Rating: 
Summary: Noir - Japanese
Review: In South of the Border West of the Sun we are introduced to Hajime a Japanese Jazz club owner who is going through a mid-life crisis. Hajime has made it to this point of his life without having a sense of purpose or any goals. He is seeking the meaning of love, life and death. Haruki Murakami created a book of Japanese Noir in South of the Border West of the Sun. I loved the writing style, very noir, like mysteries by T. Jefferson Parker or James Ellroy which seemed so unusual for this type of fiction. It made it seem so American to me. I wondered if the translation was intended that way or if it is Murakami's style. There is one very compelling scene in which Hajime stealthily follows a woman through the rainy dark streets of Tokyo. The main character Hajime an only child born in 1951 seems to be looking for love in all the wrong places. Hajime meets his soul mate, Shimamoto as a young boy, but soon moves away from her. In his adolescents like many others he discovers the joy of sex. From that point love and sex becomes a driving force in his somewhat aimless life. He is a very obsessive man who drifts through life without fully knowing why. His perspective on love seems stereo typical feminine, with his expressed feeling being that life has no real purpose without true love. The style was so easy to read. Hajime is simultaneously humorous and crazed. It is enjoyable despite this reader's impatience with the main character.
Rating: 
Summary: A mediocre effort from a hardly mediocre writer
Review: For me, the problem with reading a Murakami book is that I will have too much expectation for it. When I read this book, I tried to forget that, however, I still struggled to come with a favorable impression of the book. It felt like reading something that lacked a strong inspiration, even methodical at times. The characters are reasonably developed yet I felt estranged from them. When all the layers of mystery have been peeled off, there lies a love story that is halfway between believable and pure cheese. The connection between the couple is based on the premise that they are the only child in their families, again, I find it hard to believe that this is such a rarity that makes the bond as special as the book tries to paint it to be. The ending is hardly a surprise either. It is not so much unsettling as it discombobulating. I felt that it was forced and the best analogy I could draw is like a car driven off the cliff as there is no more road ahead of it. If you are a first time Murakami reader, this perhaps is not the best book for you. He is capable of so much more and this book will not transform you into a believer.
Rating:
Summary: a poignant love story unlike Murakami's other works
Review: i am an admirer of haruki murakami's works. his characters are very endearing and different from the typical businessman traits that make up a majority of japan's older male population. his characters are independent and though they suffer loss or heartbreak, they venture forth and carry on. this story, to me, is a departure from his previous works. his other works were strange tales of searching for something that took the main character and reader to different realms both physical and metaphysical. but this story is a love story, plain and simple and it works well. the character here is much like murakami's other male characters, independent and easily identified with. the main character, hajime, must deal with a conflict in the form of an old love returning to him and the mysteries she hides. the story may be different from murakami's other works but the writing style is definitely there. i really like the references to music and jazz in this story especially to one particular henry mancini song. but this story has a scene in all its detail that many of his readers might or might not be put off by. i leave that up to the individual to decide without giving away too much of the plot. this story is very sentimental and it captivated me with its overall simplicity and narrative.
Rating: 
Summary: Shimamoto, Izumi, and Yukiko
Review: This was my fifth Haruki Murakami novel, and I believe it to be my favorite. It is a simple story of a man named Hajime and of the women he loved beginning with the pretty girl named Shimamoto who he met when he was in elementary school, Izumi his high school sweetheart, and Yukiko his wife. Although Murakami writes on Hajime's interactions with these women, the main point of the book is how one can hurt others. Shimamoto, who Hajime stopped visiting after he started to attend a different middle school than she did, was broken after after Hajime left her and even 25 years later the wounds he inflicted on her were still fresh. Hajime lost Izumi because he started sleeping with her cousin, However, that did not matter much because he was probably going to dump her soon after he started attending college in Tokyo. Yukiko, Hajime's ever faithful wife, was taken for granted by her husband, and he was willing to dump her and their children when Shimamoto returned to his life. an excellent book that shows the ways in which conceitedness can not only hurt other people but themselves as well
Rating:
Summary: If Holden Caulfield was Japanese...
