I should start by saying, that generally, I actually prefer short stories as they tend to have a great flow, absorb you easily and finish before they become tedious or boring and generally leave you satisfied. These short stories weren't even stories for me, rather they were more like an finished paragraph about a person. I never got invested in any of the characters, none of them are really memorable at all and I'm not really clear on how the earthquake really affected any of their lives.
Although I kind of liked the moments of human banality it just didn't translate into anything interesting for me. As short as the stories were it wouldn't have bothered me if I never finished any of them, as nothing really happened in the 'end' anyway, I think the reason I didn't click with the characters or the themes is because the actual 'story structure' failed for me and didn't leave me with the satisfaction you get from 'reading a story'.

The writing was extremely simple, the structure and words could have been written by a kid under 12. That being said the writing made the stories really easy to read and allowed the people to be the focus.
However, the Super-Frog story? What was the point of that one? ( )

Reading Murakami always leaves me impressed with his ability to weave an almost etherial 'vibe' throughout his work. ( )

Okay! Not as great as many of Murakami's other works, but not too shabby. ( )

The concept uniting these stories is strong: how collective trauma ties people together (in this case, their responses to one event, the 1995 earthquake in Kobe). However, the whole collection felt inconsequential, especially when juxtaposed against such a significant event. Or maybe, I just don’t like short stories.

A lot of these felt like parts of larger works, because they were so meandering. I know this formula largely works for Murakami’s novels, where he can get away with a meandering story, but I feel like if you’re gonna write short stories you should plot things out a little more meticulously. He has stories that feel complete in other collections, like “Barn Burning,” but this just wasn’t it. The most complete narrative was the last story, “Honey Pie”, but it was still nothing exceptional. The book is also mostly devoid of Murakami’s characteristic magical realism, until “Super-Frog Saves Tokyo”, which I absolutely hated! It’s so literalist that it felt juvenile, it honestly felt like something a kid would write. That story alone is the worst bit of writing I’ve read from Murakami. ( )

An absolutely beautiful, enchanting collection of short stories. I love Murakami when he does magical realism and metafiction, and every story just hits the mark for both. I would definitely recommend this is a perfect primer for Murakami newbies.

PS: I got so hyped reading this, I already have Pinball/Wind on my library book shelf for me to read later! And now I want to re-read both 1Q84 and Norwegian Wood - why can't I have more time in the day for Murakami, tho?! ( )