Pinball, 1973

What an odd book. You see all the elements that will mark the work of Murakami in the future, but they are in their early form. Especially with this one, which is the second in a series of four books, three of which I have read (and am currently also reading the fourth). Those latter two are giant novels of oddity, mystery, and pursuit, that is mostly disconnected entirely from these first two books. (In fact, Murakami took these first two novels out of circulation in English, presumably out of embarrassment over his earliest writing style.) In these first two novels, a milder version of his later oddity is there, but only in the last small portion of this book does a completely unrelated mystery plot pop up into the narrative that has nothing to do with what comes before it, but that mirrors much of the mystery aspects of the later books in this series. It's interesting to watch a master writer finds their voice in their first novels. For any fan of Murakami, this is interesting reading, though not necessary. But still, it's a fast read and really enjoyable. Funny and moving, and extremely quirky and charming.

I enjoyed, but did not love, this book, the sequel to Murakami's first novel, Hear the Wind Sing. As always, Murakami's prose is captivating, but his writerly vices are particularly pronounced. He has caught a lot of well-deserved flak for his treatment of women, and this book has the most egregious case I've seen, in which the narrator has a relationship with a nameless pair of twins who are literally indistinguishable. While the pinball plot was intriguing, mysterious, and surreal, the Rat subplot was utterly unremarkable, and seemed to have been inserted only to tie the book more closely to its predecessor.