Series: The Rat Chronicles #2
Genres: Fiction
Pinball, 1973 by Haruki Murakami is the second book the Rat Chronicles. This is the second book which was published written by Haruki Murakami. This book is more penetrating than the previous Hear the Wind Sing in a few ways including the plot. It has a similar plot to the last book, but this time the author does add some linearity in the plot. The narrator is still nameless. There are again a lot of beers and cigarettes. It’s again a one day read, and yes I did read it in one day. Short, light, stress reliever novella.
It’s interesting the way the stories of the narrator and The Rat are in parallel. Beginning 3 years after the first part we find the narrator out of college, living and working in Tokyo and living with twins. The Rat, having dropped out of school sometime earlier, is still adrift in the seaside town, still drinking beer in J’s bar, and still alienated from society and himself.The most interesting metaphysical issue that the author raises is the significance of entrances and exits. He only talks about this explicitly when he’s naming the twins, but it seems important throughout the work. Both Rat and the narrator share the same love in pinball. But for Rat, it’s just a game while the narrator feel something special about this pinball machine. In the end, the author did a good job of exploring the issue of transference in this short piece, with regard to the narrator’s girlfriend and the pinball machine.
Again the characters are quirky and bonded with plot in such a manner that a reader cannot find a flaw in that. With his short and simple way of writing, Murakami certainly made clear that “Simplicity Rules”. It’s again a stress reliever, after reading it, one will feel himself slightly above the ground and in the air. This book is a perfect fora beach read, or a perfect read on a rainy day for each raindrop reflects every word the text contains. This book clearly shows author’s development as a writer. I enjoyed the story-telling and writing style of Murakami.
4 out of 5!
you convey well your admiration of the style, and I’m intrigued enough to seek out his work. I think I’ve got a book of his on running, “What I think about when I think about running.” Think its the same guy. Have you read that?
Thanks for reading the review. Yes it is by him, but no I have not read that book but it is on my TBR list!
Thank you for the review.
I have to read more books of Murakami. I enjoyed 1Q84 and What I Think About When I Think About Running.
Thanks to you too for reading it. I have to read his other books too 🙂
I am not sure it is my kind of thing, however it is good to see the author progress in his writing,
I can only find this in Japanese or $245 used on Amazon, how did you find a copy? He has a new one coming out in August
I have the ebook. Yes, his new book is coming next month, I’ll surely get my hands on that!
Oh, thanks I couldn’t find an ebook but will look further. I have read most of his stuff so excited to find early works that I never read. I like your blog and reviews, nice work!
Thanks mate. I have just read his early works and am ready to read further. I hope you find his early works satisfying. Happy Reading 🙂
[…] Rat Chronicles, all of them. Pinball is second in the series. Surrealistic narration by an unnamed narrator. He describes living with a […]
[…] proper name. On reading Murakami’s books including Kafka On The Shore, Hear The Wind Sing, Pinball 1973 and now Kokoro, I feel that it is an enigmatic characteristic that Japanese writers like to follow […]
[…] honoured by Kafka Prize, his best books, in my opinion, are Kafka on the Shore, Norwegian Wood and Pinball, 1973. Murakami’s 1Q84 is an immensely long book, paged more than nine hundred and originally […]