This is how it usually happens with me & Murakami: I'm reading along and everything's fine. I'm enjoying myself quite a bit, jotting down quotes here and there. And then fish start falling from the sky or a boy falls in love with a ghost and I sort of smirk to myself as I read on and I know I'm hooked.
Here's another version of the cover I found. I'm not sure what language it is in, but it's pretty baddass. Having said this, all of his covers are pretty baddass.
Having read two of his other books (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle & Sputnik Sweetheart), I feel like I can say this some sense of certainty. Part of what I love about Murakami and, I guess, what keeps me coming back for more, is his ability to first create and then fill the hollow space within his characters. Toru Okada sits on a street corner day after day ... and is approached by Nutmeg. After Sumire disappears, one night "K" receives a phone call. And Kafka listens to a song and falls in love with a ghost. It's so great.
And the fish. Of course, the fish.
And the cats.
And the dreams.
"I get out of bed, go over to the window, and look at the night sky. And think about time that can never be regained. I think of rivers, of tides. Forests and water gushing out. Rain and lightening. Rocks and shadows. All of these are in me."
I order you to get in bed and read this book,
Sem
