There are six separate stories in this slim title. There are no similar characters but all these stories mention [some in passing, and others with more importance:] the last big earthquake at Kobe, Japan.Murakami is like this. Everything happens as before, nothing extraordinary, just some normal everyday scenes, then suddenly, without warning, there's a strong earthquake and it jolts the reader. In the first story [UFO in Kushiro:] the lovers were in bed after their lovemaking, the girl makes a joke, a clearly harmless one, the guy looks at her and "(f)or one split second, (the guy) realized he was on the verge of committing an act of overwhelming violence." This came like an earthquake because, prior to this, there never was anything in the story which even hinted that the guy was violent or psychotic, or that the joke could provoke any form of anger.In the second story [Landscape with Flatiron:] a young woman [Junko:] had ran away from home, went to a seaside town, got employed in a convenience store, and lived in with a young surfer [a guy, Keisuke:]. The couple then became friends with another guy [Miyake:] who lived by himself, and whose favorite thing to do is to build bonfires using driftwoods he picks up from the seashore. One night, the three went to the beach again and built another bonfire. They watched the fire, told stories and drank. The surfer-boyfriend of the girl [Junko:] had to leave early, however, because of a bum stomach. So Junko and Miyake were left to watch the bonfire until the fire peters out. If this were an ordinary story, or even a hollywood movie perhaps, one could expect the two to be caught up in such a romantic setting and later make love in the sand. But that's not Haruki "The Earthquake" Murakami. This is what happens next:"Junko looked up to see that there were many more stars in the sky than before. The moon had covered a long distance. Miyake threw the last piece, the long branch he was holding, into the fire. Junko leaned towards him so that their shoulders were just touching. The smoky smell of a hundred fires clung to his jacket. She took in a long, deep breath of it."'You know something?' she said."'What?'"'I'm completely empty.'"'Yeah?'"'Yeah.'"She closed her eyes and, before she knew it, tears were flowing down her cheeks. With her right hand, she gripped Miyake's knee as hard as she could through his chinos. Small chills ran through her body. He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close, but still her tears would not stop."'There's really nothing at all in here,' she said much later, her voice hoarse. 'I'm cleaned out. Empty.'"'I know what you mean,' he said."'Really?""'Yeah. I'm an expert.'"'What can I do?'"'Get a good night's sleep. That usually fixes it.'"'What I've got is not so easy to fix.'"'You may be right, Jun. It may not be that easy.'"Just then a long, steamy hiss announced the evaporation of water trapped in a log. Miyake raised his eyes and, narrowing them, peered at the bonfire for a time."'So, what should I do?' Junko asked."'I don't know. We could die together. What do you say?'"'Sounds good to me.'"'Are you serious?'"His arm still around her shoulders, Miyake kept silent for a while. Junko buried her face in the soft worn-out leather of his jacket."'Anyway, let's wait till the fire burns out,' Miyake said. 'We built it, so we ought to keep it company to the end. Once it goes out, and it turns pitch-dark, then we can die.'"'Good,' Junko said. 'But how?'"'I'll think of something.'"'OK.'"Wrapped in the smell of fire, Junko closed her eyes. Miyake's arm across her shoulders was rather small for that of a grown man, and strangely bony. I could never live with this man, she thought. I could never get inside his heart. But I might be able to die with him."XXXMr. Earthquake rocks!
I am not sure why but this collection of six short stories that happened after the Kobe earthquake just did not impress me as much as his Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman did last month. Maybe because five out of the six stories have no fantasy ingredient like the talking cat, leeches falling from the sky, a TV zooming automatically at the sleeping you or the actual appearance of a UFO. These 6 short stories are mostly pure drama and the usual disappearance, leaving without saying goodbye or saying the reason why, staring endlessly on a TV or at nothingness, etc. I also thought that some, if not all, of the stories were about people surviving the Kobe earthquake. There was none like that. In fact, references to the Kobe earthquake were just made in passing and could have been removed without any effect on the stories.The stories are so different from what I read and liked in Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. Particularly the last story "Honey Pie", it seems like the narrator is Haruki himself writing like Nicholas Sparks. There is this man character who marries his friend's wife after her husband, who happens to be character's bestfriend, abandons his family. Philippines import a lot of telenovelas from Korea and sometimes Japan so this storyline is a big hum-hum for me. The character Junpei seems to be making an excuse in behalf of Murakami by saying: "I want to write stories that are different from the ones I've written so far" and this opens the last paragraph of the book. Okay, I am still a Murakami fan but this book does not have what I used to love about his writing.One promising story is the fifth one, though. It is entitled Super-Frog Saves Tokyo. However, the message is not something that is thought-provoking at all. In fact, it has been a message of a million of stories: that it is in the imagination where winning or losing really matters. Well, even Stephen Covey included this in one of his seven habits: "Begin With the End in Mind" or the power of visioning or the power of mind. This After The Quake was first published in Japanese in 2000 (as English in 2002) while Covey's 7 Habits came out in 1989. I know even Covey was not an original on this. So obviously Murakami wasn't too.The other four stories just do not make sense a lot for me and I will not discuss them anymore (but you can read my updates if you are interested). This is my sixth book by Murakami: Kafka on the Shore (5 stars). The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles (4 stars). Sputnik Sweetheart (5 stars). After Dark (4 stars). Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (5 stars). I guess I am hitting the plateau when it comes to Murakami short stories. I wanted to be surprised by a different approach. I expected to be enthralled again by his thoughts, words and characters. This book simply did not do that to me.Hopefully not with his novels as there are still a couple of others that are in my tbr pile. I still hope that there is much more to Murakami than all those fantasy, loneliness, aloneness themes. I still believe that Murakami is still one of those authors who do not rewrite themselves.His experiment of trying to write differently here did not work for me. Sorry.
