haruki murakami and running

murakami is one of the most interesting contemporary novelists, blending western style with japanese thought and identity in his novels. I can't wait to check this new one out. For a quick and good read of Murakami, check out Sputnik Sweeatheart.

I think he's overrated, but only because he's so incredibly well-regarded. At his best, he is fun and thought-provoking; at his worst his style is bland and repetitive, and his thought isn't especially original.

I'd be interested to read this new book, though. He actually inspired me to run my first marathon.

"And you really will have to make it through that violent,

metaphysical, symbolic storm. No matter how metaphysical

or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will

cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People

will bleed there, and you will bleed too. Hot, red, blood.

You'll catch that blood in your hands, your own blood and

the blood of others.

And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made

it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be

sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one

thing is for certain. When you come out of the storm you

won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this

storm's all about."

I've read Sputnik and Wind-up Bird Chronicle, but I greatly prefer Ryu Murakami. Try Coinlocker Babies.