South of the Border, West of the Sun: A Novel
by Haruki Murakami
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Book Summary Information
Author: Haruki MurakamiTranslator: Philip Gabriel
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-03-14
ISBN: 0679767398
Number of pages: 213
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of South of the Border, West of the Sun: A Novel
Book Review: Not the most important, yet not to be marginalised.
Summary: 5 Stars
The last two Murakami novels I read were Norwegian Wood and Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. These two novels, in my mind at least, stick out as the most down to earth. Not necessiarily because they are realistic (though Norwegian Wood is infact his most realistic, Hard-boiled Wonderland is amongst his most fanciful) but because they give, or at least attempt to, order to their world. South of the Border, West of the Sun thus is to me a return to the Murakami that is best linkened to base myth. Together with Norwegian Wood, this novel ranks as one of his few attempts at a creation of a pure romantic-literary novel. As stated before, Norwegian Wood is far and away Murakami's most realistic work, so it succeeds far better at being romantic. But this novel does add something to Murakami's cannon that, I believe is lacking in the other novels; that is to say, eroticism. Love in Murakami's works is treated as a transcendental force that no man or woman can control. It grabs hold of you and will not let go. South of the Border, West of the Sun takes that idea and analysis it heavily. But in the other novels, that love is treated as something higher then the mundane. In this novel, it is brought to the mundane, which is where the eroticism comes into play. I'm noticing that my comments on this book are coming out a little rambling. I could attribute that to the caffine at 2 in the morning, but I think it is more a testament to the effect that Murakami has on the dedicated reader. His works crave to be read and pondered. Well, to give my basic, simple opinion on this book...It is not his best. It is excellent, yes, but really nothing more then a minor footnote in the career of Murakami. Wind up Bird it is not. So I can not suggest this book to the person who has never read any Murakami. To them, I would suggest reading the "I" duo, A Whid Sheep Chase and Dance Dance Dance. After that, you should tackle The Wind Up Bird Chronicle. And by that point your'll be so enamoured with him that you'll want to read every minor foot note he has.
Summary of South of the Border, West of the Sun: A Novel
In South of the Border, West of the Sun, the simple arc of a man's life--with its attendant rhythms of success and disappointment--becomes the exquisite literary terrain of Haruki Murakami's most haunting work.Born in 1951 in an affluent Tokyo suburb, Hajime--beginning in Japanese--has arrived at middle age wanting for almost nothing. The postwar years have brought him a fine marriage, two daughters, and an enviable career as the proprietor of two jazz clubs. Yet a nagging sense of inauthenticity about his success threatens Hajime's happiness. And a boyhood memory of a wise, lonely girl named Shimamoto clouds his heart.
When Shimamoto shows up one rainy night, now a breathtaking beauty with a secret from which she is unable to escape, the fault lines of doubt in Hajime's quotidian existence begin to give way. And the details of stolen moments past and present--a Nat King Cole melody, a face pressed against a window, a handful of ashes drifting downriver to the sea--threaten to undo him completely. Rich, mysterious, quietly dazzling, South of the Border, West of the Sun is Haruki Murakami's wisest and most compelling fiction.
In South of the Border, West of the Sun, the arc of an average man's life from childhood to middle age, with its attendant rhythms of success and disappointment, becomes the kind of exquisite literary conundrum that is Haruki Murakami's trademark. The plot is simple: Hajime meets and falls in love with a girl in elementary school, but he loses touch with her when his family moves to another town. He drifts through high school, college, and his 20s, before marrying and settling into a career as a successful bar owner. Then his childhood sweetheart returns, weighed down with secrets:
When I went back into the bar, a glass and ashtray remained where she had been. A couple of lightly crushed cigarette butts were lined up in the ashtray, a faint trace of lipstick on each. I sat down and closed my eyes. Echoes of music faded away, leaving me alone. In that gentle darkness, the rain continued to fall without a sound.Murakami eschews the fantastic elements that appear in many of his other novels and stories, and readers hoping for a glimpse of the Sheep Man will be disappointed. Yet South of the Border, West of the Sun is as rich and mysterious as anything he has written. It is above all a complex, moving, and honest meditation on the nature of love, distilled into a work with the crystal clarity of a short story. A Nat "King" Cole song, a figure on a crowded street, a face pressed against a car window, a handful of ashes drifting down a river to the sea are woven together into a story that refuses to arrive at a simple conclusion. The classic love triangle may seem like a hackneyed theme for a writer as talented as Murakami, but in his quietly dazzling way, he bends us to his own unique geometry. --Simon Leake
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