Murakami’s writing style is an acquired taste. Most people who go on to enjoy his books in future would have for sure disliked or been confused by the first book of his they read. His books actually have less dialogues between characters since he deals more with the inner feelings of his characters.
Murakami deals with theme of loneliness, unrequited love and depression based on the books I’ve read. So yes, there is a common thread between most of his books.Also, he largely deals with magical realism so all his books will have parts that one won’t be able to understand. The endings of his books also don’t have things tied up in a neat little bow.
If you ever want to read something absurd, pick up a Murakami book. There will be several things you don’t like in his books but there will be at least a couple of things that will be different from stuff you have normally read. If you want to give Murakami another shot, try his collection of short stories Men Without Women.
Japanese authors tend to write books that are capable of blowing your mind in either a good way or a bad way. Their style of writing I find is unconventional and therefore interesting.
So, it's common themes and not the common plot that people talk about. Maybe I'll start to appreciate his works too at some time. It has happened before, so there's no reason it can't happen once more. But I see that it'll take time if that ever happens. As you said, Japanese writers have a different style than their Western counterparts, and I've become used to and comfortable with the Western-style now. Even that took a while when I was only beginning to read works by American or British authors, especially classics. I will look for some more Japanese works to read. Maybe start within my comfort zone of thrillers and then expand my horizon. We're already reading one this month.
@italics: Yes, I got that from reading Sputnik Sweetheart. And like I said in my review, actually something I liked the idea of.
@bold: Short stories seem like a good place to start. I've added it to my tbr. Thanks!😊
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