The Elephant Vanishes: Stories

This is the book to introduce me to Murakami and, as such, will remain my favorite. "Second Bakery Attack" remains one of my all time favorite stories.

Strange & then even stranger these stories remind me of the typical Murakami characters: lonely introspectives trying to figure things out or observing others who are. There are moments that can provoke a sad laugh and a funny cry. This was a short story adventure worth-taking.

As short stories go, these seemed a bit unfinished somehow, but I think to some extent that may also be a cultural expectation as the Japanese cultural flavour came through more strongly in this collection than in the full length novels. I enjoyed the novels I've read more but these short stories do give a lot of insight into Murakami's craft and imagination, and as such are more than...more

As short stories go, these seemed a bit unfinished somehow, but I think to some extent that may also be a cultural expectation as the Japanese cultural flavour came through more strongly in this collection than in the full length novels. I enjoyed the novels I've read more but these short stories do give a lot of insight into Murakami's craft and imagination, and as such are more than worth the read.   hide

If you haven't read any Murakami, think Kafka on sedatives. If you haven't read any Kafka, well, Merriam Webster defines Kafkaesque as "having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality." After reading three of his novels as well as this short story collection, Murakami's true strength seems to be in the short form. Among the most solid in the collection...more

If you haven't read any Murakami, think Kafka on sedatives. If you haven't read any Kafka, well, Merriam Webster defines Kafkaesque as "having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality." After reading three of his novels as well as this short story collection, Murakami's true strength seems to be in the short form. Among the most solid in the collection are The Kangaroo Communique and The Second Bakery Attack. Murakami's staccato rhythm and conservative syntax carry the reader right through to the end of the movement, sans plot. Impressive? Unusual? Refreshing! Notably, the first story here, The Wind-up Bird And Tuesday's Women, turned into the first chapter of his most famous novel, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. This is an excellent example of the "strength in short vs. weakness in novel" situation. I'm sure a hundred thousand Wind-Up Bird fans would disagree, but this short is spunky and weird and entertaining while the novel had me squirming under the weight of its vast meandering verbosity after just a few hundred pages. Which might be sort of how this review is starting to sound. Anyway, this one's a winner. Give it a look!   hide

One of them, 'the silence' it's just weird.

loved the first 1/3. the stories are amazing. but after that i just got sick of the same stories going nowhere. i desperately felt the need to read another author. but if u read one story at a time it should be fine. :)

I liked the tales named "Sonno", "Silenzi" and "L'uccello giraviti..". In them the typical themes of author are well rapresented: the music, beer, a growth...

I think it is interesting to read this book thinking about what remains when things vanish? Despite our longing to have or treasure things forever; things, by their nature, do not remain forever. But there are somethings that remain, and to see what remains are important, I think, in this book.

"swiftly gathering up the laundry, I then went round shutting all the windows in the apartment. Once all the windows were closed, I could hardly hear the wind at all. Outside in the absense of sound, the trees - Himalayan Cedars and chestnuts, mostly - squirmed like dogs with an uncontollable itch.Swatches of cloud cover slipped across the sky and out of sight like shifty-eyed...more

"swiftly gathering up the laundry, I then went round shutting all the windows in the apartment. Once all the windows were closed, I could hardly hear the wind at all. Outside in the absense of sound, the trees - Himalayan Cedars and chestnuts, mostly - squirmed like dogs with an uncontollable itch.Swatches of cloud cover slipped across the sky and out of sight like shifty-eyed secret agents, while on the veranda of an apartment across the way several shirts had wrapped themselves around a plastic clothesline and were clinging frantically, like abandonned orphans." It is snippets like this that make Haruki Murakami such a joy to read. We should also remember that this is a collection of short stories. OK they can be a bit weird at times but what shines through is the quality of the writing. The author has an easy relaxed style so that although the stories can be challenging at times you are not required to struggle with the prose as well. Another great collection of escapist stories for busy people with busy lives.   hide