For those of you who enjoyed Murakami, and more importantly, for those of you afraid to dive into a complex or bizarre book such as "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" without knowing what sort of ride you're in for, I recommend reading one of Murakami's short stories. "The Kidney-Shaped Stone That Moves Every Day" is an excellent example of Murakami's quiet surreality, and is nice and bite-sized so will not require such a commitment.

I have found this story posted online at http://www.bookofjoe.com/2005/09/the_kidneyshape_1.html. Take a quick read and see what you think!

Thank you for posting the link. I promised myself I would read some of his short stories as soon as I finished Wind-Up. He said he enjoyed writing stories and did not like writing novels.

First impressions:
Kirie could be Nutmeg's younger sister.
Physically they are similar, she is older than Junpei (but not as old as Nutmeg). Both women are fashionistas.
They are both secretive about their professions although for very different reasons.

It is hard not to read-in symbolism.

Both Nutmeg and the Doctor feel something alive but soft and squishy inside someone they touch.

I am still playing with the idea that the short chapters in Wind-Up are short stories, that the characters are actually repertory players. I am not convinced but this short story has the feel of one of Wind-Up’s story-lines.

Thank you for the story.

The story, stylistically, reminded me of mirrors that look at each other. Here is a writer standing in front of the mirror under the title of the story and writing a story about writing that story. So yes, Murakami is a strong writer - a man who, in this story, comes across as someone in full possession of his skill ensuring that the flow is smooth and the idea with "clear outlines and real weight".

I saw a program on TV on Japan the other day: and it showed a girl, somewhere in Tokyo, who has a cat program on her phone as her pet. She has to feed it everyday and it even purrs (vibrator mode) when it is happy. Ofcourse, you can pre-program it to purr but how many of us with pets havent known how to bring such goodies on? The stone reminded me of the girl - the doctor specifically with her significant relationship with the stone.

Ariza

I'm really glad you both enjoyed it. Sometimes I have this weird feeling when I finish a Murakami story - like it meant something, I don't know what, but it was wonderful. Peculiar! I liked the ending of this story quite a lot. The story within a story merges with the initial story and a weight is lifted.

When I initially read this story I was working a short story of my own. I stopped writing immediately! I know it's not a healthy attitude but I thought "I can never compare to something this sparse and yet so incredible.". While that is undeniably true, of course it doesn't mean I shouldn't keep trying. But it's discouraging to be faced with genius! I saw some of the criticism of this story (or perhaps his short stories in general) is that he is too reminiscent of Hemingway. I thought to myself "Is such a thing possible?" as I really enjoy Hemingway's style (as discussed elsewhere, Hills Like White Elephants is another of my favourite short stories). Amusingly though, one of Murakami's main inspirations is Franz Kafka, who I really despise. I've read two of his works (The Trial and Metamorphosis) and I HATED them both.

Theo,

In many ways we are opposites. I don’t care for Hemmingway, I like Kafka. But I am so happy you introduced us to Murakami. What I don’t like abut Hemmingway is his tendency to take the easy way out. I must admit, “White Elephants” is an exception. Murakami held a solid story together for over 600 pages and still surprised me at the end . l had that “wow, I didn’t see that coming but it does work” experience. “The Trial” did that for me the first time I read it. I have not had that experience with Hemmingway.

I have to fight the urge to find something that isn’t there in Murakami's stories. I try to think “Theater of the Absurd” when my mind wanders off trying to assign meaning to “symbols.”

I hope you will return to writing. I’ll bet Murakami’s first attempts are not as good as the things we are reading.

I think Kafka had his time, but now I just don't enjoy his stories. I always say reading "The Trial" was a trial (har har har). I also find the interest in his work weirdly cyclical in nature. What he writes is often an expression of his life and his issues, which is interesting because he's Kafka.... but why do we care about Kafka? I think he got picked up as a obscure author who fascinated people during a certain time and he grew from being an unknown to someone everyone in literature had to know to be in the know. Y'know? I totally accept that I am probably just blind to his brilliance. A lot of people who I think are very clever, including Murakami, think Kafka is a literary great. So you are in good company.

I have read that Murakami's first two novels have not been translated into English because Murakami feels they are very weak. I wish he would let them be translated anyway - even if they are not as good, that doesn't mean they're not still worth reading. And I would like to see the progression in his talent. As to me, honestly I seem to take any excuse to stop writing. I can't blame Murakami for that.

One word I have seen associated with Murakami often enough to catch attention is "surreal" and hence perhaps Kafka crops up often in such discussions.

I have read Metamorphosis and it absolutely got me. Did it fascinate? I am not sure. But it did strike. Kafka was the other surveyor of the modern urban life - who used symbols and surrealism to give a sense of what it was like to live in the world around that time. Had he been just another obscure writer who gave others the thrill of discovery, I suspect he wouldnt have lasted so long - never mind if someone lofty had taken him and elevated him. What he had to say still has some significance to even a lay reader - who doesnt have a clue who the existentialists were.

Murakami himself has stated he really enjoys Kafka's work, so I think in some ways he emulates Kafka's style - mostly in his surreality, as you mentioned. I can't help but wonder if some of Kafka's themes are almost more topical in a society like Japan where such things as respecting ones father is of such high importance. In North America it's easy to think "So what if your father doesn't approve?".