What do You think about After The Quake (2003)?
I didn't realise this book was a series of short stories until I opened it and started reading. Murakami presents another weird and wonderful view into his world but this time focusing on the the way that a group of fictional characters were affected by the Kobe earthquake. All of these stories have their own merits but my favourite was probably Super-Frog saves Tokyo. I love Murakami although I have to say that this was not my favourite book by him as these stories don't really give him much of a chance to stretch his literary legs! My favourite book thus far is Kafka on the Shore which features the creepiest character in fiction - Johnny Walker. On a weirder personal note, I received this book on the day of the earthquake in Japan (11.03.2011) as a birthday gift.
—Shovelmonkey1
Okay yeah, so really on a Murakami kick here. As I write this I'm also in the opening throes of his Norwegian Wood. In any case, After the Quake did nothing to halt my appreciation for his work. Despite the fact that many of his themes are here regurgitated. It's true, the flow of love for Haruki Murakami continues unabated.That's not to say that there aren't high and low points in the collection of short stories. In fact a couple of the stories are merely Good.In any case, in the wake of the Kobe Earthquake and Sarin gas attacks in 1995 and drafting on the slipstream of the amazing Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Murakami penned each of the shorts in the volume as some sort of response to the titular disaster. Each story is written in the third person (an uncommon POV for Murakami) and deals with the lives and souls of characters in the days and months succeeding the destruction of the city.The book's opener "UFO in Kushiro" offers up a vignette that belongs thematically right next to works like Wind-Up Bird and Sputnik Sweetheart. An empty man, a shell since before his wife left him, runs an errand that takes him to far away Hokkaido, where he may or may not just happen to run into his soul. Being familiar with Murakami by this point, the story felt comfortable and lived-in, but I have to imagine that it would be rather abrupt for first-time Murakami readers.The second piece, "Landscape with Flatiron," presents another level of tension (as the first story leaves the reader perhaps slightly on edge) and continues to draw the reader into the hollow lives of people who seem to see just beyond the world we inhabit. "All God's Children Can Dance" was my least favourite of of the tales and features a a man deeply unsure of his place in the world, struggling with his own genetic fallacy, having been told that he was the Son of God from his youth and having a tremendous penis as his only evidence of this supposition. "Thailand" was enjoyable and follows a woman vacationing in Thailand around as she finds answers to spiritual questions she did not know she had.Unquestionably my favourites in the collection are the final two offerings: "Super Frog Saves Tokyo" and "Honey Pie." The former opens with a bank employee coming home to find a man-sized frog waiting to speak with him about important matters—the prevention of imminent doom to the city of Tokyo. This was absolutely a joy to read. The latter is utterly pleasant and, in a way, in so doing defies expectations. Murakami is many things and his genius is sometimes unpredictable, but I was shocked by how... pleasant... this tale was.When all is done, said, and forgotten, Murakami's book will still be about men and women in this cold world who are shaken from their stupor and confronted with the opportunity to fill their hollowed-out lives with that undetected mass that had been missing from them the entire time. The Kobe earthquake acts as a catalyst for each of them, forcing self-evaluation, even when it comes in forms that cannot be recognized as self-evaluation.Awesome little book.
—Seth Hahne
Martini wrote: "As luck would have it, I have found an edition of "Bernice schneidet ihr Haar ab" at my library's book flea market today. It includes: Bernice bobs her hair, May Day, A short trip home, Three hours..."oh, dear, no pressure there then...Let me know how you like it!
—Martini
