Jon
I enjoyed this collection and it showed the roots of style that Hemingway would develop and refine later. Some themes too were started here and expanded on The Sun Also Rises and other novels.
Interesngly, what was seen as "experimental" with the writing back the seems almost quaint too.
Obviously Big Two Hearted River is the standout in here, and has a very different ending from what I remember, sad, but with a lining of hopefulness too. Indian Camp is good too. My Old Man was enjoyable, even if very early and rough.
I am a fan of Murakami in general and would probably put Wind up Bird Chronicle in my top 5 favorite novels (at least top 10 for sure). I like his symbolic approach to writing, the absurdity he weaves in, and his emotional story telling that deals with alienation, stagnation, time, memory, and trying to understand things through gentle observation rather than action.
I wanted to go back to the start then and read his "Trilogy of the Rat" (which also includes Dance Dance Dance as a fourth sequel novel) and see how things were early on his career.
Hear the Wind Sing is the first novel he wrote, though calling it a novel is a little stretch since it only just hits around 100 pages. I am not a fast reader but I still managed to get through it in about 2 sittings.
I'd say that overall the novel feels messy and unpolished, but that rawness gives it personality, flair, and charm. It meanders through a lot of images or "vingnettes" that can feel fragmentary or experimental, but there are enough moments where good writing cuts through and was able to capture me. There are also hints of later symbolic pieces Murakami explores in later novels.
Pinball, 1973 feels like a over-correction in some ways, almost like someone told him "no you should write this way" and he did it - it has a more conventional style and format to it. It can read as a slog at times though with an endless layering of metaphors, similes, images, and detached observations that sometimes dilute the spark.
Pinball feels more Murakami though with the surrealist plot pieces he weaves in that feel quite Jungian too. I think it has a more emotional center to it compared to Hear the Wind Sing but it does get buried at times or at least not fully articulated. I think this is most noticable with The Rat and J as their conversations can feel like a dead end.
What both do well, and why I did enjoy them, is capture the listless, liminal anxiety of mid-to-late 20s life where there's endless time stretching out and feeling like you have arrived somewhere without truly being there yet. It also nails the vague dread about the future I at least felt when I was younger. I think that is what I took most from both.
Bottom line is if you like Murakami I would recommend reading these as they give early echoes of what he'd more fully explore in later work. I think the 3 star rating just shows that these are still raw and experimental and not fully "mature" yet.
There were moments of beauty and hope in the novel, and some memorable characters and plot pieces, but I can't say I enjoyed this overall. Steinbeck would often fall into a strange "telling" way of writing that didn't match up with what his characters actually did or how they acted. The way he changes focus to certain characters detracts from the center of gravity too.
I will say I liked some of the philosophical conversation, around Timshel with Adam, Sam, and Lee for example, and his observations on human nature. I also enjoyed the writing at times and the sheer determination around telling this story. The biblical allusions were a little overwrought and heavy handed though, and characters being either wholly good or wholly bad felt overly simplistic and undeserved.
The third act of the novel in general felt rushed and uneven. Characters seemed to change motivation, relationships grew from nowhere, people got sick and died without much narrative feel to it. I suppose the last chapter redeemed my reading somewhat, it brought a decent resolution... But it was a mess to get there.