Review: In my eleventh grade English class, we discussed many aspects of American literature. Beginning with Huckleberry Finn and ending with Rule of the Bone, one of the things we studied was the evolution of Twain's revolutionary character Huck Finn. The next major incarnation of this classic protagonist was Salinger's Holden Caulfield. Later works of literature portray character embellishments of Holden. The novel by Judith Guest, Ordinary People, could be considered Holden's story after his breakdown, who embodies Conrad Jarrett. Haruki Murakami's, South of the Border, West of the Sun, essentially is an American novel written with Japanese characters. And his protagonist, a sufferer of teenage angst like Holden Caulfield, is named Hajime. South of the Border, West of the Sun appears to be an empirical memoir narrated by Hajime about his life. It begins with his childhood and emphasizes his friendship with his contemporary friend Shimamoto. The two characters share many interests, but above all they both are "only-children." As is the case with many childhood friendships, when Hajime moves to another city, their friendship withers away and they never see each other again. The story continues chronicling Hajime's life and development. After a devastating relationship with his girlfriend Izumi, Hajime's development stops. He finds that he is unable to divest himself of the guilt of destroying another human being. There are many themes in South of the Border, West of the Sun. One main theme is that perhaps life is full of uncertainty. Another main theme is that one should live for the moment and not in the past. The past traps Hajime in a monotonous life style and steals "his twenties". Hajime struggles many times with this concept. He cannot bring himself to yield to the moment. But ultimately all of Hajime's problems and Murakami's themes stem from Hajime's lack of self-identity. The novel ends up like a mixed bag. Murakami never bores the reader with endless paragraphs of description and the novel maintains a rather brisk pace. There were three types of paragraphs: dialogue, actions, and thoughts. Each went very quickly, but the paragraphs about Hajime's thoughts were at times unoriginal and uninspired. Suddenly though, Murakami seizes the moment and writes something that is beautiful especially when he writes about disappointment and death from which title originates. And unfortunately, this comes at the end of the novel. The impartiality of the narrator does not help the story for the main reason that the impression left upon the reader at the end of the novel is that Hajime is on the path towards character change. Hajime realizes who he is and therefore, finds the solution to teenage angst. But the style of narration argues against that, and if the style of narration is correct, then the protagonist lacks any character arch. Another interesting thing regarding the narration, is the subtle change at the end of the novel. Murakami shifts from his description and dialogue, to a dialogue heavy transcript. Before, his ideas came in description (actions and thoughts) paragraphs. His ideas become significantly more effective after the change. Perhaps in Japan the "American" youth character and plot has not been over used since its conception in Huckleberry Finn, but nevertheless for an American reader the story lacks the ever important twists and reversals over the portrayal of common themes, characterization, and plot. Unfortunately, for a novel that contains beautiful moments, it invalidates it as a fresh and influential piece of literature.
Rating:
Summary: Semillon
Review: How can I live with my thoughts of another? How can I continue on with the charade of loving one when married to this one? I beg of you to provide me with the answer. Perhaps I am foolish to wonder about all the things that could have been. How can I reconcile those feelings for another when I have so recently promised myself to another? Is it love or is it a knave's dream?
Murakami strikes a chord within me, and with enough wine it can reveal much to you as well. How many lovers are left behind waiting and watching for the chance to step in and take my wife's place? How can I face my love, to whom I've promised all, with the fact that there are many who await a mere phone call?
Murakami has struck something here. Perhaps not gold, but something just as valuable. Probably nothing for all I know.
I will not see my wife again for a while. About 40 days to be exact. But in this time, who has time to be exact. I need time to sort through my own feelings, my own judgements.
This is a book to be read on a bright summer's day, not a cool summer night with several glasses of semillon and a lover nearby. It is clearly too dark to read alone.
South of the Border is one of Murakami's finest works.
Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable, that's what you are.
Review: This romantic novel left me stunned, staring at the ground, picking out patterns, wondering about the consequences of everything I have done in my life. Unlike Jay Gatsby, I've never thought you could repeat the past, but that hasn't kept me from dwelling on it, pondering the wake of destruction left by my own dreams. Reading this book I felt like Hajime was at times my Japanese twin, living an unaccountably successful and comfortable life haunted by obsessions more animated than reality itself. Sometimes I fall into a trance - a girl in the car next to me reminds me of an old love, a phrase overheard takes me to a place thirty years ago - and I can't really lift myself from it for several days. My wife asks what's wrong and there's no way to explain. It's like a dream that sticks to you all day long or a name that's on the tip of your tongue all weekend but you just can't remember it. That was the experience of South of the Border, West of the Moon, a surprisingly flat and simple story with perfectly chosen oddities and enough specificity to create an unforgettable world. You know the way some short stories are exquisite jewels perfectly set? That's this book.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: Haruki Murakami first charmed me with his ability to tie together fantasy and hardcore reality in "Dance, dance, dance". Later I was deeply touched by his intense and attentive psychological masterpiece on the difficulty to cope with the constant loss that life has to offer us in "Norwegian wood". This book definitely belongs to the second category, but falls far short of "Norwegian wood", both in the complexity of the characters and in the atmosphere and surroundings. Half way through the book I could not help but feel that this was merely a draft, a sketch of the picture revealed later on in "Norwegian Wood". Still worth the read, and it's a short one, but not the book to recommend for the one-book-per-writer readers.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but he's done better
Review: The least pleasing of his works that have been translated. Compared to the Sheep books, Norwegian Wood, and Wind-Up Bird this is lightweight. I didn't get the sense of "all is not right in the world" that I usually get from a Murakami book. This is not to say it is a bad book. Just for HM, it isn't his best.
Rating:
Summary: dysfunctional childhood, confused life - Japanese style
Review: 'South of the Border, West of the Sun' is a mere trifling of a book in terms of size and terminology (at times it seems to have been written by a teenager), but it packs an unexpected emotional punch. The style is very Japanese, but its message is universal. The story is about a middle-aged Japanese businessman who describes his life from childhood. It soon becomes clear that the childhood friendships he had, and lost (or threw away), has left him feeling rather empty despite having wealth, a happy marriage and family. When a particular childhood friend shows up suddenly his life changes dramatically, and unexpectedly. Without wanting to give anything away, the only real demerit is the author's over-enthusiasm in making 'South of the Border, West of the Sun' into a modern day 'Casablanca'. I found this to be gratuitous and silly. Overall the story is very basic, but I couldn't help but being moved by the message of the importance of childhood relationships and how they should be savored. The emotional punch of this novel greatly outweighs its sometimes crude narration and the relatively poor English translation. Bottom line: basic, genuine and emotional. Murakami succeeds with sincerity despite his lack of literary finesse. I look forward to reading more from Murakami.
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