A young man living in a state of being 'an academic ronin', a state of limbo between high school and university. He retells a strange story where he received an invitation from a girlfriend he used to play piano with a long time ago to attend a recital at the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere.
A very strange story. It could have a very deep meaning, and at the same time, no meaning at all. It depends on readers and how much they're willing to delve deep down to discover 'the cream of the cream'. It could be a metaphor for life and how ephemeral it is and that 'everyone will die' eventually, and it's up to you to make sense of it and make the best of it.
Thinking about the riddle of the circle, I think it could be about discovering 'who we are', or even rediscovering ourselves. I'm reminded of a Voltaire's quote: 'God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere.' Maybe the circle is us. And the center is our essence, what makes us who we are. But we are not reducible to only one thing. We are many, many things. We are multifaceted, halls of mirrors, iridescent crystals. There are more truths to us waiting to be discovered.
Anyway, the atmosphere is phenomenal. It's eerie and weird. To top that, the plot is ambiguous/meaningful/meaningless and it stirs one to give their head a scratch or two. In simple words, this short story retains what Haruki Murakami excels at and captures the essence of 'magical realism'.
2. On A Stone Pillow (2.5)
A man recalls a one-night stand with a girl he used to work with in an Italian restaurant.
A story about unrequited love, obsession perhaps... about loneliness and death. It's very poetic and packed with many symbols and metaphors. But it didn't leave an impression on me.
3. Charlie Parker Plays A Bossa Nova (3.5)
A man recalling his time in college and how he wrote a review about a fake album of Charlie Parker mixing his style with Bossa Nova. Years later, he went to New York and discovered that the album was on display in a record store. Even though he didn't buy it, he regrets it wholeheartedly.
This is the best story in this collection so far. It starts really slowly with the review, but then, the atmosphere grabs you by the hand and takes you to territories unknown. It's a love letter to music and its power to shift and change and transform our very core. It's about living life and trying new things while we're still alive and kicking.
4. With The Beatles (1)
A man remembers his first girlfriend and two encounters with her older brother.
A story about memory and music. Murakami is kinda repeating himself. It's a long story with a lot of ramblings. No story to tell.
5. Confessions Of A Shinagawa Monkey (3)
Using Murakami's own words, the story 'is just about an old monkey who speaks human language, in a tiny town in Gunma Prefecture, who scrubs guests’ backs in the hot springs, enjoys cold beer, falls in love with human women, and steals their names.'
It's magical realism at best, where reality and fantasy blend seamlessly to spotlight the things that are important but have faded into the background. It's Murakami's trademark and the reason why his style is unique and loved by many readers.
6. Carnaval (1)
A married man realling the time when he used to hang out with an 'ugly' girl and live a platonic relationship based on their interest in classical music.
A story about not letting looks define who we are, about the facades people wear in their lives to hide what's beneath.
It was so boring to read to the point that I didn't bother youtubing Schumann's Carnaval. I skimmed the short story like reading a newspaper.
7. The Yakult Swallows Poetry Collection (2)
A memoir of Haruki Murakami talking about baseball and writing poems about baseball.
A genuinely boring piece to read. Murakami was most likely writing to himself. However, there's one thing that struck a chord with me.
"Winning is much better than losing. No argument there. But winning or losing doesn’t affect the weight and value of the time. It’s the same time, either way. A minute is a minute, an hour is an hour. We need to cherish it. We need to deftly reconcile ourselves with time, and leave behind as many precious memories as we can—that’s what’s the most valuable."
It seems that Murakami is coming to terms or accepting the reality of life and death. It's a sad thing. But he isn't feeling that way at all. All he's saying is that we should live the moment for what it is regardless whether life treats us fairly or otherwise.
8. First Person Singular (3)
A casual married man who likes to dress up in suits once in a while just for the kick of it goes to a bar and meets a woman he never met who's upset with him.
A story about freewill, turned-downpossibilities, regrets, loneliness. It's ambiguous, but I'm loving it!
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Summary:
First Person Singular uses the same ol' Murakami's so-called 'bingo': jazz, symphonies, the Beatles, baseball, weird fetishes, lucid reality, you name it. The collection doesn't add anything new to the table. Personally, it's Murakami's least favorite when compared to Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman or The Elephant Vanishes. Heck! I didn't even like it. The reading experience was a drag and was doing a lot of skimming. I had to continue reading 'partly out of duty, partly out of habit', to quote Murakami.
Anyway, I wouldn't recommend it to Murakami's died-in-the-wool fans or new ones. It seems that Murakami has run out of his 'fuel' to write a decent work lately. His themes and the way he plots his stories have become repetitive and inane. Or more accurately, I've had my fill with Murakami. At any rate, I hope things will turn around and surprise us in the future.
