Slog - Comments on "You�ve got a reputation in avoiding interviews, would you share the reason with us?"

Comment by Andy

Andy — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:07:18 -0800

I am falling in love with you, Paul Constant.

Comment by Ziggity

Ziggity — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:10:03 -0800

Answers:
1) please refer to question 3
2) right
3) please refer to question 1
4) for each year of your age, place a drop of ink into a syringe. jam said syringe into the heart of your true love. in a short brandy glass, weep a tear for each year of your true love's age. use the tears to moisten a one foot section of a ten foot length of heavy-gauge nylon rope. tie a noose with the moistened section - look through the loop for certainty.

Comment by lostboy

lostboy — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:12:29 -0800

I loved Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and have been eager to read more of his work, but the running book sounds like too much tedium for the few nuggets buried within.

Comment by Paul Constant

Paul Constant — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:16:22 -0800

@3: It's totally too much tedium. You should read Sputnik Sweetheart, or Kafka by the Shore. After you've read all the novels of his that you're interested in, that's when you should read Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, because it's the best thing he wrote and everything after that seems a little paler.

Comment by nicole

nicole — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:19:07 -0800

I have read all of his stuff that's been translated except this new one. I really do enjoy it although he tends to repeat himself conceptually from one novel to the next. Underground was really interesting because it was so different from his other stuff. So for lostboy I'd suggest the wind up bird chronicles as a next read. Its got all the good stuff in it. His short stories kick ass too. They are lighter and more flexible than the novels.

Comment by nicole

nicole — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:22:52 -0800

@ paul. hmm. I guess I felt the opposite, the wind up bird chronicles made it possible to be a more generous reader with the other novels. Kind of like you were part of the clique and could get all the in jokes then. Yours is probably not a bad suggestion though. So Lostboy, I revoke my next-book-advice in favor of Paul's...

Comment by bookworm

bookworm — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:29:06 -0800

My question(s) would be: Have you ever had an idea for a novel you started and then abandoned? What was the idea, why did you abandon it, and what was that experience like? I'm generally more interested in understanding a writer's full process -- including both their successes and their failures -- than specific things about specific books.

Comment by Levislade

Levislade — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:35:35 -0800

@7 - that's a really good one; you should post it. I mean, it's no "ur gay right," but they can't all be gems at that level.

Comment by toby

toby — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:46:20 -0800

Murakami is gay?

Comment by lostboy

lostboy — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:53:41 -0800

bookworm @7, I second Levislade.

Comment by kinaidos

kinaidos — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:54:14 -0800

Does he enjoy Norwegian wood?

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:09:24 -0800

First thing he needs to do is recognize he has an addiction, and admit it.

I say that as a recovering marathon runner.

Endorphins - they make heroin look like soft drugs.

Comment by tao

tao — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:31:02 -0800

i told time out new york in an interview i was haruki murakami's 'god son' and they believed me then i said i was lying and we were both disappointed that i admitted i was lying

Comment by genevieve

genevieve — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:38:36 -0800

Kafka on the Shore is my favorite of his so far. I started reading Wind-Up Bird Chronicle last year and got diverted. I should pick it up again - I think I tried before a bit too soon after finishing Kafka.

Comment by 3rd man

3rd man — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:04:43 -0800

Do you believe, Mr. Murakami, in the stream of consciousness?

What author has chiefly influenced you?

In what category would you put Mr.James Joyce?

Comment by arduous

arduous — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:20:19 -0800

I adored Kafka on the Shore. I tried reading his short stories, but I find I have very little patience for short stories as an art form, so I abandoned the book halfway through.

Comment by sheila'sgawker

sheila'sgawker — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:16:44 -0800

Do you think Sheila have slept with one of her colleagues or bosses? Don't you think Sheila is hot, but that she has a bad taste in men? Why is she only attracted to loser white hipster douchebags? Is it because she's one of these transplants from the mid-west who thinks that they own NYC?

Comment by nightlifejitters

nightlifejitters — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:29:35 -0800

@14 - Same here, Kafka is my favorite of his so far. It held me from start to finish and I looked forward to picking it up every time I had to put it down. After Dark was ok. I started on Wind Up Bird Chronicles recently - it didn't grab me and it took 3 weeks to get 70 pages in, and then I wasn't allowed to renew it because someone put a hold on it. Some of the characters reactions didn't seem to fit, and the conversations didn't ring true to me. I'll give it another try though, as I really really liked Kafka.

Comment by pairustwo

pairustwo — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:44:51 -0800

Norwegian Wood was a little too flaccid for my taste as was After Dark. I prefer the more muscular novels like Kafka and Wind Up Bird Chronicles and the the most of the short stories are quick, intense and fun.

Comment by ryan

ryan — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:01:01 -0800

the next night we ate whale

Comment by nola

nola — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:50:54 -0800

ripping a whales head off