Foreign books
I'm catching up on reviews! I've read two very different books in translation recently.
From Japan, I read Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgimage by Haruki Murakami. It is about Tsukuru Tazaki, a man in his mid-30's who designs train stations (it's a better job in Japan than here I suppose) who's neither happy nor unhappy with his life. He had intense friendships with 4 friends in high school but, during his first year of college, all 4 cut him off completely and will not tell him what happened. He lets them go until a girlfriend tells him he needs to find out what happened to move on with his life. He goes on a journey to contact them and discovers why things changed. I liked it but Murakami tends to give us half-endings. He always leaves you wanting 1 more chapter of info. This one ended up a 5 for me.
From Sweden, I read Little Star by John Ajvide Lindqvist. It is a horror novel. It also has some big unanswered questions, which, strangely, a ton of the books i've read this year seem to have. It was a pretty horrific, and bloody, girl-power book. Half the time I was rooting for the girls, half the time I wanted them stopped, at least until the end. Also a 5.
From Japan, I read Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgimage by Haruki Murakami. It is about Tsukuru Tazaki, a man in his mid-30's who designs train stations (it's a better job in Japan than here I suppose) who's neither happy nor unhappy with his life. He had intense friendships with 4 friends in high school but, during his first year of college, all 4 cut him off completely and will not tell him what happened. He lets them go until a girlfriend tells him he needs to find out what happened to move on with his life. He goes on a journey to contact them and discovers why things changed. I liked it but Murakami tends to give us half-endings. He always leaves you wanting 1 more chapter of info. This one ended up a 5 for me.
From Sweden, I read Little Star by John Ajvide Lindqvist. It is a horror novel. It also has some big unanswered questions, which, strangely, a ton of the books i've read this year seem to have. It was a pretty horrific, and bloody, girl-power book. Half the time I was rooting for the girls, half the time I wanted them stopped, at least until the end. Also a 5.
Comments
Post a Comment