture my attention in continuing the story
The Second Bakery Attack
The Kangaroo Communique- If I received a personal business reply letter like the one this guy is writing, I’m not sure what I would think aside from creepy!
On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning- This was nice. I think this is probably one of those stories that everyone can relate to at one point in their lives.
Sleep- Absolutly breathtaking!!!! This is my favorite Murakami story yet! A woman decides to give up sleeping for good, it sort of ends up creating a parallel between sleeping (or a lack thereof) to death.
The Fall of the Roman Empire, The 1881 Indian Uprising, Hitler’s Invasion of Poland, and the Realm of Raging Winds
Lederhosen- This story sort of reflects how something so incredibly simple can make someone feel something strong enough to make drastic changes.
Barn Burning- I liked this one, but I can’t really put into words why.
The Little Green Monster- This one was just cruel, but at the same time, it made a lot of sense.
Family Affair
A Window- I enjoyed the thoughtfulness of this one. I have a few stories similar to tell myself. A great excerpt from this one: “I realize now that the reality of things is not something you convey to people, but something you make. It is this that gives birth to meaning.”
TV People-This one was interesting, but it went completely over my head.
A Slow Boat to China
The Dancing Dwarf-This one was great. A man works in a factory that makes real elephants- yes, real. His dreams are suddenly haunted by a mysterious dancing dwarf. I can’t really say too much more without giving the story away, but it was a great read.
The Last Lawn of the Afternoon- I didn’t find this story very appealing, but there was a paragraph that compared memories to fiction and vice versa that really made my brain tick.
The Silence- Nothing for me to really make a huge fuss about, but I did enjoy reading it.
The Elephant Vanishes- The title story; I really found this one interesting, but it didn’t answer my main question. Of course, that question was never meant to be answered, but still, it annoyed me.