Dancing to a Murakami tune

Ms C shot me an instant, unimpressed look - with a slight sneery smile - when i told her i was reading Murakami now. Yes, it's what everyone is reading. And by everyone, of course i don't mean everyone; i mean nearly everyone, people who read, you know.

The sort of books that everyone reads is the sort that i may consciously avoid. I tend to steer clear of populist reads, which Murakami's works surely fall under. This is a somewhat visceral reaction, counter-intuitive. I know some books are hugely popular because they are, as a matter of fact, darn good. I just like to get to them later, prefering to scan around for less well-known but equally good works. But this is very difficult, because more often than not one relies on store's and friends' recommendations, book reviews, critics' and book awards to suss out a good book. I mean, how else does one know whether a book is worth one's time reading - unless you have hell lot of a time to browse and read synopsis, which i think most of us do not have.

This is not going to sound impressive, but what i like about Murakami's books is his brevity, his surrealist (absurd, you may say) stories and the almost easy words that flow poetically. There are facetious lines that he writes which are easy on the eyes and mind. Then there are the somewhat pseudo-thoughtful words that seem contrived but nevertheless palatable. It helps that the language is simple and you can finish a book of his quite fast.

The first Murakami book that i read started well enough but soon worn me out after each new story turns out to be each new bizzare story. I grew tired and decided i shan't read another Murakami book. Then I read a book by another author, which i picked up from the paper's review. At the end of the review, it says there, 'If you like this book, read also Murakami's Wild Sheep Chase'. I like the book enough to decide to check out Murakami's book. Guess I wasn't disappointed, for now I am reading the third Murakami book.

Here's an exerpt:

"You're not such a bad cook," Yuki said.

"No, not true. I just put my heart into it. That's the difference. It's a question of attitude. If you really work at something, you can do it, up to a point. If you really work at being happy, you can do it, up to a point."

"But anything more that, you can't."

"Anything more than that is luck," I said.

"You really know how to depress people, don't you? Is that what you call being adult?"

- Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami