Birthday Stories
by Haruki Murakami (Editor)
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Description
This is a collection of 12 birthday stories from some of the most distinguished authors of recent years. The stories have been selected and introduced by Haruki Murakami.Tags
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Member Reviews
In honour of my own birthday, I read this as the big day approached. This was a glorious patchwork of stories, mostly by writers of whom I had never heard, but chosen and stitched together by an old favourite. There were a lot of tangled emotions to be found in stories about getting older and being culturally conditioned to celebrate this funny misery, but I thought the theme of birthdays was a fascinating one. It also made me quite excited about my own birthday. Hip, hip, hooray! (In case you were wondering, Haruki Murakami’s birthday is on 12th January.)
Todo: correct the general introduction to say 13 stories
13 sad stories. all the shorts in this book have the sad undertone to them that makes me think of them as sad stories, even when they aren't in themselves sad.
I don't know what I was expecting, but in a anthology of birthday stories, I certainly was expecting at least 1 happy blow the candles, make a wish story, but all the stories have this undertone of death or cheating. Or they have such an open ending that makes think the worst happened to the main character.
Some stories were easy to read, but halfway through the book I started to dread the sadness in the stories. If I was depressed this is the kind of book that could push me over the edge.
After this anthology and seeing what show more Mr. Haruki think about birthdays I'm not sure if I want to read his other books, and I was really curious about a couple of them. show less
13 sad stories. all the shorts in this book have the sad undertone to them that makes me think of them as sad stories, even when they aren't in themselves sad.
I don't know what I was expecting, but in a anthology of birthday stories, I certainly was expecting at least 1 happy blow the candles, make a wish story, but all the stories have this undertone of death or cheating. Or they have such an open ending that makes think the worst happened to the main character.
Some stories were easy to read, but halfway through the book I started to dread the sadness in the stories. If I was depressed this is the kind of book that could push me over the edge.
After this anthology and seeing what show more Mr. Haruki think about birthdays I'm not sure if I want to read his other books, and I was really curious about a couple of them. show less
A collection of short stories selected by Murakami. Even when all of them are related to birthdays, each one is unique, and they produce different emotions to the reader. I loved this book for this reason, and it was a practical introduction to other authors´ work that I will read later.
I think that this is an excellent book, I'm half way through it and yet can't find any faults, I totally disagree with what LibraryThing say about the book and I say that everyone will love it. It should be more famous than it is at the moment.
Recueil de nouvelles de différents auteurs uk et us.
Styles intéressants mais inégales, distrayant.
Styles intéressants mais inégales, distrayant.
Wonderful collection of stories. Enjoyed it! easy read.
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Haruki Murakami's Books
16 works; 5 members
Books Read in 2013
1,630 works; 51 members
Short Story Collections and Anthologies
261 works; 42 members
Japanese Literature
230 works; 40 members
Author Information
Haruki Murakami was born on January 12, 1949 in Kyoto, Japan and studied at Tokyo's Waseda University. He opened a coffeehouse/jazz bar in the capital called Peter Cat with his wife. He became a full-time author following the publication of his first novel, Hear the Wind Sing, in 1979. He writes both fiction and non-fiction works. His fiction show more works include Norwegian Wood, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, The Strange Library, and Men Without Women. Several of his stories have been adapted for the stage and as films. His nonfiction works include What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. He has received numerous literary awards including the Franz Kafka Prize for Kafka on the Shore, the Yomiuri Prize for The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and the Jerusalem Prize. He has translated into Japanese literature written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Raymond Carver, Truman Capote, John Irving, and Paul Theroux. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Birthday Stories
- Original publication date
- 2002; 2004; 2013 (Denmark) (Denmark)
- First words
- Lad mig begynde med at fortælle om én bestemt fødselsdag, nemlig min egen
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Men De får kun ét ønske opfyldt, så tænk Dem godt om, yndige fepige" sagde manden med det vissengrønne slips et sted ude i mørket og viftede med pegefingeren i luften. "Ét ønske. De kan ikke fortryde bagefter og skifte mening."
Classifications
- Genre
- Fiction and Literature
- DDC/MDS
- 895.63008033 — Literature & rhetoric Literatures of other languages Literatures of East and Southeast Asia Japanese Japanese fiction By type
- LCC
- PN6120.95 .B56 .B3713 — Language and Literature Literature (General) Literature (General) Collections of general literature Fiction
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 497
- Popularity
- 60,634
- Reviews
- 6
- Rating
- (3.57)
- Languages
- Danish, English, German, Japanese
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
