A biased review

Since I'm not a professional reviewer, I think you will pardon my biased review of the latest Murakami novel. It's safe to say that Haruki (not Ryu) Murakami is my favourite living author. I have yet to read a bad or mediocre novel written by him and he's the only contemporary author whose novels I have read several times. So understandable my expectations for this new thick novel (638 pages!) were high.

But once again, Murakami did not disappoint me. Although I have read some reviews that were only moderately positive, for me this is another great Murakami novel that can easily compete with Kafka on the shore and others. All the traditional Murakami elements are present: a slow pace, beautifully portrayed characters, a bit of magical realism, a bit of jazz, etc.

I understand that some people may find his novels rather boring, uneventful and illogical. But in my opinion these are some of the characteristics that make his books such a delight to read. It takes some time and effort to get into the story and to get to know the protagonists, but once you do, a beautiful and magical world opens up. There are no heroes or villains in this novel, just ordinary people leading ordinary lives going about their ordinary business, but in their banal lives some strange things occur: conversations with dead people, an autistic boy with special talents,... Murakami's world is filled with these apparently ordinary, but at the same extraordinary people. When I was reading this novel, I couldn't shake off the feeling that I would love to meet these people: Mr. Koyasu, the boy in the green hoody, the woman in the coffee shop. And that is one of the many things that make Murakami's novels so special for me.

It's a pity the book hasn't been published in an English translation yet, but I'm so glad that the Dutch translation is available. This is one of those books that surely will be read more than once.